Elzbieta Magdalena Oginskaya (in the first marriage - Gelgud, in the second - Puzynina; d. In 1767 , Luchay ) - the countess, a representative of the famous princely family of Oginsky . Well-known philanthropist, patroness of sciences.
| Elzbieta Magdalena Oginskaya | |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
| A country | |
| Father | |
| Spouse | |
Content
Family
Father - the great hetman of Lithuania Prince Grigory Anthony Oginsky .
Brothers and sisters:
Aniela Oginskaya, wife of the stolnik Braslavsky Felix Paris;
Efrosinya Oginskaya (d. C. 1765), wife from 1726, the elders of Vileika and Pinsk Peter Pats (d. 1756);
Jan Oginsky (d. 1710), the great Lithuanian cook and elder Mstibovsky;
Casimir Martian Oginsky (d. 1727), the great capital of Lithuania, the headman of Mstibovsky.
Nephew: Andrey Oginsky - Ambassador to St. Petersburg, Vienna, Berlin. The son of Andrei Oginsky was a famous politician and composer Mikhail Kleofas Oginsky .
Husbands: 1st husband Kazimir Gelgud, 2nd husband Prince Anthony Mikhail Puzyna .
Charity
Elzbieta Magdalena was a highly educated woman and was the guardian of sciences. Astronomical observations were made in her Luchai estate to determine the geographical position.
In 1755 , Elzbieta Puzynina presented her estate Luchay to her brother (according to other sources - her second cousin) Tadeusz Oginsky .
In 1755, Elzbieta Oginski donated a significant amount to create an astronomical cabinet at the Vilnius Jesuit Academy . Subsequently, the office turned into a real observatory, the activity of which the countess supported financially.
Since 1766 , she annually transferred interest in the amount of 6,000 zlotys from her savings to the needs of the Academy. In addition, she donated 3,000 zlotys in cash. For these purposes, she sold her estates in the Sandomierz Voivodeship. The funds were used to purchase astronomical instruments in England.
In 1766, Elžbieta Puzyna handed over a house in Luchay for the Jesuit mission, which operated under the Luchaysky Church. The countess also donated 160,000 zlotys to the Jesuit mission and allocated two land plots for the construction of a new house and a church in honor of St. Tadeusz Apostal . The Jesuit Order General Lorenzo Ricci ordered all his monks to sing in special prayers the generosity of the guardian.
The life path of Elzbiet Magdalena ended in the Luchai estate. Buried in Vilna .
The image of the countess in literature
The countess’s image was immortalized in Adam Mickiewicz’s poem “ Pan Tadeusz ”, in which one of the heroes Pan Podkomori talked about the rich and generous patriot Puzynina, who financed the purchase of a telescope and supported the “temple of science” ( Vilnius Observatory ) at the expense of peasant taxes.
Countess Portraits
In the Vilnius Observatory, two portraits of Elzbieta Puzyn were kept - at a young and old age (brushes of the Vilnius artist of the second half of the 18th century Ignatius Eggenfelder ). Above the main entrance of the observatory was a bas-relief with its profile and monogram.
In the engraving department of the Museum of Antiquities in Vilna there was another portrait of E. Puzyn with a Latin inscription, in which she expressed gratitude to the Jesuit Academy.
In the Luchai Church until the mid 70's. Twentieth century were portraits of Elzbieta and Anthony Puzyn. Presumably, portraits were painted on canvas in 1746 - 1752 .
On both portraits in the upper left corner is a coat of arms: against the background of an ermine mantle under the princely crown, an Italian (oval) shield, horizontally divided into two parts. In the upper part of the shield on a red background is depicted George the Victorious, who kills a serpent with a spear. In the lower part on a blue background there is an image of the coat of arms “ Oginets ”, a generic symbol of the Oginsky and Bubbles.
The portrait of Elzhba Oginskaya (Puzyn), measuring 67x54 cm, is perfectly preserved. The hand of a talented artist captured the image of an aristocrat in luxurious decoration. The master managed to portray the features of a domineering female face with compressed thin lips. Under the emblem in three rows it was written in Polish: “Elżbieta z Xiążat Ogińskich Xiężna Puzynina Kasztelanowa Mścisławska” (Princess Elzbiet Oginsky Princess Puzynina, the coughcloth Mstislavskaya).
The second portrait, which is much worse preserved, depicts an elderly bald man in knightly armor with a good-natured face and humor in his eyes - an obvious sanguine person, a lover of life. The portrait was signed as follows: “Antoni z Kozielska Xiąże Puzyna Kasztelan Mścisławski” (Anthony from Kozelsk, Prince Puzyna Kashtelyan Mstislavsky).
In 1992 , the portraits were restored and transferred to the Vitebsk Art Museum.
Literature
- Zyamchonak I. Behold. Gistoryya little puppy, little mantle and wax (1542 - 1998). - Pastes: Sumezha. - 2004.