March 25, 2019 – 101 years since the proclamation of the Belarusian People's Republic. The BPR, formed in 1918, was actively supported by Maria Magdalena Radziwill.
Magdalena Radziwill played an important role in the Belarusian political life and was a sincere admirer of the creation of the BPR. Her house in Minsk and the estate in Kukhtsychi were the favorite meeting place of Belarusian leaders, the doors of her house were never closed for Belarusians.
The princess was on friendly terms with Roman Skirmunt. She was visited by such figures as Edward Voinich, Vaclav Ivanovsky, Alexander Vlasov, Vaclav Lastovsky, Ivan and Anton Lutskevichi. She gave all of them moral support and financial help.
The Magdalena Radzivill House on Zakharyevskaya Street in Minsk was the meeting place of the Belarusian activists in 1917-1918. It was a time of great changes and hopes, which were embodied for the Belarusians in the act of proclaiming the Belarusian People's Republic on March 25, 1918. The princess kept herself at the center of the events of that time, her cherished dream was to see her possessions blooming as part of a free democratic independent Belarus. In 1918, Magdalena declared herself a BPR citizen.
Maria Magdalena Radzivill generously funded the Belarusian national revival, was a patriot, but at the end of 2018 she was forced not to leave the country on her own will. In exile, Magdalena Radziwill also did not forget about the Belarusians. From Germany and Switzerland, she sent assistance to Belarusian students and supported Belarusian organizations in Vilnius. When it was a time for the people to form an army to defend the newly declared independence of their land, Princess Radziwill donated weapons for several departments at her own expense.
The list of nationally conscious and acting Belarusians of Eastern Belarus rightly mentions the name of Maria Magdalena Radziwill.
On March 25, 2018, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the BPR, the Maria Magdalena Radziwill Foundation was established, whose activities are aimed at continuing the work of charity, developing Belarusian culture and education, preserving the Belarusian cultural and historical heritage.
