Leon Michał Przyłuski (1789–1865) was a Polish

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Bishop who was Archbishop of Gniezno and Primate of Poland from 1845 to 1865. He was an active participant in the Polish independence movement of the late 1800s.

Early life

Przyłuski was born in 1789 (probably on October 5) in Strzeszynku, to father, Stanisław (1747-1843) of the Lubicz

noble family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the rea ...

and his mother Sarah Wal (1750-1848). In 1806, he studied at the seminary in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

and from 1811 to 1813 at the

University of Wroclaw A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. He was ordained in 1814. In 1817, he received a doctorate in Laws. and was made a pastor in Podgorne. In 1823, he was transferred to

Śrem Śrem () is a town on the Warta river in central Poland. It is the seat of Śrem County in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. As of 1995, the population of Śrem was 29,800. Śrem is to the south of Poznań, a local road junction on the road from ...

( Schrimm). From 1824 to 1825 and in 1831, he served as vicar general and ''oficjała Archdiocese'' of Poznań and from 1843 to 1844 in the office of vicar of the Curia of Gniezno. In 1845, he was on a list of candidates approved by the

King of Prussia The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...

, and the

pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

approved his selection on 27 April 1845.

Career as primate

As a bishop, he advocated for representation of Polish national to the Prussian Government. In January 1846, the Prussian government forced him to make an announcement denouncing the ''Wielki Poland Uprising'', but in March 1848, he stood at the head of the deputation to the Prussian King concerning the maintenance of the autonomy of the Grand Duchy of Poznań. He also corresponded with the authorities in Berlin at this time. He urged priests to support the opposition to the ''Division of the Grand Duchy''. In 1857, he was the (first) honorary president of Poznań society of friends of Science.Erzepki, a list of members of the society of friends of science in Poznan, Poznan, 1896, p. 1.

End of his primacy

His support for the uprisings of the early 1860s caused the authorities to approach the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

in 1862 to seek the removal of Przyłuski as

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

. In 1865, the pope decided to create Przyłuski a cardinal, but Przyłuski died before this became effective. He died on 12 March 1865 in Poznań. He is buried in the

Poznań Cathedral The Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul in Poznań is one of the oldest churches in Poland and the oldest Polish cathedral, dating from the 10th century. It is the oldest historical monument in Poznań. It stands on the island of ...

. His heart, according to his

will and testament A will and testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property (estate (law), estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the property until its fi ...

, is in the basement of the Cathedral of Gniezno.

External links

Virtual tour Gniezno Cathedral

List of Primates of Poland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Przyluski, Leon Michal 1789 births 1865 deaths Polish nobility Archbishops of Gniezno Burials at Poznań Cathedral Catholic clergy of the Prussian partition