Michał Kleofas Ogiński (25 September 1765 – 15 October 1833) was a Polish diplomat and politician, Grand Treasurer of

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, and a senator of Tsar Alexander I. He was also a composer of late Classical and early

Romantic music Romantic music is a stylistic movement in Western Classical music associated with the period of the 19th century commonly referred to as the Romantic era (or Romantic period). It is closely related to the broader concept of Romanticism—the ...

Early life

It is claimed by some sources that Ogiński was born in Guzów in

Mazovia Mazovia or Masovia ( ) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the largest city and Płock being the capital of the region . Throughout the ...

(west of

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 ...

) in the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

. Nevertheless, in 2025 Lithuanian researchers found records in metrics of the Salantai Church of the Assumption where it is stated that Ogiński was born in the surroundings of Salantai (present-day

Kretinga District Municipality Kretinga District Municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. Locations in Kretinga District Municipality * Erškėtynas Stream and Chapel * Gargždelė * Kretinga * Salantai Elderships Kretinga District Municipality is divided into ...

) and was

baptized Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...

in the Salantai Church of the Assumption. His father, Andrzej, was a Polish- Lithuanian nobleman from the

Ogiński family The House of Ogiński, feminine form: Ogińska, plural: Ogińscy (, ) was a noble family of Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland (later, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth), member of the Princely houses of Poland and Lithuania. They were most ...

and

Trakai Trakai (; see Trakai#Names and etymology, names section for alternative and historic names) is a city and lake resort in Lithuania. It lies west of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania or just from the administrative limits of the Lithuanian capi ...

governor of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

. Hence, some sources indicate that Michał Ogiński was Lithuanian. His mother, Paulina Szembek (1740–1797), was the daughter of Polish

magnate The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

, Marek Szembek, whose ancestors were Austrian, and Jadwiga Rudnicka, who was of Lithuanian descent. His first introduction to music arose during a visit to relatives at Słonim where Michał Kazimierz Ogiński had a contemporary European theatre that hosted opera and ballet productions. Michał Kleofas received an Enlightenment gentleman's education. He studied music with Józef Kozłowski and took violin lessons from Giovanni Battista Viotti, Pierre Baillot, and Ivan Mane Jarnović. Since his father's diplomatic mission to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1772, the prince's tutor was Jean Rolay, later tutor to Emperor Leopold II. Michał Kleofas learned French, German and Latin. Years later, Ogiński erected a monument to his tutor at the palace in Zaliessie as a token of his gratitude. Michał Kleofas had an older sister, Józefa, and half-brothers, his mother's sons from previous marriages:

Feliks Łubieński Feliks Walezjusz Władysław Łubieński (born 22 November 1758 Minoga near Olkusz, died 2 October 1848 Guzów) was a Polish politician, jurist, Minister of Justice in the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, starosta of Nakieł, a member of the Friend ...

and Antoni Protazy Potocki.

Career

Aged only 20, Ogiński was chosen as an envoy of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. He served as an adviser to King

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, and as Stanisław August Poniatowski (), was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuani ...

and supported him during the

Great Sejm The Great Sejm, also known as the Four-Year Sejm (Polish language, Polish: ''Sejm Wielki'' or ''Sejm Czteroletni''; Lithuanian language, Lithuanian: ''Didysis seimas'' or ''Ketverių metų seimas'') was a Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwea ...

of 1788–1792.

Great Sejm

In 1788 he received the

Order of Saint Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus (, ), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It remained under the Congress Poland, Kingdom of Pola ...

and in 1789 - the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest order. In 1790 he was dispatched as a diplomatic representative to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, where he met with

Lord Mansfield William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, (2 March 1705 – 20 March 1793), was a British judge, politician, lawyer, and peer best known for his reforms to English law. Born in Scone Palace, Perthshire, to a family of Peerage of Scotland, Scott ...

who warned him about the danger posed by the tri-partite powers about to dismember the Kingdom of Poland. After 1790, he was sent to

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

as a diplomatic representative of Poland to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and was Polish agent in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In 1793, he was nominated to the office of Vice-Treasurer of Lithuania.

Kościuszko Uprising

During the

Kościuszko Uprising The Kościuszko Uprising, also known as the Polish Uprising of 1794, Second Polish War, Polish Campaign of 1794, and the Polish Revolution of 1794, was an uprising against the Russian and Prussian influence on the Polish–Lithuanian Common ...

in 1794, Ogiński commanded his own unit. After the insurrection was suppressed, he emigrated to Constantinople and later to France, where he sought support for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Napoleonic Wars

At that time he saw the creation of the

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw (; ; ), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a First French Empire, French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars. It initially comprised the ethnical ...

by the Emperor as a stepping stone to the eventual full independence of the Commonwealth. He dedicated his only opera, ''Zelis et Valcour'', to Napoleon. In 1810, Ogiński withdrew from political activity in exile and, disappointed with Napoleon, returned to

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

Adam Jerzy Czartoryski Adam Jerzy Czartoryski (14 January 1770 – 15 July 1861), also known as Adam George Czartoryski, was a Polish szlachta, nobleman, statesman, diplomat and author who served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian SFSR, Chairman of ...

introduced him to Tsar Alexander I, who made Ogiński a Russian Senator. Ogiński tried in vain to convince the Tsar to reconstitute the former Commonwealth. Disillusioned, he moved abroad in 1815. He died in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

in 1833.

Works

As a composer, he is best known for his

polonaise The polonaise (, ; , ) is a dance originating in Poland, and one of the five Polish folk dances#National Dances, Polish national dances in Triple metre, time. The original Polish-language name of the dance is ''chodzony'' (), denoting a walki ...

'' Farewell to My Homeland'' (''Pożegnanie Ojczyzny''), written in 1794 in the Zalesie region (then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, today in

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

), on the occasion of his emigration after the suppression of the Kościuszko Uprising. This piece, with its unreservedly melancholic melodies and fantasia-like passages, can be considered among the earliest examples of Polish romantic music before Chopin. Ogiński admired French and

Italian opera Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous ope ...

as well as the works of

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

. He was a

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist, and played the

clavichord The clavichord is a stringed rectangular keyboard instrument that was used largely in the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance music, Renaissance, Baroque music, Baroque and Classical period (music), Classical eras. Historically, it was most ...

and the

balalaika The balalaika (, ) is a Russian string instrument, stringed musical instrument with a characteristic triangular wooden, hollow body, fretted neck, and three strings. Two strings are usually tuned to the same note and the third string is a perf ...

. He began composing marches and military songs in the 1790s that gained popularity among the rebels of 1794. He composed some 20 polonaises, piano pieces, mazurkas, marches, romances and waltzes. Some of his other popular works and compositions include: * Opera ''Zelis et Valcour'', ou 'Bonaparte au Caire' (1799). * Treatise 'Letters about music' (1828). * 'Mémoires sur la Pologne et les Polonais, depuis 1788 jusqu'à la fin de 1815' ('Memories of Poland and the Poles, from 1788 until the end of 1815'), published in Paris. Oginski monument Maladzechna

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*
Michał Kleofas Ogiński: Thematic Catalogue of Compositions

Works by Michał Kleofas Ogiński
in digital library

Polona Polona is a Polish digital library, which provides digitized books, magazines, graphics, maps, music, fliers and manuscripts from collections of the National Library of Poland and co-operating institutions. It began its operation in 2006. Colle ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oginski, Michal Kleofas 1765 births 1833 deaths Lithuanian diplomats Polish composers Diplomats of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Grand treasurers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Paymasters Senators of the Russian Empire Knights of Malta People from Żyrardów County Michal Kleofas Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)