Schchitt, Ian

Born in the estate of Tobolka near Vitebsk (modern Belorussia). Came from the Lithuanian noble family of Shields-Nemirovichi coat of arms “ Yastrzhembek ”. The youngest son of the chamberlain of royal Felix Shield-Nemirovich (1764-1793). The grandson of the scribe of the Lithuanian Scarb Justinian Shield-Nemirovich (1740-1824). The brothers are Mikhail (1786-1824), the Drisinsky subcommittee, then the Jesuit, and Jozef (1787-1861), the owner of Tobolek.

He studied at the Pontifical Academy in Rome , on September 23, 1820 he was ordained a priest, in 1822 received a doctorate in theology. Then he returned to Russia, served as an assessor of the St. Petersburg Theological College. The Russian authorities twice proposed his candidacy for the post of vicar bishop of the Mogilev Metropolis, but the Holy See did not approve his candidacy ^[1] . In 1829, after the death of Bishop Joseph Grabowski, he became the apostolic administrator of the metropolitanate under the aged bishop Casper Tsechishovsky , who lived on his estate in Lutsk and was the head of the metropolis only formally.

Schmitt resolutely defended the rights of Catholics of the Russian Empire, including Greek Catholics, which caused dissatisfaction with the government ^[1] . In 1833, Chchitt was removed from the post of administrator and sent to Odessa, where he served as rector of the parish church. Then he served in Saratov. From 1857 he retired and lived in a family estate, where he died in 1866 ^[1] .

• Schchitt // Catholic Encyclopedia . V.5, ed. Franciscans, M.: 2013. St. 381-382
• E. Niebelski, Jan Chrzciciel Feliks Szczytt Niemirowicz [w:] Polski Słownik Biograficzny. T. 47. Warszawa-Kraków: Polska Akademia Nauk i Polska Akademia Umiejętności - Instytut Historii PAN im. Tadeusza Manteuffla, 2011, s. 558-560