Zofia Branicka

Zofia Branicka, miniature portrait by Carl Hummel , 1824

Zofia Branicka, portrait of Ferdinand Marohn , between 1820 and 1825, National Museum Warsaw

Zofia Branicka , also known as Countess Zofia Potocka (born January 11, 1790 in Warsaw , † January 6, 1879 in Krzeszowice ) was a Polish noblewoman.

Life

She was the daughter of Franciszek Ksawery Branicki (around 1730-1819) from his marriage to Countess Aleksandra von Engelhardt (1754-1838), a niece of Grigory Alexandrowitsch Potjomkin (1739-1791). In 1816 she married Artur Potocki (1787–1832), a son of the novelist Jan Potocki (1761–1815) from his first marriage to Julia Lubomirska (1764–1794).

From 1823 she lived in Cracow, where she founded a theater in her palace. After the death of her husband, she turned to charitable work, often donating to charities and giving grants.

As an art lover, she particularly collected Italian painting. In addition, she worked as a philanthropist, including the founder of several hospitals and poor houses in Krzeszowice (around 1843) and Krakow. From 1848 she was president of Towarzystwa Dobroczynności , the Warsaw Charity Society.

In Krzeszowice in 1844 she financed the construction of a church based on the design of the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel . After the great fire in Kraków (July 1850), she received great recognition through the establishment and management of a rescue committee.

In addition, she was the patron of the campaign to help the wounded in the January uprising of 1863/64, as well as the founder of the Potocki Chapel , one of the 19 chapels that surround Wawel Cathedral in Krakow , and helped finance the restoration of the royal tombs.

literature

• Maria Kalergi: Listy do Adama Potockiego . Ed .: Halina Kenarowa. Warsaw 1986.
• Constantin von Wurzbach: Potocki, Alfred Gf. (1822-1889), statesman . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . Imperial and Royal Court and State Printing House, Vienna 1950.
• Ignacy Polkowski: Życiorys Zofii z hr. Branickich hr. Arturowej Potockiej: prezesowej Dam Towarzystwa Dobroczynności w Krakowie . Tow. Dobroczynności, 1879.
• Żychliński, Teodor: Złota księga szlachty polskiéj . tape 14 . Posen 1892, p. 44 (Polish).
• Dunin Borkowski, Jerzy Sewer Teofil: Almanach błękitny: genealogia żyjących rodów polskich . Ed .: Wende i Ska; nakł. Księgarni H. Altenberga. Warsaw 1908, p. 743 (Polish, org.pl ).
• Austrian Biographical Lexicon and Biographical Documentation . tape 8 . Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, 1950, p. 229 .