Roman Ignacy Potocki

Count Roman Ignacy Franciszek Potocki (generally known as Ignacy Potocki, 1750-1809), brother of Stanisław Kostka Potocki, was a Polish nobleman, owner of Klementowice, Marshal of the Permanent Council (Rada Nieustająca) in 1778-1782, Grand Clerk of Lithuania from 1773, Court Marshal of Lithuania from 1783, Grand Marshal of Lithuania from 16 April 1791 to 1794, and a politician and writer.

Life

Potocki was an alumnus of the Collegium Nobilium in Warsaw, Poland, and later studied theology and law in Rome. As a member (1772-1791) of Poland's Commission of National Education (" _pl. Komisja Edukacji Narodowej")– the world's first ministry of education – he presided over the Society for Elementary Textbooks (" _pl. Towarzystwo do Ksiąg Elementarnych").

"De facto" head of the "Familia" and at first an opponent of King Stanisław II August, during the Four-Year Sejm (1788-1792) Potocki backed the King and was a leader of the Patriotic Party and the reform movement. An advocate of a pro-Prussian orientation, he helped conclude an alliance (March 29, 1790) with Prussia. He co-authored the Constitution of May 3, 1791.

Following the victory of the Targowica Confederation and the of the May 3rd Constitution, Potocki emigrated from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He co-authored a work with Hugo Kołłątaj, "On the Adoption and Fall of the Polish May 3 Constitution" ("O ustanowieniu i upadku Konstytucji Polskiej 3-go Maja", 1793).

Potocki participated in preparations for the Kościuszko Uprising of 1794, in which he served as a member of the Supreme National Council (" _pl. Rada Najwyższa Narodowa"). Upon suppression of the Uprising, he was imprisoned by the Tsarist Russian authorities.

Released in 1796, Potocki settled in Galicia (southern Poland) and devoted himself to historical studies.

He married Elżbieta Lubomirska in 1773. He became Knight of the Order of the White Eagle in 1778.

ee also

*List of Poles

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Persondata
NAME = Potocki, Ignacy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Potocki, Roman Ignacy Franciszek
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Writer
DATE OF BIRTH = February 28, 1750
PLACE OF BIRTH = Radzyń Podlaski
DATE OF DEATH = August 30, 1809
PLACE OF DEATH = Vienna