LITHUANIA-L Archives

Archiver > LITHUANIA > 2003-06 > 1054835578


From: David Zincavage <>
Subject: [LITHUANIA-L] Fw: Kolwzan
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2003 10:53:04 -0700


----- Original Message -----
From: "Marek Jerzy Minakowski" <>
To: <>
Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2003 1:00 AM
Subject: Re: Kolwzan


> My favourite Boniecki has three entries of families with similar surnames:
> 1. Kołwzan herbu Bielina - vol. 10 page 351
> 2. Kołwzan herbu Jastrzębiec - vol. 10 p. 351
> 3. Kowzan h. Trąby - vol. 12 p. 40
>
> The families (1) and (3) are reported to live in powiat oszmiański
> (Oszmiana County), while family (2) is known only from their legitimation
> in Wilno, 1819.
>
> Boniecki's "Herbarz" is available from www.przodkowie.com
>
> Yours sincerely,
>
> --
> Marek Jerzy Minakowski Ph.D.
> Dr Minakowski Publikacje Elektroniczne
> www.przodkowie.com, e-mail:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "David Zincavage" <>
> To: <>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2003 8:04 AM
> Subject: Re: Kolwzan
>
>
> > Thanks, Fred. I found your answer (as always) illuminating.
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "wfhoffman" <>
> > To: <>
> > Sent: Monday, June 02, 2003 9:01 PM
> > Subject: Re: Kolwzan
> >
> >
> > > Greetings!
> > >
> > > David Zincavage <> wrote, regarding KOLWZAN:
> > >
> > > > I think Vanagas must be right in identifying Kolwzan as coming from
> a
> > > > Belarussian personal name of some sort. Perhaps Fred Hoffman can
> shed
> > > some
> > > > light on it. I doubt very much that it is of Jewish or Karaite
> origin.
> > > >
> > > > I think you need to try anglicized versions in the US, like Kolzan.
> The
> > > > original spelling is not likely to survive intact.
> > >
> > > Unfortunately, I could find nothing that shed light on the name's
> origin,
> > at
> > > least not to my satisfaction. The only mention I could find at all in
> my
> > > sources was in the _Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego_, Vol.
> 14,
> > page
> > > 493, discussing two manorial farmsteads and villages named Trokiele
> "in
> > > Oszmiana powiat, Soly gmina (4 versts away), rurual district of
> > Daukszyszki,
> > > 20 versts from Oszmiana, with a total of 8 houses, 98 Catholic
> > inhabitants.
> > > In 1865 the village belonging to the Piotrowiczes had 21 persons
> > registered
> > > in the census, whereas the one belonging to the Kol~wzans had 14."
> This
> > > would indicate the family owned a village and was therefore presumably
> of
> > > the minor nobility -- probably not Jewish or Karaite -- and had roots
> in
> > the
> > > Grand Duchy of Lithuania, possibly in the area now within the borders
> of
> > > Belarus.
> > >
> > > You may already have seen this -- if so, forgive me for mentioning it
> > > again -- but I did find a Website in Polish that discusses "Kowzanowie
> od
> > > 680 lat na Wilenszczyznie,"
> http://archiwum99.tripod.com/442/kowz.html.
> > It's
> > > quite informative, and at one point the author says:
> > >
> > > > Drobne deformacje (Kouwzan, Kolwzan) wynikaja niekiedy z
> > > > zapisów fonetycznych alfabetem rosyjskim w dobie caratu lub
> > > > tez narzucone sa przez wladze litewskie poczawszy od roku
> > > > 1939 (Kovzan, Kovzanas).
> > >
> > > So this author claims KOUWZAN and KOL~WZAN are merely spelling
> variations
> > of
> > > KOWZAN, due to Russian or Lithuanian linguistic or cultural
> > > interference.This may be correct -- the documentation looks
> impressive,
> > and
> > > the professor who wrote this seems to be no dummy. But I'd hesitate to
> > > dismiss the L~ so quickly. Yes, it could be merely a result of Russian
> or
> > > Belarusian phonetic and orthographic interference; that's plausible.
> But I
> > > wish I could find an onomastics expert who's researched the name and
> says
> > > the same thing.
> > >
> > > However, that Website does refer to the Slownik entry I just mentioned
> and
> > > to places called Kowzany. That suggests to me the author has done his
> > > research and has established the link of Kowzan with Kol~wzan. Still,
> I
> > > didn't have time to read the whole thing carefully; so I might have
> > > misunderstood.
> > >
> > > If KOL~WZAN is just a variation of KOWZAN, Rymut's new edition
> mentions
> > that
> > > name under the root Kobza, indicating an ancestor was somehow
> associated
> > > with the musical instrument the _kobza_. But of course he's talking
> about
> > > the name if it's of Polish linguistic origin. Vanagas cites the
> Belarusian
> > > name Kouzan, Kovzan, as David mentioned; I can find nothing further on
> > that
> > > (I've been trying to get hold of a copy of Biryla's work on Belarusian
> > names
> > > for years). For that matter, in Ukrainian _kovzannya_ means "skating."
> And
> > > Vladimir Dahl's Russian dictionary mentions _kovza_ as a root meaning
> > > "sliding on the ice for fun," and even mentions a noun _kolzanka_ or
> > > _kolvzanka_, "clearing away a spot on the ice for children to slide
> on."
> > > Note the alternate spelling of the noun that includes a
> non-palatalized L!
> > >
> > > So instead of clearing things up, I may have made them much worse. Was
> a
> > > Kol~wzan a kobza-player, or a kid having fun sliding on the ice? I
> don't
> > > know. I suspect detailed successful research into the family history
> is
> > the
> > > only way to clarify the name's derivation. When I Googled the name
> > KOL~WZAN,
> > > including the proper hard L, I got a lot of matches, including the
> Website
> > I
> > > cited above. There is some info out there, and there are contacts to
> be
> > > made.
> > >
> > > And now, having left you all bewildered, my work here is done, and I
> will
> > > move on to find others who need my unique brand of assistance ....
> > >
> > > William F. "Fred" Hoffman
> > > Author, _Polish Surnames: Origins & Meanings_
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

This thread: