The Warsaw Society of Friends of Science ( pl, Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk, ''TPN'') was one of the earliest Polish scientific societies, active in Warsaw from 1800 to 1832.

Name

The Society was also known as ''Warszawskie Królewskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk'' (Warsaw Royal Society of Friends of Learning). Sometimes the word "Royal" was omitted.

History

Though the Society was founded in 1800, its traditions harked back to the Thursday dinners that had been held in the final decades of the 18th century by Poland's last 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 ...

. From 1824 the Society was headquartered in the Staszic Palace (after its renovation in 1820–23), purchased for the Society by one of its most prominent members, Stanisław Staszic. In 1828 the Society had 185 members. The Society flourished in the Duchy of Warsaw and

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...

, but was eventually dissolved by the Russian authorities in the aftermath of the failed

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in W ...

of 1830–31, when many Polish cultural organizations were delegalized as part of the repressions. The Society's traditions were continued by the Warsaw Scientific Society (''Towarzystwo Naukowe Warszawskie'').

Influence

The Society was an important part of the second half of the

Enlightenment in Poland The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment in Poland were developed later than in Western Europe, as the Polish bourgeoisie was weaker, and szlachta (nobility) culture (Sarmatism) together with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth political system (Gol ...

, preserving

Polish culture The culture of Poland ( pl, Kultura Polski ) is the product of its geography and distinct historical evolution, which is closely connected to an intricate thousand-year history. Polish culture forms an important part of western civilization and ...

and science after the

partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...

damaged the fledgling Polish education system (after the world's first ministry of education, the Komisja Edukacji Narodowej - Polish for ''Commission of National Education'' - was abolished, many schools were closed and Germanization and

Russification Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cultur ...

begun). The Society gathered Polish scientists, academics, writers and their sponsors throughout

partitioned Poland Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

; many of whom met twice in month in Warsaw for discussions. The creation and activities of the Society had a very significant impact on the development of science in Poland. It supported various scientific pursuits, from research, through creation of museums and libraries, organizing various events to supporting education and

publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

. The society sought to popularize learning and shape intellectual and artistic trends, it also had a very broad membership. After the Załuski Library had been removed by the Russians to St. Petersburg, the Society's library was the greatest

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

in former Poland. Its collection was partially confiscated by the Russians in 1832, and later parts of it were destroyed by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

during the Second World War. It had its own journal, the ''Annals of the Warsaw Society of Friends of Learning'' (''Roczniki Warszawskiego Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Nauk'', vols. 1-21, published 1802–30), and the ''Warsaw Chronicle'' (''Pamiętnik Warszawski''), a serious monthly modeled on publications such as the ''

Edinburgh Review The ''Edinburgh Review'' is the title of four distinct intellectual and cultural magazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929. ''Edinburgh Review'', ...

''. While some Society members studied the history of Poland (

Joachim Lelewel Joachim Lelewel (22 March 1786 – 29 May 1861) was a Polish historian, geographer, bibliographer, polyglot and politician. Life Born in Warsaw to a Polonized German family, Lelewel was educated at the Imperial University of Vilna, where in 18 ...

) or the Polish language (

Samuel Linde Samuel Gottlieb Linde (polonised ''Samuel Bogumił Linde''; 11 or 24 April 1771, in Toruń – 8 August 1847, in Warsaw) was a linguist, librarian, and lexicographer of the Polish language. He was director of the Prussian-founded Warsaw Lyceum ...

), others implement new inventions and spread ideas of the Industrial Revolution. Staszic was responsible for substantial improvements in mining,

Tadeusz Czacki Tadeusz Czacki (28 August 1765 in Poryck, Volhynia – 8 February 1813 in Dubno) was a Polish historian, pedagogue and numismatist. Czacki played an important part in the Enlightenment in Poland. Biography Czacki was born in Poryck in Volhynia, ...

worked at regulating rivers, and others applied engineering or medicine. After the Warsaw Society was disbanded in 1832, organizations in other cities began using analogous names, e.g., the Poznań Society of Friends of Learning.

Notables

:Presidents: * Jan Chrzciciel Albertrandy (1800–1808) * Stanislaw Staszic (1808–1826) * Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz (1826–1832) :Members: *

Jerzy Samuel Bandtkie (also spelled Bandtke; 1768–1835) was a Polish linguist, Philology, philologist, historian, bibliographer and Lexicography, lexicographer. External links Boroń Piotr, Jerzy Samuel Bandtkie a Śląsk i Ślązacy
19th-century Polish ...

Feliks Bentkowski Feliks is a variant spelling of the given name Felix, used in Poland and the Baltic states, as well as in the transliteration of the name Felix from Russian. Feliks may refer to: *Feliks Ankerstein (1897–1955), Polish Army major and intelligen ...

Jan Niepomucen Janowski Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

* Hugo Kołłątaj *

Onufry Kopczyński Onufry Kopczyński (30 November 1736 – 14 February 1817) was an important educator and grammarian of the Polish language during the Polish Enlightenment.

* Jan Kossakowski *

Michał Dymitr Krajewski Michał Dymitr Tadeusz Krajewski (8 September 1746 – 5 July 1817), sometimes also referred to as Dymitr M. Krajewski, was a Polish writer and educational activist of the times of the Enlightenment in Poland. His 1784 book ''Podolanka'' became t ...

Onufry Kopczyński Onufry Kopczyński (30 November 1736 – 14 February 1817) was an important educator and grammarian of the Polish language during the Polish Enlightenment.

Krzysztof Celestyn Mrongovius Krzysztof Celestyn Mrongovius (german: Christoph Cölestin Mrongovius; pl, Krzysztof Celestyn Mrongowiusz) (July 19, 1764 – June 3, 1855) was a Protestant pastor, writer, philosopher, distinguished linguist, and translator. Mrongovius wa ...

* Józef Maksymilian Ossoliński * Stanisław Kostka Potocki * Johann Christian Schuch * Fryderyk Skarbek * Jan Śniadecki * Jędrzej Śniadecki *

Abraham Stern Avraham Stern ( he, אברהם שטרן, ''Avraham Shtern''), alias Yair ( he, יאיר; December 23, 1907 – February 12, 1942) was one of the leaders of the Jewish paramilitary organization Irgun. In September 1940, he founded a breakaway m ...

* Ignacy Zaborowski

Notes

References

Warsaw Society of the Friends of Science
entry at Scholarly Societies Project
Entry
in PWN Encyklopedia
Entry
in WIEM Encyklopedia
Entry
in Encyklopedia Internautica

External links

Warsaw Scientific Society web page
{{authority control Organizations established in 1800 Organisations based in Warsaw 1832 disestablishments Polish educational societies Buildings and structures in Warsaw Education in Warsaw History of Warsaw 1800s in science 1800 in science 1800 in Poland Scientific societies based in Poland