ABRAHAM SHMOILOVICH:

By: Herman Rosenthal

A Lithuanian merchant known also as "The Honorable Sir Abraham, the Jew of Turisk," who flourished at the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth century. His name figures in the books of the Brest-Litovsk custom-house for the year 1583 as an exporter of lumber and cereals. On May 19, 1595, Alexander Pronski, the warden of Troki, leased, for a term of three years, to the "Noble Sir Burkatzki" and the "Honorable Sir Abraham Shmoilovich" of Turisk a feudal estate in the district of Vladimir, with its population and all its appurtenances. Even the resident Jews and the income derived from them were included in this list. The lessees also acquired the right to collect all the revenues, and in fact enjoyed the privileges of full manorial lords. On May 27, 1595, the Prince and Princess Grigori Sangushko leased to Shmoilovich and to his wife, Rikla Odinna, the village of Koshar and others adjoining, and six years later, Aug. 29, 1601, still other towns and hamlets.

H. R.