Count Maurycy Stanisław Potocki (

Pilawa coat of arms Pilawa () is a Polish heraldry, Polish coat of arms. It was used by many noble families known as ''szlachta'' in Polish in medieval Poland and later under the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, branches of the original medieval Piława Clan (''Pila ...

) was born on May 16, 1894, in his family real estate of Jabłonna near

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 ...

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

. He was a member of the

House of Potocki The House of Potocki (; plural: Potoccy, male: Potocki, feminine: Potocka) was a prominent szlachta, Polish noble family in the Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569), Kingdom of Poland and magnates of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Po ...

: his father was August Potocki, and his great-grandfather was

Aleksander Stanisław Potocki Count Aleksander Stanisław Potocki (, 1778–1845) was a szlachta, Polish noble, landowner and politician. He was the senator-castellan of the Congress Poland, Polish Kingdom in 1824 and chamberlain of Napoleon, Napoleon I. He was awarded Or ...

. Maurycy Stanisław died on May 16, 1949, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In 1906, after the death of his father, young Maurycy inherited the estates of Jabłonna,

Nieporęt Nieporęt is a village in Legionowo County, Masovian Voivodeship in east-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Nieporęt. It lies approximately east of Legionowo and north of Warsaw. References

...

and

Białobrzegi Białobrzegi is a town in Masovian Voivodeship, Poland, about south of Warsaw. It is the capital of the Białobrzegi County and Gmina Białobrzegi (commune). The town is located on the border of the ''Białobrzegi Valley'' and ''Radom Plain'' ...

, with total area of 7800

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s. Before the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he studied in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, but failed to complete the studies. During the war, Potocki fought in

Polish I Corps in Russia 1st Polish Corps in Russia (; ) was a military formation formed on 24 July 1917 in Minsk from Polish and Lithuanian personnel serving in the Western and Northern Fronts of the Russian Army. In the chaotic period at the end of World War I on ...

, under General

Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki (Iosif Romanovich while in the Russian military; sometimes also Dowbór-Muśnicki; ; 25 October 1867 – 26 October 1937) was a Polish general, serving with the Imperial Russian and then Polish armies. He was also the m ...

. As a Colonel of 1st Uhlan Regiment, he fought in

Polish–Ukrainian War The Polish–Ukrainian War, from November 1918 to July 1919, was a conflict between the Second Polish Republic and Ukrainian forces (both the West Ukrainian People's Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic). The conflict had its roots in ...

and

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

. In the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

, Potocki officially stayed away from politics, but was a well-known figure in Warsaw society. He co-created the Polish Automobile Club, participated in car races, and had a collection of race cars. Also, he was a prominent member of the Polish Hunting Association: during hunting trips, Potocki met a number of foreign dignitaries, including

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...

and Count

Galeazzo Ciano Gian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari ( , ; 18 March 1903 – 11 January 1944), was an Italian diplomat and politician who served as Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister in the government of his father-in-law ...

. In 1926 he presented two paintings by

Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. Painter of cityscapes or ...

Royal Castle, Warsaw The Royal Castle in Warsaw ( ) is a state museum and a List of Historic Monuments (Poland), national historical monument, which formerly served as the official Castle, royal residence of several List of Polish rulers, Polish monarchs. The person ...

. In 1922, Potocki founded Glass Factory Jablonna, which employed 250 people, and which provided him with the bulk of the income. In September 1939, during the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

, Potocki was a member of Warsaw's Citizen Guard (Straz Obywatelska), and during the war, with permission of the

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

, maintained contacts with German officials, based on his prewar relations. He frequently intervened with occupation authorities, asking them for release of Polish activists. After one of such interventions, in August 1942,

Władysław Studnicki Władysław Gizbert-Studnicki (15 November 1867 – 10 January 1953) was a Polish politician and publicist. Throughout his life, Studnicki was famous for his strongly pro-German stance, and in the Polish People's Republic all his books were b ...

was freed. A tenement house in Warsaw, which belonged to Potocki, and which housed a restaurant “Za Kotara” was a contact office of the 5th Department of Home Army Headquarters. After the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

Potocki went to

Ojców Ojców is a village in Gmina Skała, in Kraków County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is one of the sights of the Eagle Nests Trail (''Szlak Orlich Gniazd''), as there are the ruins of a gothic castle near the village. The v ...

near

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. In March 1945 he was arrested by Communist

Urzad Bezpieczenstwa The Ministry of Public Security (), was the secret police, intelligence and counter-espionage agency operating in the Polish People's Republic. From 1945 to 1954 it was known as the Security Office (, UB), and from 1956 to 1990 as the Security ...

, and sent to a prison in

Kielce Kielce (; ) is a city in south-central Poland and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the banks of the Silnic ...

. In August 1945, the Kielce prison was captured by a unit of

Antoni Heda Antoni Heda (11 October 1916 – 15 February 2008) was a Polish military commander and a notable veteran of the Polish resistance movement in World War II and later independence movement against Soviet occupation following the war. Among the bes ...

(see Cursed soldiers), and Potocki was released. In autumn 1945 he illegally left Poland, and settled in London, where he died in 1949. Potocki was awarded the

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', ) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was established in 1792 by the last King of Poland Stanislaus II of Poland, ...

5th Class, and Cross of Valour (twice). He had two wives: Teresa née Woroniecka (married 1914, divorced 1928), and Maria née Gasiorowska (married 1929), and daughter Natalia, born 1929.

Sources

* Wojciech Roszkowski, Potocki Maurycy Stanisław (1894–1949), właściciel Jabłonny, w: Polski Słownik Biograficzny, tom XXVIII (redaktor naczelny Emanuel Rostworowski), Wrocław 1984–1985

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potocki, Maurycy Stanislaw 20th-century Polish nobility 1894 births 1949 deaths People from Legionowo County Polish people of the Polish–Ukrainian War Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War Polish Army officers Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom