BUYNAVICHY, BUYNOVICHI

There is reason to believe that this settlement already existed in the 15th century. For instance, on May 31, 1412, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Vytautas, granted his entire Ubarć* domain with all its villages and possessions (without listing them) to Vilnius Bishop Mikalaj (Nicholas) and his successors. The hearth tax register from Ubarć “in the Kyiv powiat (district)” for 1581 only outlines this volost (district) as consisting of 10 villages, which are fully listed in the 1763 inventory of the Ubarć estate, and among them is the village of Buynavichy.

• 1622, January 19: “Boynovichy” (“Bojnowicze”), a village of Ubarć volost, Mazyr* powiat of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Property of the Catholic Church under the ownership of the Vilnius Bishopric. During the demarcation of the Mazyr (to Lithuania) and Ovruch (to Poland) powiats, the boundary line was drawn “from the lands of Stadolichy and Buynawy straight across the swamp… to the small Slaviachanka river.”
• 1662: Ubarć starosta (elder) Stefan Vainilovich grants the land of Dziemushkoushchyna to the Buynavichy church.
• 1673: Vilnius canon Father Reynast confirms the gift of the land Dziemushkoushchyna to the church.
• 1749: Installation of Father Lukash Mazarowski Eustratovich as chaplain and parish priest of Buynavichy.
• 1761: Church visitation.
• 1763, January 3: Buynavichy (“Buynowicze”, “Buinowicze”), village of the table estate (folwark) Ubarć, Mazyr* powiat, Vilnius Bishopric. 80 hearths (dym), 250 male peasants (named list). The peasants had 176 oxen and 19 horses. The tribute from the village amounted to 223 vadders* of honey, 80 bundles of mushrooms, 40 osmin* each of rye, barley, and buckwheat, 40 vadders* each of wheat and peas, 80 osmin* of oats, 160 quarts of millet, 80 quarts each of poppy seeds, hemp, and fish, 80 cartloads of hay, 150 cartloads of firewood, and 693 Lithuanian zlotys in quitrent. Church. Tavern.
• 1774: Construction of a new church at the expense and effort of the Buynavichy community to replace the burned-down one.
• 1775, September 8: Consecration of the newly built parish church by the dean of Ubarć and parish priest of Lielčycy*, Father Stefan Zagorowski.
• October: Buynavichy (“Buynowicze”), village of the Ubarć estate, Vilnius Bishopric. 65 hearths.
• 1777, January 29: Buynavichy (“Buynowicze”), village of the parish of the Buynavichy Church, Turaŭ Diocese, Ubarć Deanery. 67 households. Uniate Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary under the patronage of Vilnius Bishop Ignacy Massalski.
• 1787, February 13: Buynavichy, village. 68 households. After the death of Father Lukash Mazarowski, who was the parish priest until now, there is none, but his son Simon Mazharowski, by order of the consistory, maintains the parish house and provides spiritual care for the parish.
• 1789: 76 hearths (68 land-owning, 7 landless cottagers, and 1 parish house), 566 inhabitants (from 1 to 16 years – 139 male and 113 female; from 16 to 30 – 34 male and 18 female; from 30 to 45 – 48 male and 48 female; from 45 to 60 – 51 male and 51 female; over 60 years old – 33 male and 31 female). Uniate church.
• 1793: Start of keeping metrical books in the church.
• 1795, February 16: Buynavichy, a registered village of the state-owned Ubarć estate, Mazyr* uyezd (district), Russian Empire. According to the census, 606 inhabitants (325 male and 281 female). Uniate church. Potash factory. In June, the Uniate Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos (with two chapels) was converted to Orthodoxy.
• 1800: Buynavichy, village of the Ubarć estate, granted to Count Yakov Sievers from the possessions of the Vilnius Bishopric. 69 homesteads, 519 inhabitants (278 male and 241 female). Mill. Uniate church.
• 1802: Buykavichy (“Buikovichi”), village. Church.
• 1803: Construction of an Orthodox church in the name of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos at the expense of the parishioners.
• 1808: Buynavichy, estate. After the division of the Ubarć estate into parts, this estate was purchased by Guards Captain, Court Councillor, landowner Mikhail Dobrynsky.
• 1809: Buynavichy, estate. According to the plan, 5090.3 desiatinas* of land.
• 1818: 335 inhabitants.
• 1836, November 17: Buynavichy, estate of landowner Captain Mikhail Dobrynsky.
• 1837, May 21: Buynavichy, estate. Establishment of an annual 3-day trade fair on September 8 on the church feast day.
• 1838: Construction of a new parish church at the expense of landowner Mikhail Dobrynsky. He also provided it with everything necessary.
