Lew Sapieha (Belarusian: Леў Сапега; Lithuanian: Leonas Sapiega; 4 April 1557 – 7 July 1633) was a nobleman and statesman of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He held the offices of Grand Lithuanian Secretary (1580), Grand Lithuanian Scribe (1581), Lithuanian Vice-chancellor (1585), Grand Chancellor (1589–1623), Voivode of Vilnius (1621), Great Lithuanian Hetman (1623), and starosta of Slonim, Brest and Mogilev.
Sapieha is considered as a great political figure of the Commonwealth. A rich and powerful magnate, he was known for his wisdom as a statesman, lawyer and military commander, he was one of the greatest leaders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the times of the Duchy's highest cultural flourishing. He was of Ruthenian (Belarusian) ethnicity. Modern Belarusian sources interpret his Ruthenian heritage as Belarusian.
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Early life
He was born in Astroŭna (Belarusian: Астроўна), near Vitebsk. He was educated in Leipzig University from 1570-1573 and worked in the royal chancellery of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Stephen Báthory under the direction of Jan Zamoyski.
Raised Eastern Orthodox, in his youth he converted to Calvinism and founded a number of Calvinist churches in his former estates. In the 1570s, he turned to Unitarianism. Disillusioned by the squabbles within the Protestant camp, in 1586 he converted with his first wife to Roman Catholicism of which he became a zealous defender. After the Union of Brest he enforced conformity on the unwilling Eastern Orthodox.