Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Alfred Józef Potocki (, 29 July 1817 or 1822,

Łańcut Łańcut (, ; ; ) is a town in south-eastern Poland, with 18,004 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), it is the Capital (political), capital of Łańcut County. History Archeological investigat ...

– 18 May 1889,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) was a Polish aristocrat (

szlachcic The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the 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 class, a ...

), landowner, and a liberal-conservative monarchist Austrian politician and Prime Minister.

Early life

Count Potocki was born on 29 July 1817 (or 1822) in

into a prominent noble family of Polish origin, although a subject of the

Empire of Austria The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

, and inherited the

ordynat In English common law, fee tail or entail is a form of trust, established by deed or settlement, that restricts the sale or inheritance of an estate in real property and prevents that property from being sold, devised by will, or otherwise ali ...

'' estates from his father. The son of Count Alfred Wojciech Potocki and Princess

Józefina Maria Czartoryska Count Alfred Wojciech Potocki hr. Piława (1785–1862) was a Polish nobleman (''szlachcic''), landowner, political and economic activist. Alfred was the 1st ''Ordynat'' of Łańcut estates. From 1809 until 1815 he served in the army of the Duc ...

. His grandfather was the writer

Jan Potocki Count Jan Potocki (; 8 March 1761 – 23 December 1815) was a Polish nobleman, ethnologist, linguist, traveller and author of the Enlightenment period, whose life and exploits made him a celebrated figure in Poland. He is known chiefly for his ...

, best known for his famous novel "''

The Manuscript Found in Saragossa ''The Manuscript Found in Saragossa'' (; also known in English as ''The Saragossa Manuscript'') is a frame tale, frame-tale novel written in French language, French at the turn of 18th and 19th centuries by the Poland, Polish author Count Jan Pot ...

''". Alfred Józef Potocki is known for building the magnificent Potocki Palace, a grand residence in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

. In 1873 he co-founded the Akademia Umiejetnosci (Polish Academy of Skills) 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 ...

. He ran a family distillery, which is today known as

Polmos Łańcut The Polmos Łańcut distillation, distillery is one of the oldest producers of liquors and liqueurs in Poland. A small amount of the distillery's output is exported to Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, and the Unite ...

Career

He was a member of the National

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' ...

of Galicia from 1863 to 1889 and

Sejm Marshal The Marshal of the Sejm (, ) is the speaker (chair) of the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish Parliament. The office traces its origins to the 15th century. In modern Poland, the full title is Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (). ...

from 1875 until 1877. From 1875 to 1883 he was governor of Galicia. In 1848 he became a member of the lower house of the Imperial Parliament (''Reichsrat''), the House of Deputies (''Abgeordnetenhaus''), and in 1861 the upper house, the House of Lords ('' Herrenhaus''). He served in the Diplomatic Corps and was Minister of Agriculture of Austria from 30 December 1867 until 15 January 1870, but stepped down over his minority federalist views in the cabinet. He served as Austria's prime minister from 1870 to 1871, and was one of the only two non-Germans who held this office in Austria-Hungary. On 12 April 1870, he became the 5th Minister-President of Cisleithania and simultaneously Minister of Defence. His tenure included the repeal of the 1855

concordat A concordat () is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 [1 ...

. He was unsuccessful in promoting federalism and failing to obtain the cooperation of the Czechs in the Reichsrat he stepped down on 6 February 1871, ushering in a brief interregnum of conservative rule under Count Karl Sigmund von Hohenwart (February 1871 – October 1871) which was equally ineffective in implementing federalism, so that power quickly reverted to liberalism again.

Personal life

On 18 March 1851 in Sławuta, he married Princess Maria Klementyna Sanguszko, heiress of the prominent Sanguszko princely family. Together, they had two sons and two daughters: * Count Roman Potocki (1852–1915), who married Princess Elżbieta Matylda Radziwiłł, eldest daughter of Prince Antoni Wilhelm Radziwiłł and Marie de Castellane. * Countess Julia Potocka (1854–1921), who married Count Vladislaus Branicki. * Countess Klementyna Potocka (1856–1921), who married Count Jan Leon Antoni Tyszkiewicz, son of Count Michał Tyszkiewicz. * Count Józef Mikołaj Potocki (1862–1922), who married Princess Helena Augusta Radziwiłł, younger daughter of Prince Antoni Wilhelm Radziwiłł. Count Potocki died on 18 May 1889 in

Awards

* Knight of the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece (, ) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 in Brugge by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, Isabella of Portugal. T ...

* Order of the Steel Crown * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Stephen *

Order of Carol I The Order of Carol I () was the highest ranking of the Orders, decorations, and medals of Romania, Romanian honours of the Kingdom of Romania until the founding of the Order of Michael the Brave in 1916 by King of Romania, King Ferdinand I of Ro ...

Bibliography

* W. Goldinger – J. Zdrada: Potocki, Alfred Graf. In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Band 8, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien 1983, , S. 230. * Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon Band 16, Leipzig 1908, S. 235. * Christian Schärf: Ausgleichspolitik und Pressekampf in der Ära Hohenwart. Die Fundamentalartikel von 1871 und der deutsch-tschechische Konflikt in Böhmen. Verlag Oldenbourg, München 1996, , S. 75.

References

External links

Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Potocki, Alfred

Personensuche: Potocki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Potocki, Alfred Jozef 19th-century births 1889 deaths Year of birth uncertain People from Łańcut Alfred Jozef Potocki Counts of Poland Members of the Imperial Diet (Austria) Members of the House of Lords (Austria) Governors of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Marshals of the Diet of Galicia and Lodomeria 19th-century minister-presidents of Austria 19th-century Polish landowners Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary