Thursday Dinners ( pl, obiady czwartkowe, less commonly translated as Thursday Lunches) were gatherings of artists, intellectuals, architects, politicians and statesmen held by the last King of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, Stanislaus II Augustus during the Enlightenment period in Poland.

History

Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski was famed as a patron of the arts and learning. It was during his reign that Poland's Age of Enlightenment (already begun in the 1730s–40s), reached its peak. It went into decline with the

Third Partition of Poland The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polish ...

in 1795. During the Age of Enlightenment,

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 ...

was modernised and became a favourite meeting place for notable people in the worlds of art, architecture and literature along with other intellectuals and statesmen. The King invited influential figures of the time to his Thursday Dinners. He founded the

School of Chivalry ''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 st ...

. The gatherings were usually held in the Royal Castle and in summer at the

Palace on the Isle The Palace on the Isle ( pl, Pałac Na Wyspie), also known as Baths Palace ( pl, Pałac Łazienkowski), is a classicism#In architecture, classicist palace in Warsaw's Royal Baths Park, the city's largest park, occupying over 76 hectares of the cit ...

in Warsaw, between 1770 and 1784. During the gatherings, which typically lasted three hours and were akin to French

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

s, the King and his guests discussed literature, art and politics over a light meal. The number of guests varied over the years, with about thirty regulars, including politicians, writers, bibliophiles, military officers of rank and philosophers. Notable guests included: *

Ignacy Krasicki Ignacy Błażej Franciszek Krasicki (3 February 173514 March 1801), from 1766 Prince-Bishop of Warmia (in German, ''Ermland'') and from 1795 Archbishop of Gniezno (thus, Primate of Poland), was Poland's leading Enlightenment poet"Ignacy Krasic ...

Franciszek Bohomolec Franciszek Bohomolec, S.J., Bogoria Coat of Arms (29 January 1720 – 24 April 1784), writing pseudonymously as: ''Daniel Bobinson, Dzisiejkiewicz, F. B., F. B. S. J., Galantecki, J. U. P. Z., Jeden Zakonnik S. J., Jeden Zakonnik Societatis ...

Adam Naruszewicz Adam Stanisław Naruszewicz ( lt, Adomas Naruševičius; 20 October 1733 – 8 July 1796) was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, poet, historian, dramatist, translator, publicist, Jesuit and Roman Catholic bishop. Born in a szlachta family, he wen ...

Ignacy Potocki Count Roman Ignacy Potocki, generally known as Ignacy Potocki (; 1750–1809), was a Polish nobleman, member of the influential magnate Potocki family, owner of Klementowice and Olesin (near Kurów), a politician, writer, and office holder. H ...

Stanisław Kostka Potocki Count Stanisław Kostka Potocki (; November 1755 – 14 September 1821) was a Polish nobleman, politician, writer, public intellectual and patron of the arts. Life Potocki was a son of General and starost of Lwów, Eustachy Potocki and An ...

Hugo Kołłątaj Hugo Stumberg Kołłątaj, also spelled ''Kołłątay'' (pronounced , 1 April 1750 – 28 February 1812), was a prominent Polish constitutional reformer and educationalist, and one of the most prominent figures of the Polish Enlightenment. He se ...

Jan Śniadecki Jan Śniadecki (29 August 1756 – 9 November 1830) was a Polish mathematician, philosopher, and astronomer at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. Life Born in Żnin, Śniadecki studied at Kraków Jagellonian University and in Paris. He ...

and

Jędrzej Śniadecki Jędrzej Śniadecki (archaic ''Andrew Sniadecki''; ; 30 November 1768 – 11 May 1838) was a Polish writer, physician, chemist, biologist and philosopher. His achievements include being the first person who linked rickets to lack of sunlight. He ...

Stanisław Konarski Stanisław Konarski, Sch.P. (actual name: Hieronim Konarski; 30 September 1700 – 3 August 1773) was a Polish pedagogue, educational reformer, political writer, poet, dramatist, Piarist priest and precursor of the Enlightenment in the Polish–Li ...

Tomasz Adam Ostrowski Count Tomasz Adam Ostrowski (21 December 1735 – 5 February 1817) was a Polish nobleman ( szlachcic), politician, spokesman, statesman and ''Count'' since 1798. Tomasz became Colonel of the Crown Army in 1765, Chamberlain of King Stanisław ...

* Józef SzymanowskiKorwin-Szymanowski, Franciszek, ed. ''Józef Szymanowski: Listy Do Starościny Wyszogrodzkiej''. Warsaw: PIW. p. 9. (in Polish) *

Andrzej Zamoyski Count Andrzej Hieronim Franciszek Zamoyski (12 February 1716 – 10 February 1792) was a Polish noble ( szlachcic). Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, awarded on 3 August 1758 in Warsaw. He was the 10th Ordynat of the ''Zamość Ordyn ...

. The king also held less well-known Wednesday Dinners, ''Obiady Środowe''. While the guests at the Thursday Dinners were usually writers, poets and artists, the Wednesday Dinners brought together educators, scientists and political activists. The Thursday Dinners spawned the first Polish literary magazine, ' - "Diversions Pleasurable and Useful", published from 1770 to 1777. In the 1990s, Warsaw Mayor

Paweł Piskorski Paweł Bartłomiej Piskorski (born 25 February 1968 in Warsaw) is a former Polish politician. He was Mayor of Warsaw from 30 March 1999 to 14 January 2002. In 1997 he was elected to the Sejm from the Freedom Union electoral list, and in 2001, aft ...

reinstated the tradition by holding ''Tuesday Breakfasts'' to talk over current issues with leading businessmen and activists.

References

{{Reflist Polish culture 1770s in Poland Dining events 1780s in Poland

History

See also

References