Count Stanisław Małachowski, of the Nałęcz coat-of-arms (; 1736–1809) was a Polish statesman, the first

Prime Minister of Poland A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only wa ...

, a member of the Polish

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

's Permanent Council ( Rada Nieustająca) (1776–1780), Marshal of the Crown Courts of Justice from 1774, Crown Grand Referendary (1780–1792) and

Marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used fo ...

of the Four-Year Sejm (1788–1792). The son of Jan Małachowski, the royal grand chancellor, Małachowski was named marshal (speaker) of the

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

(Diet) in 1788. He was the prime force behind the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, adopted in 1791, that embodied such modern western European reforms as majority rule in parliament, separation of powers, and enfranchisement of the middle classes; this constitution was abrogated at the

Second Partition of Poland The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of partitions of Poland, three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition (politics), partition occurred i ...

in 1792. In 1807–09 Małachowski served as president of the senate (government) of the

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw (; ; ), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a First French Empire, French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars. It initially comprised the ethnical ...

, promoted by

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

Biography

Born on 24 August 1736, Stanisław Małachowski came from a wealthy, powerful and influential noble family and was the son of statesman and nobleman Jan Małachowski, and the grandson of the like-named . He studied law and was elected provincial deputy to the

in 1764 . In 1771 he was appointed clerk of the United Polish crown. As a member of the House of Deputies in the Sejm, he earned great respect. He belonged to a member of the Permanent Council of the Government and was appointed Marshal (President) of the Four-year Sejm (1788-1792). In this capacity he was one of the main authors of the

Constitution of 3 May 1791 The Constitution of 3 May 1791, titled the Government Act, was a written constitution for the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that was adopted by the Great Sejm that met between 1788 and 1792. The Commonwealth was a dual monarchy comprising th ...

. He signed, as Marshal of the Sejm in 1790, the treaty of alliance with

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

with the aim to protect Poland from foreign domination. In 1792 he negotiated in vain with a

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

delegation on the introduction of the hereditary transmission of the Polish crown to the King of Saxony. Małachowski was stricter than patriot opponents of the Russian party, whose main proponents scored his brother Hyacinth Małachowski. During the Russo-Polish war of 1792, he provided substantial funds and large quantities of food for the Polish troops available from his own resources. But since he could not prevent the pro-Russian

Targowica Confederation The Targowica Confederation (, , ) was a confederation established by Polish and Lithuanian magnates on 27 April 1792, in Saint Petersburg, with the backing of the Russian Empress Catherine II. The confederation opposed the Constitution of 3 May ...

, he fled abroad. He did not take part in the

Kościuszko Uprising The Kościuszko Uprising, also known as the Polish Uprising of 1794, Second Polish War, Polish Campaign of 1794, and the Polish Revolution of 1794, was an uprising against the Russian and Prussian influence on the Polish–Lithuanian Common ...

of 1794. In 1799, he was nevertheless arrested in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and imprisoned for a year in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

as a state prisoner, being accused of responsibility for a meeting of the Polish Sejm in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. After the founding of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw in 1807, he was first chairman of a provisional government commission and soon became President of the Senate. Małachowski died on 28 December 1809 and his tomb is located in the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw.

Legacy

From his youth Małachowski laboured zealously for the good of his country, and as president of the royal court of justice won the honourable title of the "Polish Aristides". He was first elected a deputy to the Coronation

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

of 1764, and the great Four-Years Sejm unanimously elected him its speaker at the beginning of its session in 1788. Accurately gauging the situation, Małachowski speedily gathered round him all those who were striving to uphold the falling

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

and warmly supported every promising project of reform. He was one of the framers of the constitution of 3 May 1791, exceeding in liberality all his colleagues and advocating the extension of the franchise to the towns and the emancipation of the serfs. He was the first to enter his name as a citizen of

in the civic register and to open negotiations with his own peasantry for their complete liberation. Disappointed in his hopes by the overthrow of the constitution, he resigned office and left the country in 1792, going first to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and subsequently to his estates in Galicia, where he was imprisoned for a time on a false suspicion of conspiracy. In 1807, Małachowski was placed at the head of the executive committee appointed at Warsaw after its evacuation by the Prussians, and when the grand duchy of Warsaw was created Małachowski became president of the senate under King

Frederick Augustus I of Saxony Frederick Augustus I (; ; ; 23 December 1750 – 5 May 1827) was a member of the House of Wettin who reigned as the last Elector of Saxony from 1763 to 1806 (as Frederick Augustus III) and as the first King of Saxony from 1806 to 1827. He was al ...

. In the negotiations with the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n government concerning the Galician salt-mines, Małachowski came to the assistance of the depleted treasury by hypothesising all his estates as an additional guarantee. His death was regarded as a public calamity. In all the other towns of the grand duchy funeral services were held simultaneously as a tribute of the respect and gratitude of the Polish nation.

Remembrance

He is one of the figures immortalized in

Jan Matejko Jan Alojzy Matejko (; also known as Jan Mateyko; 24 June 1838 – 1 November 1893) was a Polish painter, a leading 19th-century exponent of history painting, known for depicting nodal events from Polish history. His works include large scale ...

's 1891 painting, ''

.'' A monument in his honor has been proposed in the Polish city of

Płock Płock (pronounced ), officially the Ducal Capital City of Płock, is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by Central Statistical Office (Poland), GUS on 31 December 2021, the ...

on the grounds of the school which bears his name.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Malachowski, Stanislaw 1736 births 1809 deaths People from Końskie County 18th-century Polish nobility Polish generals Members of the Great Sejm Senators of the Duchy of Warsaw Burials at St. John's Archcathedral, Warsaw Radom confederates Polish Roman Catholics Signers of the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791 Stanislaw Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)

Biography

Legacy

Remembrance

See also

References

External links