Scipione Piattoli

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Scipione Piattoli
Scipione Piattoli
Portrait by Marcello Bacciarelli
Born(1749-11-10)10 November 1749
Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Died12 April 1809(1809-04-12) (aged 69)
Altenburg, Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Rhine Confederation
NationalityItalian
Other namesUrban
Occupations
  • Priest
  • educator
  • writer
  • political activist
Known forCo-drafting the Constitution of 3 May 1791

Scipione Piattoli (Italian pronunciation:

Potockis, Lubomirskis, and Czartoryskis. He was a member of Duchess Dorothea von Medem's court in Courland (Lithuania) and of King Stanisław August Poniatowski
's court.

Piattoli was politically active in

Kościuszko Insurrection against Russian influence, which was the last armed struggle held under the banners of the Commonwealth. After the Third Partition of Poland (1795), Piattoli was interned by the Austrians for several years, together with another Polish activist of the Constitution movement, Hugo Kołłątaj. Freed in 1800, he worked several years with Polish and Russian statesman Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski in the service of Russia
, before retiring to Courland.

Piattoli was an inspiration to Leo Tolstoy, who based the figure of Abbé Morio in War and Peace (1869) on him. He is also one of the figures immortalized in Jan Matejko's 1891 painting, Constitution of 3 May 1791. In his 1980 ten-page entry on Piattoli in the Polish Biographical Dictionary, historian Emanuel Rostworowski notes that, "despite two Italian monographs (by A.D. Ancon and G. Bozzolato)", Piattoli still awaits a definitive biography.

Early life

Scipione Piattoli was born in Florence on 10 November 1749 to a family of painters (father, Gaetano Piattoli; mother, Anna Bacherini Piattoli; brother, Giuseppe Piattoli).[1]

In 1763 he joined the

religious history and Greek.[3] Soon he became involved in political activism, and in 1774 he published (anonymously) a brochure titled Saggio intorno al luogo del seppellire, which focused on the issue of hygiene and burials near churches.[1] Also in 1774 he received permission to leave the Piarists, and resumed using the name Scipione.[1] He would, however, keep and use the title of "the priest" (l'abbé) for most of his life.[1] By the turn of the decade, Piattoli found himself in a faction that was losing in the politics of Modena, and decided to move, giving up his professorship in 1782.[1]

Piattoli arrived in the

Izabela Lubomirska in particular—and through them befriended Stanisław Kostka Potocki and Grzegorz Piramowicz.[4] Through Potocki and Piramowicz he became a member of the Society for Elementary Books in 1784.[4] In the Society he was tasked with writing a textbook on the history of science.[4] Around that time he was also active in Warsaw freemasonry.[4]

Piattoli traveled through Europe in the retinue of the Lubomirski family, including Izabela, and as a tutor of young

J. G. Herder.[4] In Poland, he developed close contacts with Ignacy Potocki and Julian Ursyn Niemcewicza.[4] From 1787 he also tutored Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, later an important politician in the Russian Empire, on whom Piattoli would retain significant influence.[4][5]

Reformer and constitution drafter

Constitution of 3 May 1791, a 19th-century painting by Jan Matejko. Piattoli is one of many historical characters featured on this canvas. See here for a detailed legend.

Piattoli developed contacts with notable figures on the Polish political scene, initially from the group opposed to the royal faction.

Société des Amis des Noirs.[4]

Through his freemason contacts with Pierre Maurice Glayre, Piattoli won the confidence of Poland's King Stanisław August Poniatowski, becoming his agent in Paris and, by the end of 1789, his private secretary and librarian, although without any official title.[6][7] Acting as a sort of cultural aide, Piattoli, who had strong ties to the reformist and often anti-royal opposition, became an important link between the reformers—Ignacy Potocki in particular—and the king.[7][8] In the words of a Swedish diplomat, L. Engstrom, he was "like a tireless spring", constantly mediating between the two factions.[8]

Due to his association with the reformers, in conservative Rome he became infamous as a staunch supporter of revolutionary ideals and was accused of "democratism".[7] Vatican diplomats criticized the king for hiring such a "revolutionary", but the king defended Piattoli quite vividly.[7] In any case, many such claims were exaggerations or rumours spread by his political enemies: according to one such rumour, Piattoli was alleged to incite crowds in France to kill the king.[7][9] In reality, Piattoli supported the Monarchiens of the French Revolution's early stages, but more in the direction of peaceful transformation into a constitutional republic than the regicidal excesses.[7]