• 1843: Buynavichy, estate. 241 revision souls and about 30 thousand desiatinas* of land. After the death of the owner, Actual State Councillor Pavel Mikhailovich Dobrynsky, the estate was inherited by law by his widow Nadezhda Ivanovna, 7 daughters (one – a 1/7 share of 35 souls and six – a 1/14 share of 17 souls each) and four sons (26 souls each). On May 12, a formal division of the estate took place among the deceased’s heirs – sons Nikolai and Mikhail Dobrynsky and son-in-law Evdokim Alekseevich. September 29: Taking possession of the estate.
• 1846: Buynavichy, estate of landowner Denisov. Case concerning the unauthorized felling of forest by the landowner’s trustee Yantovsky.
• 1847, April 16: “Buynavichy”, village, economic administration, estate of landowner Mikhail Dobrynsky. Under lease by contract since 1843.
  • March 28: “Buynavichy”, estate of the minor children of the deceased Collegiate Assessor Alekseev. 12 peasant farms. The peasants had 31 oxen, 24 cows, 11 sheep, 18 pigs, 24 beehives with bees. Tar kiln. Inn.
• 1848: Construction of a military communications road from the small town (miastečka) of Hlusk, Babruysk uyezd, to the village of Svyatsenova, or Luchanka, Volyn Province.
• 1849, January 1: Buynavichy (“Buynovichi”), village. 60 homesteads. Church.
• 1850 (1866): “Buynovichi”, village. 72 homesteads.
• 1859: Buynavichy (“Bujnowicze”).
• 1861: Buynavichy, estate of landowner Pavel Dobrynsky under the management of the Mazyr* Board of Guardians for the Nobility.
• 1862, December 16: Buynavichy, village of the Buynavichy Peasant Society and estate of landowner Pavel Dobrynsky. 55 homesteads (52 – peasant farmers, 3 – market gardeners), 168 peasant and 6 household male revision souls (named list).
• 1863: Buynavichy (“Buynovichi”), parish.
  • November 16: Order of the Minsk Directorate of Public Schools to open a primary public school in the village. Buynavichy volost elder Y. Stukarou, peasant elder Mikhail Chechka.
• 1866: “Bunkovichi”. 77 homesteads, 516 inhabitants (269 male and 247 female). Church.
• 1867: Buynavichy, village and folwark (farmstead). Theotokos Church. In the village: 398 and in the folwark: 6 Orthodox inhabitants.
• 1870: Buynavichy, village of the “Buynovskaye” Peasant Society of the estates of Buynavichy volost, landowner Dobrynsky and the 2nd part of landowner Navitsky (confiscated). In the two parts of the village: 176 and 37 peasant proprietors.
• 1873: Major reconstruction of the church at the expense of the parishioners.
• 1874, May 29: Titular Councillor Mitrofan Balatov purchased the Buynavichy estate with the folwarks Stadolichy and Buynavichskaya Buda by deed of sale. He is the farm manager.
• 1875: Buynavichy, estate of landowner Pavel Dobrynsky. Land: 5200 desiatinas* suitable, 30360 desiatinas* forest, and 1100 desiatinas* unsuitable.
• 1879: Buynavichy, village. Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos. Rector Maksim Shalkovich (serving as priest since 1868). The parish owns about 40 desiatinas* of land (27 plots). State public school.
• 1883: Case concerning extortion by priest Runkevich of the Buynavichy church.
• 1884: Buynavichy, estate of landowner Mitrofan Balatov.
• 1886: Buynavichy, village of Buynavichy volost. 56 versts* to the district town. 56 homesteads, 560 inhabitants. Volost administration. Church. School. Shop.
• 1889: “Buynovichi”, village, settlement and folwark of Buynavichy volost. 57 versts* from the city of Mazyr*. Orthodox church of the 1st charitable district with a new iconostasis. Public school.
• 1892: Buynavichy, estate of landowner Mitrofan Balatov.
• 1897: Buynavichy, village of Buynavichy volost and society. On the zemstvo postal route. Adjacent to the village of Nestsiarauka. 102 homesteads, 825 inhabitants (427 male and 398 female). Parish church, public school, volost administration, grain reserve store. Pub, 2 small retail shops. Annual fair on November 8, St. Michael’s Day. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, 938 inhabitants, of which 85 Jews.
• 1898: Buynavichy, village. Water mill of Adam Lapushynsky; windmill of Tsimafei Sukach.
• 1900, August: Buynavichy, village. 30 people engaged in coopery, 20 people in the production of wheels, rims, and sleds, 12 people in pottery.
• 1907: One-class public school. First teacher Ivan Zhurauski. Discovery of a coin hoard hidden in 1607.
• 1909: Buynavichy, village and estate of Buynavichy volost. In the village (22 versts* from the Lielčycy post office) 147 homesteads, 981 inhabitants. In the estate (6 versts* from the volost center, 28 versts* from the Lielčycy post office) 1 homestead, 12 inhabitants.
• 1911: Buynavichy, estate of landowner Izabela Markvart.
• 1913: 205 homesteads, 1069 inhabitants.
