Józef Mikołaj Kazimierz Marian Alfred Jakub Potocki (8 September 1862 – 25 August 1922) was a Polish nobleman, hunter, traveller and writer. A collector of books, paintings and hunting trophies, he also bred Arabian horses on his Pilawin estate and worked on reintroducing
European bison
The European bison (: bison) (''Bison bonasus'') or the European wood bison, also known as the wisent ( or ), the zubr (), or sometimes colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bi ...
into Ukraine on his hunting estate.
Biography
Potocki was the second son of Galician governor
Alfred Józef (1817–1889) owner of
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 Maria née
Sanguszko
The House of Sanguszko is a Polish and Lithuanian noble and aristocratic family of Lithuanian and Ruthenian origin, connected to the Gediminid dynasty. Like other princely houses of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, its origins are considered m ...
(1830–1903). After an early education by private tutors at home he went to the
Franciscan University at Lviv where he studied law following which he returned to manage his estate. From his mother he inherited estates in Smołdyrów, Antoniny and Szepetówka in Volhynia totalling 63,000 hectares. He also inherited the palace at Krakowskie Przedmieście in Warsaw which is now the office of the Ministry of Culture in Poland. He established a horse breeding farm, travelled on hunts to Asia and Africa writing about his exploits. He also inherited a large library part of which was destroyed in World War I. One of the first attempts to bring European bison from
Białowieza back into Ukraine was made by
Jan Sztolcman
Jan Stanisław Sztolcman (sometimes referred to as Jean Stanislaus Stolzmann) (19 November 1854, Warsaw – 28 April 1928, Warsaw) was a Polish zoologist, ornithologist and collector naturalist who travelled extensively in South America. He wa ...
on Potocki's hunting estate “Pylyavyn” (
Novograd Volyn district of
Zhitomir
Zhytomyr ( ; see #Names, below for other names) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, administrative center of Zhytomyr Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding ...
region). This private hunting estate was 7000 acres and stocked with both European and American bison. In 1917, the animals were killed.
Richard Lydekker
Richard Lydekker (; 25 July 1849 – 16 April 1915) was a British naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history. He was known for his contributions to zoology, paleontology, and biogeography. He worked extensively in cata ...
visited the estate in 1906 and wrote a book on it in 1908. He made his
Antoniny palace
Antoniny Palace () was a palace of the noble Sanguszko and Potocki families in Antoniny, Ukraine. It was destroyed during the Russian Civil War in August 1919. Today the park and various service buildings remain, such as the stables.
Histor ...
into a baroque residence filled with hunting trophies and paintings.
Potocki married Helena née Radziwiłł (1874–1959) in 1892 and they had two sons: Roman Antoni (1893–1971) and
Józef Alfred (1895–1968). Potocki travelled along the Blue Nile and wrote about it in 1902. He also went hunting to Somalia, India and Ceylon. He shot an elephant and wrote about his feelings as being one of achievement and questioned the sentiments of remorse expressed by other hunters in their writings. In 1911, he was made an honorary member of the Warsaw Scientific Society. He died of injuries after a car accident at
Montresor in France.
References
External links
Notatki myśliwskie z Dalekiego Wschodu. I. Indye(1896)
Notatki myśliwskie z Dalekiego Wschodu. II. Cejlon(1896)
Notatki myśliwskie z Afryki : Somali(1897)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Potocki, Jozef Mikolaj
1862 births
1922 deaths
Polish nobility
Polish naturalists
Children of prime ministers