Wysłouch
Encyclopedia
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
family. It traces its lineage back to 1385, when alongside with other major Lithuanian noble clans its forbears were admitted to the ranks of Polish nobility. The line begins with Stanislaw Koscia, a Polish knight born in 1390, however, the first mention of the Wysłouch family name was recorded in a document dating from the first half of the 16th century. The Wysłouch family uses the "Odyniec" coat of arms.
Political involvement
The family is particularly notable for the participation of its members in public life and politics. This dates back to the end of the 16th century, when a number of Wysłouchs held important public offices, including a Royal CastellanCastellan
A castellan was the governor or captain of a castle. The word stems from the Latin Castellanus, derived from castellum "castle". Also known as a constable.-Duties:...
y. At the end of the 18th century, Zenon Kazimierz Wysłouch
Zenon Kazimierz Wysłouch
Zenon Kazimierz Wysłouch was a chamberlain of the Brzeskie Voivodeship and a member of the Great Sejm.Born on the Leżajka family estate as the first son of Antoni Stanisław and Joanna Kościa-Zbirohowska, Zenon was educated at Jesuit and Piarist Collegiums and later at the elite Collegium Nobilium...
was a member of the Great Sejm
Great Sejm
The Great Sejm, also known as the Four-Year Sejm was a Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that was held in Warsaw, beginning in 1788...
, the Polish Parliament which created the Constitution of May 3, 1791
Constitution of May 3, 1791
The Constitution of May 3, 1791 was adopted as a "Government Act" on that date by the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Historian Norman Davies calls it "the first constitution of its type in Europe"; other scholars also refer to it as the world's second oldest constitution...
, which historian Norman Davies
Norman Davies
Professor Ivor Norman Richard Davies FBA, FRHistS is a leading English historian of Welsh descent, noted for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland, and the United Kingdom.- Academic career :...
calls "the first constitution of its kind in Europe". In the 19th century the family was involved in promoting education for and the emancipation of the lower classes, for which spacial note should be given to Antoni Wysłouch and his wife Teofila. Their nephew, Bolesław Wysłouch, was a senator of the Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
and co-founder of the Polish People's Party "Piast", currently known as the Polish People's Party. Bolesław's cousin Antoni Izydor, was also a politician and a member of the Parliament in the 1930s.
Struggle for the national independence
Members of the Wysłouch family were also noteworthy for their involvement in the independence movement during the period of the Partitions of PolandPartitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
. At the end of the 18th century, Emmanuel Wysłouch was an officer serving in the Polish Legions during Napoleon's campaign in Italy. Later, in the 19th century Antoni Wysłouch and his wife, Teofila, took an active part in the January Uprising
January Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
; they were close friends with the uprising leader, Romuald Traugutt
Romuald Traugutt
Romuald Traugutt was a Polish general and war hero, best known for commanding the January Uprising. From October 1863 to August 1864 he was Dictator of Insurrection. He headed the Polish national government from October 17, 1863 to April 20, 1864, and was president of its Foreign Affairs...
and Eliza Orzeszkowa
Eliza Orzeszkowa
-External links:...
, a well known positivist writer.
The family owned the estates of Pirkowicze, Sacha, Leżajka and others, most of which are currently abandoned or ruined. The exception is Pirkowicze house, nowadays in Belarus, which serves as a local school.
Descendants of the family include, among others, Małgorzata Sąsiadek, a renowned medicine professor at the University of Wrocław, and Stefan Cieśla, Warsaw lawyer and banker. Both of them were involved in Solidarność, the opposition movement in the People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
.
Notable members
- Zenon Kazimierz WysłouchZenon Kazimierz WysłouchZenon Kazimierz Wysłouch was a chamberlain of the Brzeskie Voivodeship and a member of the Great Sejm.Born on the Leżajka family estate as the first son of Antoni Stanisław and Joanna Kościa-Zbirohowska, Zenon was educated at Jesuit and Piarist Collegiums and later at the elite Collegium Nobilium...
(1727–1805), a member of the Great SejmGreat SejmThe Great Sejm, also known as the Four-Year Sejm was a Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that was held in Warsaw, beginning in 1788...
and a co-author of the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791, the second oldest constitution in the world. - Emmanuel Wysłouch (1757–1798), an officer in the Polish Legions affiliated with Napoleon, who died in the battle of Terracina.
- Bolesław WysłouchBolesław WysłouchBolesław Wysłouch was a Polish nobleman, peasant advocate, a socialist, a senator and co-establisher of the original Polish Peasants Party.Wysłouch was born in the Polesia region of Poland. He completed his education with a degree in chemical engineering at the Emperor's Petersburg Institute of...
(1855–1937), a Polish senator, socialist and co-founder of the Polish People's Party "Piast". - Antoni Izydor Wysłouch (1864–1940), a member of the Polish parliament in the 1930s and a historian.
- Seweryna Wysłouch (from the house of Bończa-Skarżyńscy) (1869–1918), a writer, poet and painter. Best known for a series of academic works on Polish literature and of sketches depicting Polish national heroes.
- Seweryn WysłouchSeweryn WysłouchSeweryn Wysłouch was an influential legal historian and vice-rector of Wrocław University.-Biography:...
(1900–1968), an influential historian and legal academic, head of the School of Law and Administration of the University of Wrocław from 1956-58. - Karol Wisłouch (1897 - 19??), a lieutenant of the 14th Jazłowiecki Ulhans Regiment, decorated with the Virtuti MilitariVirtuti MilitariThe Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war...
order for his achievements in the Polish–Soviet War of 1918-1920. - Stanisław Wisłouch (1875–1929) a hydrobiologist, responsible for the modernization of the water filters in Warsaw.
- Zygmunt Wisłouch ("Zarewicz") (? - 2005), an officer in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, decorated with the Virtuti MilitariVirtuti MilitariThe Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war...
order.
External links
- „Wysłouchowie z Pirkowicz (Polish)“
- "Wysłouch Family Tree (beginning with Zenon Kazimierz Wysłouch)", Sejm Wielki.pl Portal
See also
- Great SejmGreat SejmThe Great Sejm, also known as the Four-Year Sejm was a Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that was held in Warsaw, beginning in 1788...
- Polish–Lithuanian union
- Polish People's Party "Piast"