Tyzenhaus was a noble family of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth of German extraction. It was active in the Duchy of Livonia

Duchy of Livonia

The Duchy of Livonia was a territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania — and later the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth — that existed from 1561 to 1621...

, Duchy of Courland and the northern Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...

. Among the best-known members of the family were Gothard Jan Tyzenhaus, the Voivode of Dorpat

Dorpat Voivodeship

The Dorpat Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Duchy of Livonia, part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, from 1598 till the Swedish conquest of Livonia in the 1620s.The seat of the voivode was Dorpat...

 (1634–1640), Constantine Tyzenhaus (1786–1853), ornitologist, and Antoni Tyzenhaus

Antoni Tyzenhaus

Antoni Tyzenhaus was the noble from the Tyzenhaus family, son of Benedykt Tyzenhaus. As a personal friend of Stanisław August Poniatowski, the last King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Tyzenhaus became Treasurer of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and administrator of royal estates...

 (1733–1785), the manager of royal property during the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski. Antoni built Tyzenhaus Palace

Tyzenhaus Palace

Tyzenhaus Palace is an 18th century mansion located in the city of Vilnius, Lithuania.-History:The historical sources of 1579 mention a International Gothic building in the same place. However, it later fell into disuse and then into ruin...

 in Vilnius

Vilnius

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...

, Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

. In Rokiškis

Rokiškis

Rokiškis is a city in northeastern Lithuania with population of about 16,000.-History:The legend of the founding of Rokiškis tells about a hunter called Rokas who had been hunting for hares . However, cities ending in "-kiškis" are quite popular in the region. The city was first mentioned in 1499...

, northern Lithuania, the family also built neogothic church of St. Matthias and a palace, which houses Rokiškis Regional Museum.

This family is but a branch of the medievally-originated Baltic German

Baltic German

The Baltic Germans were mostly ethnically German inhabitants of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which today form the countries of Estonia and Latvia. The Baltic German population never made up more than 10% of the total. They formed the social, commercial, political and cultural élite in...

 house of Tiesenhausen

Tiesenhausen

Tiesenhausen is the name of a Baltic German nobility family. The origins of the family are in Lower Saxony. During the Baltic crusades they settled in Livonia in the first half of the 12th century where they became one of the wealthiest and most important noble lineages between the 14th and 16th...

, which already in late medieval epoch, held fiefs in Livonia and Estonia.
Other branches of that family came to some prominence in Finland, in Sweden and in Russia.