• 1914, July 22: Buynavichy, village. Disorders during the mobilization of reservists, who “demanded the opening of state liquor stores, and when they were refused, they broke down the doors and took wine without paying for it…”. In December, by order of the Chief of the Minsk Military District, former German subject Alfred Markvart was exiled to Tomsk Province.
• 1915: “Buynovichi”, village. 70 homesteads.
  • February 11: His Imperial Highness Prince Alexander Petrovich of Oldenburg issues a warrant to Colonel I. D. Varshava to purchase the estates Buynavichy and Stadolichy from landowner I. L. Markvart.
• 1916, June 17: Buynavichy, estate of His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich. The Minsk Provincial Administration permitted the establishment of telephone communication between Buda-Sofiyevka and Buynavichy.
• 1916: Buynavichy, estate of Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich Romanov. Sawmill, orchard (3 desiatinas*). 23 heads of livestock. The owner is absent, all land is seized by peasants.
• 1918: Creation of the Village Council (selsoviet). Villagers elected Ivan Tsitavich Byazdezhka as its first chairman.
• 1919: Polish occupation.
• 1920: Stationing of the Buynavichy garrison in the village.
• 1917: Buynavichy, village and estate of Buynavichy volost. In the village: 214 homesteads, 1188 inhabitants (622 male and 566 female): 1065 Belorussians, 123 Jews. In the estate (6 versts* from the volost center, 50 versts* to the Mulyarauka railway station) 1 homestead, 6 inhabitants (3 male and 3 female): 6 Belorussians.
• 1924, July 17: Buynavichy, village, center of the Buynavichy Village Council (selsoviet) of Lielčycy* (Lelchitsy) district, Mazyr* okrug. 213 households, 1137 inhabitants. Medical point (1 doctor, 1 paramedic).
• 1925: 213 households, 1137 inhabitants. School in the Belorussian language: 116 students (79 boys and 37 girls): 90 Belorussians, 26 Jews. Consumers’ society of the Mazyr* Raysoyuz and Rabkoop.
• 1926: Operation of a reading hut (house).
  • November 16: Discovery of a coin hoard near the village.
• 1929: Organization of a kolkhoz.
• 1930: Buynavichy (“Bujnowicze”). Doctor’s district.
• 1931: Organization of the kolkhoz “Udarnik vtoroy bolshevistskoy vesny” (Shock Worker of the Second Bolshevik Spring).
• 1935: “Buynavichy”, village of Lielčycy* (Lelchitsy) district.
• 1938: Creation of a Machine and Tractor Station (MTS).
• 1939: Kolkhoz “Udarnik 2-y bolshevistskoy vesny”. Power station, 2 cow sheds, 2 granaries, stable, pigsties, garage, delivery room, nursery, office, 18 houses for Red Army families, bathhouse, carpentry workshop, rim workshop, brick factory. Secondary school, medical point, rural consumer society shops, House of Social Culture, pharmacy, post office, veterinary hospital, machine and tractor workshop.
• 1940: Buynavichy (“Buynovichi”), village.
• 1944: Buynavichy (“Buynovichi”), village. Railway station “Chyrvony Partyzan” (“Krasny Partizan” – Red Partisan).
• 1946: Kolkhoz “Udarnik 2-y bolshevistskoy vesny”.
• 1954, January 8: Center of the Buynavichy Village Council.
• 1965, May 4: Fire, as a result of which the local church burned down with all its property.
• 1970: Fire, as a result of which the Orthodox prayer house burned down and the local religious society ceased its activities.
• 1986: Buynavichy, village, center of the Buynavichy Village Council of Lielčycy* (Lelchitsy) district, center of the state farm (sovkhoz) “Buynavichy”.
  • December 5: “Buynovichi”, village, center of the Village Council. 1600 inhabitants. School.
• 1995: 498 homesteads, 1250 inhabitants.
  • 1996: Buynavichy, village of Lielčycy* (Lelchitsy) district. Center of the Village Council and state farm “Buynavichy”. 22 km northwest of the urban settlement Lielčycy (Lelchitsy), 185 km from Homiel (Gomel), 45 km from the Yelsk railway station. Secondary school, House of Culture, library, hospital, consumer services complex, post office. Church. Mass graves of Soviet soldiers.
• 1999, January 1: Buynavichy, village, center of the Buynavichy Village Council of Lielčycy* (Lelchitsy) district, center of the state farm “Buynavichy”. 487 households, 1087 inhabitants, of which 408 are working, 215 children under 15, 402 pensioners. According to the population census, 1028 inhabitants (448 male and 580 female).

The origin of the toponym Buynavichy is likely related to the fact that in ancient times this settlement stood out among the surrounding ones due to its size. For example, according to the 1763 inventory, the village of Buynavichy had 80 hearths, or 20% of the total number of hearths in the 10 villages of Ubarć volost. The name of the settlement may also be associated with the surname Buynovich, from which – Buynovichy, later Buynavichy.

Buinovichi in the collections of the Russian State Historical Archive (St. Petersburg)