Ignacy Potocki

Who was Ignacy Potocki?

Count Roman Ignacy Franciszek Potocki, generally known as Ignacy Potocki, was a Polish nobleman, member of the influential magnate Potocki family, owner of Klementowice and Olesin, a politician, writer, and office holder. He was the Marshal of the Permanent Council in 1778–1782, Grand Clerk of Lithuania from 1773, Court Marshal of Lithuania from 1783, Grand Marshal of Lithuania from 16 April 1791 to 1794.

He was an educational activist, member of the Commission of National Education and the initiator and president of Society for Elementary Textbooks. He was an opponent of king Stanisław August Poniatowski in the 1770s and 1780s, and a major figure in the Polish politics of that era. During the Great Sejm he was a leader of the Patriotic Party and the reform movement and eventually backed the King in many reform projects. An advocate of a pro-Prussian orientation, he helped conclude an alliance with Prussia in 1790. He co-authored the Constitution of 3 May 1791.