Leon Jan Piniński (8 March 1857 – 4 April 1938) was a Polish scholar, diplomat, art historian and politician. A professor of

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

and one-time rector of the

Lwów University The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (named after Ivan Franko, ) is a state-sponsored university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since 1940 the university is named after Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko. The university is the oldest institution of highe ...

(1928–1929), he devoted much of his life to a political career in his home city of

Lwów Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

(modern Lviv, Ukraine), first under

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

then in independent Poland.

Life

Leon Piniński was born in Lwów, then in Austrian-controlled Galicia. A member of the Piniński

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

family with the Austrian rank of '' hrabia'' - (Count), he was a younger brother of Stanisław whose daughter, Julia Pinińska, inherited the family castle and estate in Grzymałów

Hrymailiv Hrymailiv (; ; ) is a Populated places in Ukraine#Rural settlements, rural settlement in Chortkiv Raion, Ternopil Oblast, western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Hrymailiv settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: H ...

. After homeschooling, Leon went on to pass his

matura or its translated terms (''mature'', ''matur'', , , , , ', ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

exam at the renowned Jesuit college in

Tarnopol Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret (river), Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia (Central Europe ...

. He later graduated from the Faculty of Law at Lwów University. Piniński continued further studies at the universities of Leipzig,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. In 1891 he became a professor of Roman law at his ''

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

'' and was elected to membership of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences. A year later he gave up his scholarly career to devote himself to local politics. A member of the ''Podolacy'' aristocratic political faction, he became one of the most popular conservative politicians in Lwów. In 1889 he was elected to the Imperial Council in

. In 1894 he was also elected to the

Galician Sejm The Diet of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, and of the Grand Duchy of Cracow was the regional assembly of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, a crown land of the Austrian Empire, and later Austria-Hungary. In the history of the Polish ...

. His terms in both offices ended in 1898, when he became the governor of the

Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, also known as Austrian Galicia or colloquially Austrian Poland, was a constituent possession of the Habsburg monarchy in the historical region of Galicia (Eastern Europe), Galicia in Eastern Europe. The Cr ...

. During this time he actively opposed the growing popularity of Socialist ideas. He also tried to counter the rise of

Ukrainian nationalism Ukrainian nationalism (, ) is the promotion of the unity of Ukrainians as a people and the promotion of the identity of Ukraine as a nation state. The origins of modern Ukrainian nationalism emerge during the Khmelnytsky Uprising, Cossack upri ...

. Extremely conservative, in 1903 he was dismissed from office and replaced by the politically liberal industrial mogul, Andrzej Kazimierz Potocki. Although Piniński retained his seat in the Austro-Hungarian Senate, he retired from public life and devoted himself to advanced studies of law as well as

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he briefly returned to politics, but was not as successful as before. Following the rebirth of Poland, Piniński returned to his alma mater as professor of

and lectured on criminal and civil law. In 1928 and 1929 he briefly served as a rector of

. At the same time, he continued his history of art research and managed to gather an extensive collection of works of art. Most of it he later donated to

Wawel Castle The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established o ...

Museum and the

Ossolineum Ossoliński National Institute (, ZNiO), or the Ossolineum is a Polish cultural Foundation (non-profit), foundation, publishing house, archival institute and a research centre of national significance founded in 1817 in Lwów (now Lviv). Located ...

. A large part of his collection, which included English prints, was later stolen by the Germans during World War II and was never returned to Poland. Piniński himself retired in 1930s and died in Lwów, where he is buried.

Pretender to the English throne

The Piniński family are descended from

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. Charles was born ...

and a descendant of Leon's brother, Aleksander, Peter Piniński, has voiced such a claim.

Life

Pretender to the English throne

References

See also