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: ...

Jerzy Józef Henryk Potocki (29 January 1889 – 10 September 1961) was a Polish nobleman,

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. (Note that the ''Almanach błękitny'' gives his name as Jerzy Antoni Potocki)

Early life

His parents were

Roman Potocki Count Roman Potocki (16 December 1852 – 24 September 1915) was a Polish nobleman ( szlachcic) and politician. Early life Count Roman was born on 16 December 1852 at Łańcut in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, in what was then a part ...

, Third

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 ...

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 ...

, and Elżbieta Matylda Radziwiłł. His elder brother was Count Alfred Antoni Potocki. His paternal grandparents were Count Alfred Józef Potocki, the

Minister-President of Austria The minister-president of Austria was the head of government of the Austrian Empire from 1848, when the office was created in the course of the March Revolution. Previously, executive power rested with an Austrian State Council, headed by the emp ...

, and Princess Maria Klementyna Sanguszko. He was also a great-great-grandson of

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 ...

. His maternal grandparents were Prince Antoni Wilhelm Radziwiłł and Marie de Castellane (the daughter of French aristocrats Henri de Castellane and

Pauline de Talleyrand-Périgord Joséphine Pauline de Talleyrand-Périgord, Marquise de Castellane (29 December 1820 12 October 1890) was a French noblewoman. Early life Joséphine Pauline was born in Paris on 29 December 1820. She was the third legitimate child of the Edmo ...

). His paternal uncle, Count Józef Mikołaj Potocki, married his maternal aunt, Princess Helena Augusta Radziwiłł.

Career

On 8 January 1919 he joined the Polish Army after the dissolution of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

and

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

, was assigned to the General Staff and appointed

military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. Since 1933 in the

diplomatic service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtain diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

, he was appointed

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to Italy but refused to take the commission in protest against the

Four-Power Pact The Four-Power Pact, also known as the Quadripartite Agreement, was an international treaty between the United Kingdom, French Third Republic, France, Kingdom of Italy, Italy, and Nazi Germany, Germany that was initialed on 7 June 1933 and signe ...

. From 1933 to 1936 he was ambassador in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

and from 1936 to 1940 in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Personal life

On 28 June 1931, he married

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

vian born Susanita de Iturregui y Orbegoso (b. 1899) in Paris. Together, they were the parents of: * Count Stanisław Potocki (1932–2014), who married in 1997 Rosa Susanna Lacro de la Fuente (b. 1927) Count Potocki died on 10 September 1961 in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

References

1889 births 1961 deaths Nobility from Vienna Jerzy Antoni Potocki Counts of Poland Senators of the Second Polish Republic (1930–1935) Ambassadors of Poland to the United States Ambassadors of Poland to Turkey Polish Army officers Military attachés for Poland Diplomats from Vienna {{Poland-mil-bio-stub