Leandro Marconi (1834–1919) was a Polish architect, active mainly in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. His father was

Enrico Marconi Enrico Marconi, known in Poland as Henryk Marconi (7 January 1792 in Rome – 21 February 1863 in Warsaw), was an Italian- Polish architect who spent most of his life in Congress Poland. Initially he was taught by his father Leander, later on, be ...

, also a famed architect associated with that city, while his cousin was

Leonard Marconi Leonard Marconi (Warsaw, 6 October 1835 – 1 April 1899, Lviv) was a Polish and Austro-Hungarian architect and sculptor. He was active chiefly at Warsaw, then in Galicia, notably at Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine). Life Leonard Marconi was born on 6 ...

, a sculptor. He was born Leandro Jan Ludwik Marconi on 23 April 1834 in Warsaw, then in

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

. His father

was a noted architect, who moved to Poland in 1822 and settled in Warsaw, while his mother was Małgorzata ( en, Margaret) née Heiton, a lady of Scottish descent.

Biography

Marconi graduated from the local gymnasium in Warsaw and started career as an architect under the tutelage of his father. Initially both Marconis collaborated at the construction of the expensive Hotel Europejski (1856–1859). He also collaborated with his father and Jan Kacper Heurich at the construction of a parochial church in

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 The first mentions of a settlement in the area can be traced to the 13t ...

(1857–1860). His first major project was a

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

built for a mighty Rau family of entrepreneurs, financed by Wilhelm Ellis Rau. The building (finished in 1868) was considered successful and soon Marconi's career started for good. Until the end of the decade he authored, among others, the plan of refurbishment of his father's villa at Ujazdów Av. (dubbed "palace under the artichoke"), the monumental seat of

Bank Handlowy Bank Handlowy w Warszawie (BHW) or Citi Handlowy is a Polish bank based in Warsaw, established in 1870. It is one of the oldest banks in Poland and Europe. It is the 10th largest bank in Poland in terms of assets, and 18th in terms of number of out ...

(1873), house of

Stanisław Zamoyski Stanisław Zamoyski (1519–1572) was a Polish nobleman ( szlachcic). He was Łowczy of Chełmno since 1561, castellan of Chełmno since 1566, Court Hetman of the Crown and starost of Belz. He was married to Anna Herburt and had three ch ...

, and a villa for Sobański family (1877). The best-known of his designs - the Great Synagogue in Warsaw - was commissioned in 1877, after two successive architectural competitions were unsuccessful. Around that time Marconi also built a

renaissance revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

palace for Konstanty Zamoyski at Foksal Street, a Branicki family residence in the

Frascati Frascati () is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated wit ...

Gardens and numerous palaces and churches outside of Warsaw. For many years he supervised the reconstruction of the

Wilanów Palace Wilanów Palace ( pl, Pałac w Wilanowie, ) is a former royal palace located in the Wilanów district of Warsaw, Poland. Wilanów Palace survived Poland's partitions and both World Wars, and so serves as a reminder of the culture of the Polish s ...

, the summer residence of

Polish kings Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16th ...

. He is also said to be the author of

Nożyk Synagogue The Nożyk Synagogue ( pl, Synagoga Nożyków) is the only surviving prewar Jewish house of prayer in Warsaw, Poland. It was built in 1898-1902 and was restored after World War II. It is still operational and currently houses the Warsaw Jewish Co ...

, though his authorship is not certain. He died on 8 October 1919 in

Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approxima ...

Gallery

File:Warsawsynagoga1.jpg, Model of the Great Synagogue in Warsaw Image:Pałacyk Raua w Warszawie 2021.jpg, Rau Palace
(rebuilt 1948-1949) Image:PL Warsaw Pałac Branickich skarpa.jpg, Little White Palace in Frascati Street Image:Palac Sobanskich Wwa Ujazdowskie.JPG, Sobańskis palace, Warsaw Image:Synagoga Nożyków w Warszawie 2020.jpg,

Image:Warszawa palaczamoyskiego 002.jpg, Konstanty Zamoyski palace, Warsaw Image:Bebrenes muiza.JPG,

Bebrene Manor Bebrene Manor ( lv, Bebrenes muiža, ger, Rittergut Bewern, pl, Dwór w Bebrene) is a manor house in Bebrene, Bebrene Parish, Augšdaugava Municipality, in the Selonia region of Latvia. Commissioned by Count Count (feminine: countess) ...

in Latvia

External links

Gallery of selected works by Marconi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marconi, Leandro Marconi,Leandro 1834 births 1919 deaths Polish people of Italian descent Polish people of Scottish descent