Związki Ambrożego Grabowskiego z Towarzystwem Naukowym Krakowskim

Abstract

AMBROŻY GRABOWSKI’S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE KRAKOW SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY

Ambroży Grabowski (1782–1868), elected an active member of the Krakow Learned Society (TNK) on March 18, 1837, made every effort to ensure that scholars and creators worthy of this honour were admitted to its ranks. Thanks to him, Antoni Oleszczyński, an engraver, and Wojciech Albert Sowiński, a pianist and composer, were accepted as correspondents of the TNK. The article shows Ambroży Grabowski as a donor to the Society. His sponsorship includes monetary donations, works of his own authorship, archival material and artefacts collected and gathered by him over the years. This eminent enthusiast of Krakow’s history, science and culture enriched the Society’s book collection by donating his publications: Dawne grobowiska znajdywane w krakowskim (Old graveyards found in the Krakow area, 1852), Początek iconografii naszej (The beginning of our iconography, 1858), Zbiórka pomniejszych wiadomości w dziedzinie sztuk nadobnych (A collection of minor information on the fine arts, 1859), and Przewodnik do grobów królów polskich (A guide to the graves of Polish kings, 1868). Ambroży Grabowski collected and donated a very extensive collection of various documents, manuscripts, old prints, calendars, maps and engravings. The most numerous gifts to the Society were made in 1862. On 4 March 1868, Ambroży Grabowski’s 86th birthday, a delegation from TNK, comprising Józef Majer, Wincenty Pol and Józef Łepkowski, presented him with a commemorative photographic tableau of Warsaw editors, printers and booksellers. Two source documents, Ambroży Grabowski’s autobiography and testament, which he donated to the Krakow Learned Society, are attached to the article.