BOBRUISK  , a

town and formerly a first-class fortress of Russia, in the government of Minsk, and loo m. by rail S.E. of the town of Minsk, in 530 15' N. lat. and 28° 52' E. long., on the right bank of the Berezina river, and on the railway from Libau and Vilna to Ekaterinoslay . Pop . (186o) 23,761; (1897) 35,177, of whom one-half were Jews . In the reign of Alexander I. there was erected here, at the confluence of the Bobruiska with the Berezina, nearly a mile from the town, a fort, which success-fully withstood a bombardment by Napoleon in 1812, and was made equal to the best in Europe by the emperor Nicholas I . It was demolished in 1897, the defences being antiquated . The town has a military hospital and a departmental college . There are ironworks and flour-mills; and corn and timber are shipped to Libau . The town was half burnt down in 1902 .