Józef Ludwik Wolff (born December 15, 1852, in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, died August 9, 1900, in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

) was a Polish

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

, bookseller,

heraldist Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

and

genealogist Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their Lineage (anthropology), lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family ...

Biography

He was born into the family of a merchant and banker of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

origin, Ludwik Wolff and Józefina née Zdzieniecka. After graduating from high schools in Poland, he studied economic sciences in Leipzig. He then worked at the Commercial Bank in Warsaw as an authorized representative. Later he moved to St. Petersburg, where, in addition to his bookselling activities, he conducted source research on the Lithuanian Metrica. He was a correspondent member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in Kraków. He left behind several significant

prosopographical Prosopography is an investigation of the common characteristics of a group of people, whose individual biographies may be largely untraceable. Research subjects are analysed by means of a collective study of their lives, in multiple career-line a ...

studies. Some of them, although published under his name, were in fact authored by Konstanty Ożarowski. Of Wolff's unpublished legacy, we should mention the manuscript of his four-volume work ''Herbarz szlachty litewskiej'', which burned down along with his book collection of 2,100 items at the Krasiński Library in Warsaw in 1944. He is buried in the

Powązki cemetery Powązki Cemetery (; ), also known as Stare Powązki (), is a historic necropolis located in Wola district, in the western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city and one of the oldest, having been established in 179 ...

(quarters 156-2-16/17). On November 27, 1875, he married his cousin, the daughter of his uncle Bolesław Maurycy Wolff, Zofia Leonia Wolff. With her he had a daughter Maria Helena, born on February 20, 1880.

List of works

*
O kniaziach Kobryńskich
', Kraków 1883. * ''Pacowie. Materyjały historyczno-genealogiczne'', Petersburg 1885. * ''Senatorowie i dygnitarze Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego 1386–1795'', Kraków 1885. * ''Żyd ministrem króla Zygmunta. Szkic historyczny'', Kraków 1885 (Tel-Awiw 1988). * ''Ród Gedimina. Dodatki i poprawki do dzieł K. Stadnickiego: „Synowie Gedymina”, „Olgierd i Kiejstut” i „Bracia Władysława Jagiełły”'', Kraków 1886. * ''Kniaziowie litewsko-ruscy od końca czternastego wieku'', Warszawa 1895 (Warszawa 1994).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolff, Jozef 1852 births 1900 deaths 19th-century Polish historians Historians from the Russian Empire Writers from Congress Poland Polish people of Jewish descent