House of Piłsudski

{{About|a family of nobility||Pilsudski (disambiguation)}}

File:POL COA Piłsudski.svg]]

The House of Piłsudski ({{langx|lt|Pilsudskis}}, {{Lang|lt|Pilsūdiškiai}}) is a family of nobility that originated in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and whose notability increased under the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Second Polish Republic.

The family was Polonized Lithuanian nobility that over time became part of the Polish nobility (szlachta); it has been called either a Polish noble family or a Polonized Lithuanian noble family.{{cite book|author1=Robert Bideleux|author2=Ian Jeffries|title=A history of eastern Europe: crisis and change|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vzw8CHYQobAC&pg=PA189|accessdate=5 March 2011|date=28 January 1998|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-16112-1|page=189}} Its most famous member was Józef Piłsudski, described variously as a PoleJerzy Jan Lerski, Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966-1945, Greenwood Press, 1996, {{ISBN|0-313-26007-9}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=S6aUBuWPqywC&pg=PA439&dq=pilsudski+Polish+noble&ei=01QNR_SuO6jA7AKop8CuBg&sig=Bldt8emkmGuNNIdY6sjE2dEWZMg Google Print, p.439] or as Polonized-Lithuanian noble.{{cite book|author1=Robert Bideleux|author2=Ian Jeffries|title=A history of eastern Europe: crisis and change|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Eh9KQTrOckC&pg=PA186|accessdate=5 March 2011|date=28 January 1998|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-16111-4|page=186}}

The Piłsudskis date back to pagan times in Lithuania and are recorded from the 13th century. In 1413, the family's name was polonized as Ginwiłłowicz.

The founder of the family is Giniotas Baltramiejus Pilsūdiškis, known from at least 1587.{{Cite journal|last=Majewicz|first=Alfred F.|year=2009|title=Bronisław Piłsudski's heritage and Lithuania|url=https://www.journals.vu.lt/acta-orientalia-vilnensia/article/view/3670/5161|journal=Acta Orientalia Vilnensia|volume=10.1-2|pages=79}} Pilsūdiškis' father was Giniotas Stonys, known from at least 1528, while Pilsūdiškis' grandfather was Rimša Giniotas.

In 1539, Baltramiejus Ginvilas ({{langx|pl|Bartłomiej Ginwiłł}} or {{Lang|pl|Bartłomiej Giniatowicz}}), the Elder ({{Langx|pl|Starost}}) of Upytė, added the name of his {{Interlanguage link|Pilsūdai|lt}} estate in Samogitia to his surname.{{Cite journal|last=Zubiński|first=Tadeusz|year=2005|title=Ostatni po mieczu - Marian Piłsudski z Suchedniowa|trans-title=The last one after the sword - Marian Piłsudski from Suchedniów|url=http://www.pogon.lt/_NCZ_ARCHYVAS/516/historia.html|url-status=dead|journal=Nasz Czas|language=pl|volume=16|issue=665|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207143536/http://www.pogon.lt/_NCZ_ARCHYVAS/516/historia.html|archive-date=2016-02-07}} His Polonized name was {{Lang|pl|Piłsudski-Ginejt-Rymsza}}.{{Cite journal|last=Wysocki|first=Wiesław Jan|title=Konterfekt rodu Piłsudskich|trans-title=The image of the Piłsudski family|url=http://archiwum2000.tripod.com/494/pilsud.html|journal=Nasza Gazeta|language=pl|volume=5|issue=494|pages=}} The Polonized surname of Baltramiejus' sons was {{Lang|pl|Giniatowicz}} ({{Lang|pl|Gięćtowicz}}), to which {{Lang|pl|Piłsudski}} was added.{{Cite web|last=Wysocki|first=Wiesław Jan|title=Konterfekt Rodu Piłsudskich|url=http://instytutpilsudskiego.com/konterfekt/|website=instytutpilsudskiego.com|publisher=Józef Piłsudski Institute for Research in Modern History of Poland|language=pl}} {{Lang|pl|Piłsudski}} was added to distinguish this family from the Giniotai and Giniotaičiai families.{{Cite web|last=Uzdila|first=Algis|date=2017-07-09|title=Kiek mūsų kalbos išlikę lenkų pavardėse|url=https://slaptai.lt/algis-uzdila-zemes-aidai-kiek-musu-kalbos-islike-lenku-pavardese/|website=slaptai.lt|publisher=Žemės aidai|language=lt}}

A notable member of the family is Roch Mikołaj Piłsudski (c.1680 – early 18th century), Pantler of the Duchy of Samogitia.{{Cite web|title=Piłsudski - strona rodzinna|trans-title=Piłsudski - the family page|url=https://genealogia.okiem.pl/genealogia.php?n=pilsudski|website=genealogia.okiem.pl|language=pl}} His marriage to Małgorzata Pancerzyńska—whose brother, Karol Pancerzyński, was Bishop of Vilnius—raised the wealth and prestige of the Piłsudski family.

The family also became related through several marriages to the {{Interlanguage link|Bilevičiai|lt}}, another prominent and wealthy noble family.

In 1863, Józef Piłsudski, senior, married Maria Billewicz; one of their children, Józef Piłsudski the younger, would become the famous Polish hero and dictator, and the most celebrated member of the family.Wacław Jędrzejewicz, Janusz Cisek, Kalendarium Życia Józefa Piłsudskiego (Calendar of the Life of Józef Piłsudski), Zaklad Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, 1994, {{ISBN|83-04-04114-6}}, pp. 11-12. Józef Piłsudski's closest and most prominent relatives included his three brothers—Adam Piłsudski, a politician; Bronisław Piłsudski, a noted ethnographer; Jan Piłsudski, a lawyer and politician—and his daughters: Wanda Piłsudska, who remained in England after World War II, practicing psychiatry, then in 1990 returned permanently to Poland, where she died in 2001 and Jadwiga Piłsudska, who was a ferry pilot during World War II.

The last remaining male member of Józef Piłsudski's family, Kazuyasu Kimura, died on 17 December 2022 at the age of 70.{{cite web | url=https://www.tvp.info/65148974/japonski-wnuk-pilsudskiego-nie-zyje | title=Zmarł wnuk Bronisława Piłsudskiego, brata Marszałka | date=17 December 2022 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.polsatnews.pl/wiadomosc/2022-12-17/wnuk-bronislawa-pilsudskiego-nie-zyje-kazuyasu-kimura-zmarl-w-japonii/ | title=Zmarł ostatni męski potomek rodu Piłsudskich | date=17 December 2022 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.rmf24.pl/regiony/zakopane/news-zmarl-kazuyasu-kimura-wnuk-bronislawa-pilsudskiego,nId,6479169#crp_state=1 | title=Zmarł Kazuyasu Kimura, wnuk Bronisława Piłsudskiego }} He was a grandson of Bronisław Piłsudski, Józef's older brother who married an Ainu woman and lived in Sakhalin.{{in lang|ja}} Inoue Kooiti (井上紘一), [http://src-home.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/coe21/publish/no5/inoue.pdf ブロニスワフ・ピウスツキの足跡を尋ねて40 年 ―就中、その極東滞在の究明―] (The footsteps of 40 years Bronislaw Pilsudski), The University of Hokkaido