Count Władysław Zamoyski (1853–1924) was a French-born

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

nobleman (

szlachcic The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social class, a ...

), diplomat and heir of

Kórnik Kórnik is a town with about 7,600 inhabitants (2018), located in western Poland, about south-east of the city of Poznań. It is one of the major tourist attractions of the Wielkopolska region and the Greater Poland Voivodeship because of the hi ...

, Głuchów,

Janusz Janusz is a masculine Polish given name. It is also the shortened form of January and Januarius. People * Janusz Akermann (born 1957), Polish painter * Janusz Bardach, Polish gulag survivor and physician * Janusz Bielański, Roman Catholic pr ...

, Babin and Bargów (estates in the

Grand Duchy of Poznań The Grand Duchy of Posen (; ) was part of the Kingdom of Prussia, created from territories annexed by Prussia after the Partitions of Poland, and formally established following the Congress of Vienna in 1815. On 9 February 1849, the Prussian a ...

). Having acquired estates on the Polish side of the Tatra Mountains and in

Zakopane Zakopane (Gorals#Language, Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has ...

, he was an early

ecologist Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

and philanthropist. He was mentor to

Józef Retinger Józef Hieronim Retinger (World War II noms de guerre ''Salamandra'', "Salamander", and ''Brzoza'', "Birch Tree"; 17 April 1888 – 12 June 1960) was a Polish politician, scholar, international political activist with access to some of the lea ...

, who was to become an international political activist during the two world wars and beyond, following the death of the latter's father.

Early life

He was born in

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 ...

the elder son of general

Władysław Zamoyski Count Władysław Zamoyski (1853–1924) was a French-born Poland, Polish nobleman (szlachcic), diplomat and heir of Kórnik, Głuchów, Łódź East County, Głuchów, Janusz, Łódź Voivodeship, Janusz, Babin Potok, Donji Vakuf, Babin an ...

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

veteran, and Jadwiga née Działyńska. He had two sisters, Maria (1857–1858) who died in England and a further Maria Zamoyska (1860–1937). In 1871 he took the

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

at the

Lycée Charlemagne The Lycée Charlemagne () is located in the Marais quarter of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, the capital city of France. Constructed many centuries before it became a lycée, the building originally served as the home of the Order of the Je ...

and between 1874 and 1878 made four attempts to gain entry to the . It is not certain that he succeeded as sources vary on the subject. He served in the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

and rose to the rank of second lieutenant. As a representative of the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

government, he travelled to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

to take part in exhibitions and brought back valuable

ethnographical Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

items.

Activity in Poland

Zamoyski moved to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

when he inherited

(with the

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

and

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

) in

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland. The bound ...

, and other properties from his uncle,

Jan Kanty Działyński Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

in 1881. In 1885, as a French citizen, he was expelled from Kórnik by the

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

ns and consequently moved to

in Galicia. There, he promoted the activity of the Poznań (mortgage) Bank. In 1889, concerned to save the Tatra forests, he bought at auction the Zakopane estates, beating by one cent, the bid of the timber and mining industrialist, Józef Goldfinger. With Andrzej Chramiec he succeeded in bringing the railway from

Chabówka Chabówka is a village located on the outskirts of the southern Poland, Polish town of Rabka-Zdrój, Rabka, in the Nowy Targ County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship. With population of 1,600 (as for 2006), Chabówka is a popular tourist attraction becau ...

to Zakopane and building a Macadamised road link to the mountain resort. He succeeded in winning a boundary dispute with

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

at the International Tribunal in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

over the ownership of ''

Morskie Oko Morskie Oko, or Eye of the Sea in English, is the largest and fourth-deepest lake in the Tatra Mountains, in southern Poland. It is located deep within the Tatra National Park in the Rybi Potok (the Fish Brook) Valley, of the High Tatras mount ...

'', the Tatran lake and the adjacent territory.Great Lakes Around the World
/ref>

In France

He next travelled back to France where with his surviving sister, Maria, he founded several

charitable Charity is the voluntary provision of assistance to those in need. It serves as a humanitarian act, and is unmotivated by self-interest. Various philosophies about charity exist, with frequent associations with religion. Etymology The word ...

and

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

al institutions for the Polish émigré population, notably, ''Opieka Polska''. He was chairman of the ''Czci i Chleba'' charity and was a co-founder of the Polish Literary and Arts Society.

Later years

He returned to Poland in 1920. Neither he nor his sister ever married. He left all his properties to the Polish nation in his will, and initiated the Polish Institute of Dendrology in Kórnik.

Distinctions

* Officer's Cross

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

(13 July 1921) POL Polonia Restituta Wielki BAR

* Grand Cross

(10 November 1933), posthumously by President

Ignacy Mościcki Ignacy Mościcki (; 1 December 1867 – 2 October 1946) was a Polish chemist and politician who was the country's president from 1926 to 1939. He was the longest serving president in Polish history. Mościcki was the President of Poland when Ge ...

References

Bibliography

*Stanisław Potocki, ''Władysław Zamoyski'', in: ''Wielkopolski słownik biograficzny'', Warszawa-Poznań 1981, PWN {{DEFAULTSORT:Zamoyski, Wladyslaw Polish philanthropists Nobility from Paris People from Zakopane French diplomats Dendrologists Polish environmentalists Counts of Poland Wladyslaw 1853 births 1924 deaths 19th-century Polish landowners 20th-century Polish landowners Military personnel from Paris