Michał Mikołaj Ogiński (; April 25, 1849 – March 24, 1902) was a Polish-Lithuanian noble, marshal of the

Telšiai Telšiai (; Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Telšē'') is a city in Lithuania with about 21,499 inhabitants. It is the capital of Telšiai County and Samogitia region, and it is located on the shores of Lake Mastis. Telšiai is one of the ol ...

county's nobility, cultural activist.

Family and life

Michał Mikołaj Ogińsk was a son of and Olga Kalinowska of Wielka Kamionka, and grandson of

Michał Kleofas Ogiński Michał Kleofas Ogiński (25 September 1765 – 15 October 1833) was a Polish diplomat and politician, Grand Treasurer of Lithuania, and a senator of Tsar Alexander I. He was also a composer of late Classical and early Romantic music. Early ...

. He graduated from the men's gymnasium in Šiauliai. Michał Ogiński inherited his father's palace in Zaliessie, but did not want to live there. In 1873, he bought the estate in

Plungė Plungė (; Samogitian: ''Plongė''; ) is a city in Lithuania with 17,252 inhabitants. Plunge is the capital of the Plungė District Municipality which has 33,251 inhabitants (2022). Two parts of the city are separated by the Babrungas River and ...

from Alexander

Zubov The House of Zubov () was the Russian noble family, that rose to occupy some of the highest offices of state in the 1790s, when Platon Zubov became the last favorite of Empress Catherine the Great (). Members of the family were granted the tit ...

and built Plungė Manor designed by Karol Lorenz or

Friedrich August Stüler Friedrich August Stüler (28 January 1800 – 18 March 1865) was an influential Prussian architect and builder. His masterpiece is the Neues Museum in Berlin, as well as the dome of the triumphal arch of the main portal of the Berliner Schloss. ...

. On July 22, 1876, he married Maria Skórzewska, daughter of Zygmunt Skórzewski, 2nd

Ordynat In English common law, fee tail or entail is a form of trust, established by deed or settlement, that restricts the sale or inheritance of an estate in real property and prevents that property from being sold, devised by will, or otherwise ali ...

of , and Konstancja, née Potulicka. The wedding took place in

Czerniejewo Czerniejewo is a town and municipality in central Poland with 2,654 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is situated in Gniezno County, in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. Czerniejewo is located on the Wrześnica River, in a predominantly farming ...

during the

Kulturkampf In the history of Germany, the ''Kulturkampf'' (Cultural Struggle) was the seven-year political conflict (1871–1878) between the Catholic Church in Germany led by Pope Pius IX and the Kingdom of Prussia led by chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Th ...

period and was a Polish patriotic demonstration. The couple initially lived in Rietavas, and moved to Plungė after the palace was built. They were active in social and cultural activities. Ogiński founded a private orchestra and a music school, where Lithuania's most prominent composer

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (; – ) was a Lithuanian composer, painter, choirmaster, cultural figure, and writer in Polish. Čiurlionis contributed to symbolism and Art Nouveau, and was representative of the fin de siècle epoch. ...

took lessons in 1889–1893. With the help of Ogiński, he was later educated in Warsaw. Ogiński fell ill and went to France for treatments. He died suddenly without an heir in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million 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 ...

, and in 1918 went to

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 ...

, where she died on March 22, 1945. Her estate was taken over by the Lithuanian government in 1921.

Activities

Ogiński accumulated works of art, archaeological finds, hunting trophies, and a book collection. Among the collections, the collection of family portraits, consisting of about 100 canvases and sculptures, was of particular value. The collection included paintings by

Marcello Bacciarelli Marcello Bacciarelli (; 16 February 1731 – 5 January 1818) was an Italian-born painter of the late-baroque and Neoclassicism, Neoclassic periods active in Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Biography He was born in Rome, and stud ...

Bernardo Bellotto Bernardo Bellotto (c. 1721/2 or 30 January 172117 November 1780), was an Italians, Italian urban Landscape art, landscape Painting, painter or ''vedutista'', and printmaker in etching famous for his Veduta, ''vedute'' of European cities – Dr ...

Johann Baptist von Lampi the Elder Johann Baptist von Lampi the Elder (, ; 31 December 1751 – 11 February 1830) was an Austrian-Italian historical and portrait painter. He settled in the Russian Empire after the third and final partition of Poland, enticed by an extremely g ...

. Among the family heirlooms were two silver Hetman's buławas. Together with his brother Bohdan Ogińki, he organized periodic agricultural and industrial exhibitions at their estate. He helped peasant children with their education. In 1892, Michał and Bohdan Ogińskis together from the nearby Kretinga Manor built a private long telephone line connecting their estates. This was the first telephone line in Lithuania. After the Kražiai massacre, he informed Emperor Alexander III of the events. Plungė was mostly inhabited by Jews. On June 29, 1894, a fire broke out there, 80 Christian and 323 Jewish houses burned down, as well as the Great Synagogue and other houses of worship. Many families were taken in by Bohdan Ogiński in Rietavas. Michał Ogiński received fire victims at his palace. He then undertook the reconstruction of the town. He built a brick trading house, a new bathhouse, and borrowed 4,000 rubles to rebuild the Great Synagogue.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Authority control Ogiński family 1849 births 1902 deaths Nobility from the Russian Empire 19th-century Polish nobility 19th-century Lithuanian nobility