Mstsislaw (Belarusian: Мсці́слаў, Mścisłaŭ, pronounced [msʲtsʲiˈsɫau̯] ( listen); Russian: Мстиславль, Mstislavl; Polish: Mścisław) is a town in Mahilyow Voblast, Eastern Belarus. As of 2004, its population is 11,700.
Mstsislaw was first mentioned in the Ipatiev Chronicle under 1156. It was initially included within the Principality of Smolensk, but had become the capital of the Principality of Mstsislaw by 1180. In the Middle Ages, it was the family seat of Princes Mstislavsky. Pyotr Mstislavets is believed to have been born in Mstsislaw.
In 1377 it was taken by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The first Lithuanian duke of Mstislaw was Karigaila, brother of Jogaila. The town remained part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Mścisław Voivodship until the Partitions of Poland in 1772. Now it is a center of the district.
The buildings of historic interest include the Carmelite church (1637, renovated 1746–50) and the Jesuit cathedral (1640, renovated 1730–38, turned into an Orthodox cathedral in 1842).
It is the birthplace of Jewish historian and writer Simon Dubnow, Jewish statesman and Communist politician Yakov Chubin.
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