An international academic conference titled “Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski – Statesman, Emigrant, Patron” will take place at the National Museum in Kraków on 28–30 May this year. The event is organised by the National Museum in Kraków along with Vilnius University Library, marking the first phase of a cooperation agreement between these institutions aimed at exchanging experience and knowledge in the field of Polish and Lithuanian historical research and disseminating knowledge about the culture and traditions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski (1770–1861) was a prominent nobleman of the 19th century in the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He made a significant contribution to the development of education in the former lands of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, supported Vilnius University, and promoted culture in Lithuania. Czartoryski was the first curator of reorganized Vilnius University and Vilnius Educational District.
Following the November Uprising of 1830–1831, Adam Jerzy Czartoryski became the ideological leader of the conservative wing of Polish émigrés and the founder of Hotel Lambert, their political and cultural hub. The nobility’s political movement sought to restore the independence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth through diplomatic means, and rallied compatriots who had emigrated after the Uprising (mostly to France). When many Polish intellectuals, politicians, and military officers lived in exile or emigration, Czartoryski played a significant role in their lives by assisting in their struggle for a dignified life, in preserving national identity, in protecting themselves from hunger and disease, in fighting for a humane existence, and in trying to find their place in society. The prince used his connections to improve the emigrants’ difficult situation. Many education-seeking emigrants also turned to the prince for help. Several thousand letters, requests, copies of replies, letters to French authorities, and official and “not that official” correspondence serve as excellent testimony to this activity.
Adam Jerzy Czartoryski’s multiple activities, his role in politics, and his commitment to national heritage allow us to revisit once more this public figure who rendered outstanding service to Poland. The conference organisers hope that the event will offer a fresh perspective on the prince’s life and work, providing a space for discussion and reflection on his life and activities in the context of the latest research.
The conference programme: here
The conference will be held both in person and online:
- Attend in person at the National Museum in Kraków as a listener: registration link. Registration is completed.
- Remote (online) participation as a listener: broadcast link – https://www.youtube.com/@2012MNK/streams
More information: here
The conference is held within the framework of the project: “The Princes Czartoryski Library– Expansion and Reconstruction of a Branch of the National Museum in Kraków”. The project is co-financed by the European Union with funds from the European Regional Development Fund within the framework of the European Funds for Infrastructure, Climate, Environment 2021-2027, PRIORITY VII: Culture, Area 1: Development of cultural infrastructure (historic and non-historic).
2026-05-19