Švitrigaila

(Svidrigailo). Date of birth unknown; died 1452. Grand Duke of Lithuania (1430–32); younger brother of Jogaila (Jagiełło), son of Algirdas.

Svitrigaila challenged the Polish feudal lords’ hold over Po-dolia (Podol’e), which the Poles had taken in 1430; as a result, he was deposed as grand duke. From 1432 to 1435 he kept up the struggle for power, in so doing relying on help from the Li-vonian Order and on the Russian lands within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania; in 1435, however, he was defeated near Ukmergė (Wiłkomierz or Vil’komir). He also failed in his attempts, undertaken in 1437 and 1440, to gain the ascendancy in Lithuania itself. Švitrigaila died in Łuck (Lutsk) as ruler of Vol-hynia (Volyn’).