| Smarhon | |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Flag Size: | 150 |
| Pushpin Map: | Belarus |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Belarus |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Grodno Region |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Smarhon District |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Date: | October 2, 1503 |
| Area Total Km2: | 19.15 |
| Population As Of: | 2024 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 35,422 |
| Timezone: | MSK |
| Utc Offset: | +3 |
| Coordinates: | 54.4836°N 26.4°W |
| Elevation M: | 150 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 231000, 231041-231045 |
| Area Code: | +375 1592 |
| Blank Name: | License plate |
| Blank Info: | 4 |
| Website: | Official website |
Smarhon or Smorgon (Belarusian: Смаргонь, in Belarusian pronounced as /smarˈɣonʲ/; Russian: Сморгонь; Lithuanian: Smurgainys; Polish: Smorgonie; Yiddish: סמאָרגאָן) is a town in Grodno Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Smarhon District.[1] [2] It was the site of Smarhon air base, now mostly abandoned. Smarhon is located from the capital, Minsk. As of 2024, it has a population of 35,422.[1]
Within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Smarhon was part of Vilnius Voivodeship. In 1795, the town was acquired by the Russian Empire in the course of the Third Partition of Poland. Until the mid 19th century, Smarhon was a private property of the Radziwiłł family with most of its population being Jewish.
Amid the disastrous retreat from Russia in 1812, Napoleon left the remnants of the Grande Armée at Smorgon on December 5 to return to Paris.[3]
From 1921 until 1939, Smarhon (Smorgonie) was part of the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, the town was occupied by the Red Army and, on 14 November 1939, incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR.
From 25 June 1941 until 4 July 1944, Smarhon was occupied by Nazi Germany and administered as a part of the Generalbezirk Litauen of Reichskommissariat Ostland.
Smorgon is known as the place where a school of bear training, the so-called "Bear Academy", was founded.
Up until World War II, Smarhon was widely known for its baranki,[4] traditional Eastern European ring-shaped bread rolls, similar to bagels and bubliki. Russian food historian William Pokhlyobkin considered Smarhon to be the birthplace of baranki.[5] Baranki were supposedly used to feed bears in the Bear Academy. Written accounts of Smarhon baranki appeared in the 19th century. Polish-Lithuanian journalist Adam Kirkor wrote in the encyclopedia Picturesque Russia: "In Smorgon, Oshmyany district, Vilna province, almost all the petty bourgeois population is busy baking small Belarusian: bubliki, or kringles, which are widely known as Smorgon obvaranki. Each traveller would definitely buy several bundles of these Belarusian: bubliki; besides, they are transported to Vilna and other cities."[6] Władysław Syrokomla mentioned Smarhon as "the capital of obwarzanki famous in all Lithuania".[7] Smarhon obwarzanki were a traditional treat at Saint Casimir's Fair in Vilnius.[8] [9]
Smarhon is twinned with:
Visaginas, Lithuania Alytus, Lithuania
Krasnoznamensk, Russia