Stanislaw Kostka Potocki
Encyclopedia
Count Stanisław Kostka Potocki (staˈɲiswaf ˈkɔstka pɔˈtɔt͡skʲi; November 1755 – September 14, 1821) was a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 noble, politician, writer, publicist, collector and patron of art.

Life

Potocki was a son of General and starost of Lwów, Eustachy Potocki and Anna Kątska, and was a brother of Ignacy Potocki. He married Princess Aleksandra Lubomirska, the daughter of Great Marshal of the Crown, Prince Stanisław Lubomisrki
Stanislaw Lubomirski (1722-1782)
Prince Stanisław Lubomirski was a Polish nobleman. He was awarded Knight of the Order of the White Eagle on August 3, 1757 in Warsaw....

, on 2 June 1776.

He visited Rome in 1780, where he was painted by Jacques-Louis David
Jacques-Louis David
Jacques-Louis David was an influential French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era...

. He was an alumnus of the Collegium Nobilium in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

, and later studied Polonistics, literature and arts in Wilanów
Wilanów
Wilanów is a district of the city of Warsaw, Poland. It is home to historic Wilanów Palace, the "Polish Versailles," and second home to various Polish kings.-History:...

. He became Great Podstoli
Podstoli
Podstoli was a court office in Poland and Lithuania. A Podstoli was the deputy of a Stolnik, and was responsible for the King's pantry....

 of the Crown in 1781–1784. In 1792, he became an Artillery General of the Crown and participated in the War in Defense of the Constitution. He was a deputy of Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...

 and one of the leaders of the Patriotic Party
Patriotic Party
The Patriotic Party , also known as the Patriot Party or, in English, as the Reform Party, was a political movement in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the period of the Four-Year Sejm of 1788–92, whose chief achievement was the Constitution of 3 May 1791...

 on the Four-Year Sejm.

From 1792 to 1797 he lived abroad.

Potocki was a co-founder of the Society of Friends of Science (Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk, or TPN) in the Duchy of Warsaw
Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw was a Polish state established by Napoleon I in 1807 from the Polish lands ceded by the Kingdom of Prussia under the terms of the Treaties of Tilsit. The duchy was held in personal union by one of Napoleon's allies, King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony...

 in 1800. From 1807 he was a member of the Governing Commission (Komisja Rządząca), chairman of the Education Chamber (Izba Edukacyjna), and from 1810 director of the Commission of National Education (Komisja Edukacji Narodowej).

In 1809 he became chairman of the Council of State (Rada Stanu) and the Council of Ministers (Rada Ministrów). In 1818-20 he was chairman of the Senate
Senate of Poland
The Senate is the upper house of the Polish parliament, the lower house being the 'Sejm'. The history of the Polish Senate is rich in tradition and stretches back over 500 years, it was one of the first constituent bodies of a bicameral parliament in Europe and existed without hiatus until the...

.

Potocki organized archaeological excavations in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, inter alia in Laurentum
Laurentum
Laurentum was an ancient Roman city of Latium situated between Ostia and Lavinium, on the west coast of the Italian Peninsula southwest of Rome. Roman writers regarded it as the original capital of the Latins, before Lavinium assumed that role after the death of King Latinus...

 in 1779 and Nola
Nola
Nola is a city and comune of Campania, southern Italy, in the province of Naples, situated in the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines...

 in 1785–1786. He collected art, mainly paintings, graphics and antique ceramics. His collection exhibited in Wilanów
Wilanów
Wilanów is a district of the city of Warsaw, Poland. It is home to historic Wilanów Palace, the "Polish Versailles," and second home to various Polish kings.-History:...

 in 1805, initiating one of the first museums in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

.

Potocki died on 14 September 1821 and was buried in the church of Wilanów.

Awards

  • Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, awarded in 1781.
  • Knight of the Order of Saint Stanislaus
    Order of Saint Stanislaus
    The Order of Saint Stanislaus , also spelled Stanislas, was an Order in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and The Kingdom of Poland between 1765 and 1831 and of Russian Empire from 1831 to 1917.-History of the Order of Saint Stanislaus:Stanisław August Poniatowski, King of Poland, established the...

  • Knight of the Order of Saint Ludwik
  • Légion d'honneur
    Légion d'honneur
    The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...


Works

  • Świstek krytyczny, ("Pamiętnik Warszawski" 1816–18)
  • Podróż do Ciemnogrodu (t. 1–4 1820)

External Links

Stanislaw Kostka Potocki at the Wilanow Palace Museum

Further reading

  • Potocka-Wąsowiczowa, Anna z Tyszkiewiczów. Wspomnienia naocznego świadka. Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1965.
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