Radziwiłł family

The House of Radziwiłł (; ; ; ) is a Polish princely family of Lithuanian origin, and one of the most powerful magnate families originating from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later also prominent in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland.

The family was founded by Radvila Astikas, but over time it split into many branches, such as the Biržai-Dubingiai and Goniądz-Meteliai lines. However, most of the branches became extinct by the 18th century, with only the Nesvizh-Kleck-Ołyka line surviving to this day. Their descendants were highly prominent for centuries, first in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, later in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Kingdom of Prussia. The family produced many individuals notable in Lithuanian, Polish, Belarusian, German as well as general European history and culture. The Radziwiłł family received the title of ''Reichsfürst'' (prince) from the Holy Roman Emperor in the mid 16th-century.

The last patrilineal member of the Radziwiłł family who inhabited in Lithuania was Konstantinas Radvila, an owner of the Taujėnai Manor, however after the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1940 he was arrested by the NKVD and deported from Lithuania to the Uzbek SSR in 1941 where he died in ~1945.

The Nesvizh Castle complex, maintained by the family between the 16th century and 1939, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Provided by Wikipedia