- Princess Izabela Czartoryska
Princess Izabela Czartoryska ("née" Countess Fleming) (1746–1835) was a Polish noble lady, writer, art collector, and founder of the first Polish museum, the
Czartoryski Museum inKraków .Life
She was the daughter of Count
Jerzy Detloff Fleming and PrincessAntonina Czartoryska .On
November 18 ,1761 , in Wołczyn, she married PrinceAdam Kazimierz Czartoryski .She was rumored to have had an
affair with the Russian ambassador to Poland,Nikolai Vasilyevich Repnin , who was alleged to have fatheredAdam Jerzy Czartoryski . [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN0195161009&id=oMpmAjRFh88C&pg=PA210&lpg=PA210&dq=repnin+Czartoryski&vq=Repnin+illegitimate+son&sig=wcrYcFQ3pRoLjA_WFYokW4nTv7M] .In
Paris in 1772 she metBenjamin Franklin , a subsequent leader of theAmerican Revolution , and the French philosophersJean-Jacques Rousseau andVoltaire , who were bringing new ideas to the old order.In 1775 she completely transformed (together with her husband) the Czartoryski Palace at
Puławy into an intellectual and political meeting place.Izabela discovered the talent of the young painter
Aleksander Orłowski and financed him.In 1784 she joined the
Patriotic Party . After the suppression of theKościuszko Uprising , her sons Adam Jerzy and Konstanty Adam were taken as political hostages by Russia's Tsarina Catherine II.In 1796 Izabela ordered the rebuilding of the ruined palace at Puławy and began a museum. Among the first objects to be included were Turkish trophies that had been seized by Polish King
Jan III Sobieski 's forces at the 1683Battle of Vienna . Also included were Polish royal treasures and historic Polish family heirlooms.In 1801 Izabela opened the first museum in Poland, called "The Temple of Memory." It contained objects of sentimental importance pertaining to the glories and miseries of human life.
During the
November Uprising in 1830, the museum was closed and all objects evacuated. Her grandsonWładysław Czartoryski re-opened the museum in 1878 in Kraków.Works
* "Myśli różne o sposobie zakładania ogrodów" (1805)
* "Pielgrzym w Dobromilu, czyli nauki wiejskie" (ca. 1818)ee also
*
Czartoryski Museum
*Royal Casket
* "Mold of the Earth "External links
* [http://www.muzeum-czartoryskich.krakow.pl/ Czartoryski Museum website]
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