Between 1790 and 1792, Piattoli was sent on several sensitive

hereditary succession.[8]
Piattoli, as Poniatowski's secretary and a resident of the
social reforms and with playing a part in the drafting of the Constitution of 3 May 1791.[12] The exact nature of Piattoli's role in regard to the Constitution remains uncertain; modern historians disagree to what degree he was an executor, a mediator, or an initiator.[10][12] He played a role in convincing the King to collaborate with the leaders of the Patriotic Party on drafting a constitution. He might have prepared or expanded drafts of the document, based on discussions among the principal authors, including the King, Hugo Kołłątaj (another politically active Roman Catholic priest) and Ignacy Potocki.[12][13] At a minimum, he seems to have helped catalyze the process.[12] Historian Emanuel Rostworowski describes him as a vital secretary-editor, who certainly participated in related discussions and influenced both Potocki and the king, and calls Piattoli's quarters in the Royal Palace a "creche" of the constitution.[8][10] Piattoli was, finally, involved in the final preparations for the vote that took place during the Sejm session on 3 May.[10]

Later that month he became a founder of the

Jews.[10]

Final years

During the

Kościuszko Insurrection against Russian influence, and in negotiations with the newly republican France, in which Polish reformists proposed an alliance with France, promising to turn Poland into a second republic in Europe.[14][15] At the same time, he was involved in much more conservative negotiations with Russians.[14][15]

In July 1794 he and several other activists were exiled from Leipzig, and Piattoli was soon arrested by the Austrian authorities.

Napoleon Bonaparte.[3][15] His release in 1800 seems to have been the result of efforts of the Czartoryski family and Duchess Dorothea.[15]

After his release he returned to Dorothea's

perpetual peace.[6][15][16][17] Piattoli, through Czartoryski, briefly worked in the diplomatic service and administration of the Russians, too.[3][6][17] Like Czartoryski, Piattoli tried to push for a more lenient and friendly attitude towards Poland at the Russian court, but with little success.[17]

In 1807 Scipione Piattoli returned to Courland.[18] There he finally settled, abandoned the priesthood, and married one of the ladies of the court.[3][6][18] In his final years in Courland he was involved with Courland's educational system, and hoped to pursue some scientific studies, a lifelong dream for which he never found enough time.[18] He died of a lung infection in Altenburg on 12 April 1809.[18] He was buried in a park in Löbichau.[18]

Remembrance

Piattoli was an inspiration to Leo Tolstoy, who based the figure of the Abbé Morio in War and Peace (1869) on him.[16][18] He is also one of the figures immortalized in Jan Matejko's 1891 painting, Constitution of 3 May 1791.[19] In his 1980 ten-page entry on Piattoli in the Polish Biographical Dictionary, historian Emanuel Rostworowski notes that, "despite two Italian monographs (by A.D. Ancon and G. Bozzolato)", Piattoli still awaits a definitive biography.[18]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 83-04-00148-9
    , p. 818
  2. ISBN 978-83-89243-63-8
    . Retrieved 2 January 2012. Niejasne jest jednak, czy w ogóle posiadał święcenia kapłańskie, z pewnością pędził jednak świecki tryb życia.
  3. ^
    Encyklopedia WIEM
    . Accessed on 2 January 2012.
  4. ^
    ISBN 83-04-00148-9
    , p. 819
  5. ISBN 978-0-520-09043-9
    . Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  6. ^
    Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe
    , 1975, p. 505.
  7. ^
    ISBN 83-04-00148-9
    , p. 820
  8. ^
    ISBN 83-04-00148-9
    , p. 821
  9. ISBN 978-0-19-925033-2
    . Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  10. ^
    ISBN 83-04-00148-9
    , p. 822
  11. ^
    ISBN 83-04-00148-9
    , p. 823
  12. ^
    ISBN 978-1-881284-09-3
    . Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  13. ISBN 978-83-02-04615-5
    . Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  14. ^
    ISBN 83-04-00148-9
    , p. 824
  15. ^
    ISBN 83-04-00148-9
    , p. 825
  16. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8014-7447-7
    . Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  17. ^
    ISBN 83-04-00148-9
    , p. 826
  18. ^
    ISBN 83-04-00148-9
    , p. 827
  19. ^ Państwowy Instytut Sztuki (Poland); Politechnika Warszawska. Zakład Architektury Polskiej; Stowarzyszenie Historyków Sztuki (1985). Biuletyn historii sztuki. p. 260. Retrieved 14 August 2011.

Further reading

  • Bozzolato G., Polonia e Russia alla fine del XVIII secolo – Un avvanturerio ornarato: Scipione Piattoli, Padova 1964

External links

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