''Szkoła Rycerska'' ( en, School of Chivalry) or ''Akademia Szlachecka Korpusu Kadetów Jego Królewskiej Mości i Rzeczypospolitej'' (English: ''Nobles' Academy of the Corps of Cadets of His Royal Majesty and the Commonwealth'') was the first state school in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

18th century

The state Corps of Cadets was established in Warsaw on 15 March 1765 by King

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1764 to 1795, and the last monarch ...

. The Corps of Cadets was housed in the Kazimierz Palace (''Pałac Kazimierzowski'', now the rectorate of Warsaw University). The Corps' commandant was Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski. The Corps of Cadets was closed in 1795 following the suppression of the

Kościuszko Uprising The Kościuszko Uprising, also known as the Polish Uprising of 1794 and the Second Polish War, was an uprising against the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia led by Tadeusz Kościuszko in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Pr ...

, which had been led by one of the Corps' first alumni, Tadeusz Kościuszko. In the reign of

, several private corps of cadets were also established: by A. Tyzenhauz at

Grodno Grodno (russian: Гродно, pl, Grodno; lt, Gardinas) or Hrodna ( be, Гродна ), is a city in western Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish b ...

, K. Radziwiłł at

Nieśwież Nesvizh, Niasviž ( be, Нясві́ж ; lt, Nesvyžius; pl, Nieśwież; russian: Не́свиж; yi, ניעסוויז; la, Nesvisium) is a city in Belarus. It is the administrative centre of the Nyasvizh District (''rajon'') of Minsk Region ...

, W. Potocki at Niemirów, A. Sułkowski at

Rydzyna Rydzyna (pronounced , german: Reisen) is a historic town in western Poland, located in the southern part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship, 10 km south of Leszno, in the Leszno County, close to the main Poznań - Wrocław highway S5. The ...

Interbellum

In the period between the two World Wars, the institution of the Corps of Cadets would be revived in Poland. Three state secondary schools of that name would be created: at Kraków (later at

Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

), at Modlin (later at Chełmno) and at Rawicz.

After World War II

After World War II, in the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

, until 1956, there existed in Warsaw a Corps of Cadets of the Internal Security Corps (''Korpus Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego'').

Revival

The original Corps' work is continued by ''Fundacja Szkoła Rycerska''.

Notable alumni

* Tadeusz Kościuszko * Romualdas Giedraitis * Jakub Jasiński * Hans Moritz Hauke * Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz * Karol Kniaziewicz * Kazimierz Nestor Sapieha * Józef Sowiński *

Rajmund Rembieliński Rajmund Rembieliński (1774–1841) was a Polish nobleman ( szlachcic), political activist, and landowner. Rembieliński owned estates in Jedwabne, Krośniewice and Giełczyn. He was a graduate of the Knight School in Warsaw (1788–1 ...

Notes

References

*"''Korpusy kadetów''" ("Corps of cadets"), '' Encyklopedia Powszechna PWN'' (PWN Universal Encyclopedia), volume 2, Warsaw, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1974, p. 566. Defunct schools in Poland 1795 disestablishments Educational institutions established in 1765 History of Warsaw Universities and colleges in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Educational institutions disestablished in the 1790s {{Poland-school-stub