Prince Augustyn Józef Czartoryski (10 October 1907 - 1 July 1946) was a Polish noble (
szlachcic
The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in th ...
). He was the son of Prince
Adam Ludwik Czartoryski
Prince Adam Ludwik Czartoryski (5 November 1872 – 29 June 1937) was a Polish nobleman, landowner, and patron of the arts. He was the son of Prince Władysław Czartoryski and Princess Marguerite Adélaïde Marie of Orléans.
Biography
Ada ...
(and grandson of
Princess Marguerite Adélaïde of Orléans) and Countess
Maria Ludwika Krasińska.
After the death of his father, Prince Augustyn took over the running of the
Family Museum and became
ordynat of the
Sieniawa Ordynacja properties. On 12 August 1937, he married
Princess Maria de los Dolores of Borbon y Orleans, daughter of
Prince Carlos of Bourbon, Infante of Spain and
Princess Louise of Orléans
, title = Princess Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
, image = Louise of France Princess of Bourbon.jpg
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.
Due to the prospect of
war, the most precious objects were transported to
Sieniawa Palace and walled up. The rest of the items were carried down to the Museum cellars, but in September as the bombs fell on
Kraków Prince Augustyn and Princess Dolores, who was pregnant, decided to leave Sieniawa for a better refuge. On 18 September
German troops found the cases and looted them.
After the Germans moved on, Prince Augustyn removed all the treasures to his cousin's estate in
Pełkinie
Pełkinie ( uk, Повкині, ''Povkyni'') is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Jarosław, within Jarosław County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Jarosław and east of t ...
saving them from the
Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, but the
Gestapo traced all objects and removed all important cases from their hiding places. Soon after, Prince Augustyn and Princess Dolores were picked up by the Gestapo and put under arrest. After heavy negotiation, and thanks to their royal Italian and Spanish connections, they were deported and managed to reach Spain before the end of 1939. During his exile in Spain Prince Augustyn was very active in the Polish resistance, but his poor health and his desperation had its toll on his life. He died at the age of 39, leaving his young son Adam Karol to be brought up in
Spain.
In 1946, Prince Augustyn died and was buried in the crypt of the Silesian Church in
Seville, Spain, along his son Ludwik Piotr who died at the age of one.
See also
*
Infanta Luisa Fernanda, Duchess of Montpensier
''Infante'' (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to th ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Czartoryski, Augustyn Jozef
1907 births
1946 deaths
Augustyn Jozef Czartoryski
Directors of museums in Poland
People from the Russian Empire of Polish descent
Polish emigrants to Spain
Nobility from Warsaw
Polish Roman Catholics