Wysłouch (Wisłouch, Visłavuch and others) is a Polish-Lithuanian noble family. It traces its lineage back to 1385 when, along with other major Lithuanian noble clans, its forebears were admitted to the ranks of

Polish nobility The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

. The line begins with Stanisław Kościa, a Polish knight born in 1390; however, the first mention of the Wysłouch family name was recorded in a document dating from the first half of the 16th century.Pociecha, "Królowa Bona: czasy i ludzie Odrodzenia".

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

, 1949. The Wysłouch family uses the "Odyniec" coat of arms.

Political involvement

The family produced a number of politicians and public activists. In the 16th century, a number of Wysłouchs held important public offices, including a Royal

Castellan A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

y, and at the end of the 18th century

Zenon Kazimierz Wysłouch Zenon Kazimierz Wysłouch (1727–1805) was a chamberlain of the Brzeskie Voivodeship and a member of the Great Sejm. Born on the Leżajka family estate (Polesie, currently Belarus) as the first son of Antoni Stanisław and Joanna Kościa-Zbirohow ...

was one of the members of the

Great Sejm The Great Sejm, also known as the Four-Year Sejm (Polish language, Polish: ''Sejm Wielki'' or ''Sejm Czteroletni''; Lithuanian language, Lithuanian: ''Didysis seimas'' or ''Ketverių metų seimas'') was a Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwea ...

, the Polish Parliament which created the

Constitution of May 3, 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 ...

. Bolesław and Antoni Izydor Wysłouch were prominent liberal politicians and members of the Parliament in the

inter-war period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

, the former being a co-founder of the PPS "Piast" party.

Independence movement

Members of the Wysłouch family were involved in the independence movement during the

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

. At the end of the 18th century, Emmanuel Wysłouch was an officer serving in the Polish Legions during Napoleon's campaign in Italy. In the 19th century, Antoni Wysłouch and his wife, Teofila, took an active part in the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

; they were close friends with the uprising leader,

Romuald Traugutt Romuald Traugutt (16 January 1826 – 5 August 1864) was a Polish military officer and politician who served as the last dictator of the January Uprising. Following a career in the Imperial Russian Army that included service in Hungary and Crim ...

, and

Eliza Orzeszkowa Eliza Orzeszkowa (6 June 184118 May 1910) was a Polish novelist and a leading writerEliza Orzeszkowa< ...

, a well-known positivist writer. The family owned the estates of Pirkowicze, Sacha, Leżajka and others, most of which are currently abandoned or ruined. The exception is Pirkowicze house, now in Belarus, which serves as a local school.

Notable members

(1727–1805), a member of the

and a co-author of the

Polish Constitution of May 3, 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 ...

, the second oldest constitution in the world. * Emmanuel Wysłouch (1757–1798), an officer in the Polish Legions affiliated with Napoleon, who died in the battle of Terracina. *

Bolesław Wysłouch Bolesław Wysłouch (; 22 November 1855 – 13 September 1937) was a Polish nobleman, peasant advocate, a socialist, a senator and co-establisher of the original Polish Peasants Party. Wysłouch was born in Polesia, in Socha, a village in the Gr ...

(1855–1937), a Polish socialist senator and co-founder of the Polish People's Party "Piast". * Antoni Izydor Wysłouch (1864–1940), a member of the Polish parliament in the 1930s and a historian. * Seweryna Wysłouch (from the house of Bończa-Skarżyńscy) (1869–1918), a writer, poet and painter. Best known for a series of academic works on Polish literature and of sketches depicting Polish national heroes. *

Seweryn Wysłouch Seweryn Wysłouch (March 19, 1900 in Pirkowicze near Drohiczyn – February 28, 1968 in Wrocław) was a legal historian and vice-rector of Wrocław University. Biography Seweryn was born in Pirkowicze near Drohiczyn (Polesie, Poland), the Wy ...

(1900–1968), an influential historian and legal academic, head of the School of Law and Administration at the

University of Wrocław The University of Wrocław (, UWr; ) is a public research university in Wrocław, Poland. It is the largest institution of higher learning in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, with over 100,000 graduates since 1945, including some 1,900 researcher ...

from 1956-58. * Karol Wisłouch (1897 - 19??), a lieutenant of the 14th Jazłowiecki Ulhans Regiment, decorated with the

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', ) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was established in 1792 by the last King of Poland Stanislaus II of Poland, ...

order for his achievements in the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

of 1918-1920."List of the Virtuti Militari recipients, Polish Army Museum"
/ref> * Stanisław Wisłouch (1875–1929) a hydrobiologist, responsible for the modernization of the water filters in Warsaw. * Stanislav Michaelovic Wisłouch (1875-1927), a botanist who was honoured in the plant genus '' Wislouchia'' * Zygmunt Wisłouch ("Zarewicz") (? - 2005), an officer in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, decorated with the

order.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * Wysłouchowa, "Echa Polesia (introduction)". London, Polska Fundacja Kulturalna, 1979. * Jonca, Seweryn Wysłouch, in: Uczeni wrocławscy (1945–1979) (edited by Jan Trzynadlowski), Ossolineum, Wrocław, 1980 * Bartoszewicz "Konstytucja 3go Maja", Warszawa 1989.

External links

„Wysłouchowie z Pirkowicz (Polish)“

"Wysłouch Family Tree (beginning with Zenon Kazimierz Wysłouch)"
Sejm Wielki.pl Portal {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyslouch Polish noble families