# Blessed August Czartoryski (1858–1893)

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Salesian priest; uncle of Adam Czartoryski; beatified 2004

We are accustomed to the fact that works of art provoke scandals. However, it rarely happens that this applies to art from hundreds of years ago. Our expectations were recently disturbed by the most famous Polish lady - the "Lady with an Ermine." The acquisition of the Czartoryski collection conducted by Vice-Premier Piotr Gliński in the final days of last year unexpectedly aroused great media interest and debate. These emotions are understandable, because the matter concerns the oldest and most valuable Polish collection. It is certainly also the most famous, because the "Lady with an Ermine" is the only painting in Polish collections that is recognized by audiences around the world.

The discussion centers primarily on the question of whether the Czartoryski collections were safe and whether the foundation could sell them abroad, thus impoverishing national heritage. However, to comprehensively assess the decision regarding the purchase, one must also consider to what extent the existing legal situation created in the early 1990s could ensure rational management of the collections. To understand the essence of the matter, it is worth recalling a few facts about the origins and fate of the collection.

Relics of Sybil
Its initiator - and the figure who stands at the beginning of Polish museology - was Princess Izabela Czartoryska. After the fall of the Kosciuszko Insurrection and the Third Partition, the Princess decided to create a collection of Polish national relics that would testify to the antiquity and greatness of the Commonwealth, as well as a collection of outstanding works of European art. She placed her collection in the Temple of Sybil and the Gothic House in the palace garden in Puławy. Although the most valuable object to be found in Puławy is the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, at the center of the Temple of Sybil was the Royal Casket, which contained relics of Polish rulers and their families, from Sigismund the Old to Stanisław August.

The collections were expanded by the heirs of Izabela Czartoryska. If one takes into account also the archives, containing such valuable national relics as the act of the union of Horodło or the parchment of homage to Prussia, they can safely be considered the oldest and most valuable Polish collection. The collection accompanied the difficult history of the nation, because in 1831 Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski took it out of the country, going into emigration to Paris. Housed in the Prince's residence - the Hôtel Lambert - it was enriched, among other things, by relics connected with the Great Emigration. In 1876 Prince Władysław Czartoryski brought the collection to Kraków, where it was made available to the public as the Museum of the Princes Czartoryski.

But the complicated fate of the collection did not end there. During the Second World War, the Germans plundered the Royal Casket along with the majority of its contents. The Museum also lost the "Portrait of a Young Man" by Raphael, which is considered the greatest - from an artistic value perspective - loss of Polish museology during the occupation. After 1945 the collections were not formally nationalized, but placed under the administration of the Kraków National Museum.

This is where today's problem with the Czartoryski collections begins. Polish state did not decide in 1989 on a comprehensive solution to the issue of reprivatization claims related to property seized by state museums in the 1940s. This process was regulated by court judgments or voluntary agreements.

This is a process about which, until the affair of Warsaw real estate, most were little interested. For museum professionals, court reprivatization proceedings often ended in the loss of valuable objects, compensation, or the necessity to purchase collections from the legal owners. Since in most cases negotiations were conducted by museum directors and did not concern collections as well known as the Czartoryskis, these matters rarely reached the wider public opinion. Above all, they lay and still lie on the shoulders of directors of cultural institutions.

In the case of the Czartoryski collections, the matter seemed resolved already in 1991. Then the Foundation of the Princes Czartoryski was created, which until last December had title to the collection and claims related to it. The collection remained the property of the foundation, but the Museum Czartoryski itself was a branch of the National Museum. The latter currently managed the collections and exercised conservation care, bearing all costs, and additionally paying the foundation rent for the property. The original foundation statute provided that the director of the National Museum was also chairman of the foundation's board.

Everything changed in 2004, when the statute was amended and the functions of chairman of the board and director of the National Museum were separated. This had very significant consequences for the management of the collection. From 2004 onwards, almost every year Kraków media reported disputes, conflicts, and misunderstandings. The Foundation repeatedly engaged in disputes with conservators over the export of the "Lady with an Ermine" for international exhibitions. Kraków was also alarmed by the concept of creating an exhibition in the Czartoryski palace in Puławy and moving the most valuable collections there.

Finally, renovation begun in 2010, which was supposed to end in 2013, got stuck and year after year the prospect of obtaining funds to complete it was postponed. Knowledge of these disputes rarely went beyond the Planty, but the relations between the museum and the foundation, and sometimes also within the foundation's authorities, took on a dramatic turn. Suffice it to say that in the last five years the board changed four times. During one of these changes, police had to intervene, and the frequent foreign trips of the "Lady with an Ermine" interested Polish and international media.

A Troublesome Dual Authority
Let us return, however, to the original questions about assurance of presence in Poland and the efficiency of collection management. Were the Czartoryski collections satisfactorily protected against sale and removal from Poland? Although formally speaking, the statute provided for the inalienability of the collections, the decisive voice in the formation of the foundation's board is held by the foundation council appointed by the founder - the president of the council. This means that if at any moment the founder's rights were inherited by a person determined to monetize the collections, they could find a loophole, for instance by changing the statute, to transfer part of the collection to a long-term foreign deposit or, indirectly, for example, to transfer the founder president's rights for remuneration.

Any dispute on this matter could be resolved by courts, whose judgment would not be obvious, even if the matter fell within the exclusive jurisdiction of Polish courts. What if there were accomplished facts, and the depositary or new founder proved to be a wealthy person from a country whose political and legal system could differ greatly from the Polish, for example from the Persian Gulf or the Far East. A legal dispute could then be conducted indefinitely and not necessarily according to Polish legislation.

However, even if someone considers the problem of the ownership of the "Lady with an Ermine" to be satisfactorily solved, the question of current management remains. This problem existed for many years and resulted from a faulty legal structure - with no prospect of improvement.

Let us imagine that the ministry allocates another 30 million zlotys for museum renovation, and the foundation decides to move the most valuable objects to Puławy. A legal structure in which someone else makes strategic decisions about the collections while someone else bears financial and legal responsibility was faulty at least from the moment when the functions of the foundation's board chairman and the director of the National Museum were separated. In cases of dual authority, disputes and conflicts usually arise - even with the best will of everyone.

The rule is that the fate of great private collections is regulated long-term in three ways. In the USA such a museum usually remains private, and then - like the Frick Collection in New York - seeks funds for its maintenance on its own. In Europe, a collection, if there are no direct heirs or they cannot afford to maintain it, usually is donated to the state. This happened with the Wallace Collection in London. It also happens - if the owner does not agree to hand over the collection - that the collection is purchased by the state. This was the case with the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, which the Spanish government paid 350 million dollars for in 1999.

In the discussion on the acquisition of the Czartoryski collections, the question of precedent also appears. And again: it is not true that the purchase of historic monuments and collections in Poland has not taken place before. Decisions to purchase cultural property were made many times by local government authorities. This happened, among others, a few years ago with the palace in Kozłówka and its furnishings, purchased by the authorities of the Lubelskie Province, and last year with the Zamoyski Palace purchased by the authorities of the Jarosław County. Much more often, state institutions, using financial support from the ministry or local governments, concluded settlements, paying to leave collections seized in the 1940s in their collections.

I am far from the reluctance toward private property which has been growing in recent years both on the right and on the left. Neither reason nor existing museum practice in the world is opposed to private property and the sense of developing private collections. However, dual authority in the Czartoryski Museum was a Gordian knot impossible to untangle. The decision to purchase is cutting that knot. It is good that it was made.

The author is a historian and publicist. In the 1980s he was active in the opposition Young Poland Movement, in the 1990s he edited, among others, the magazines "Debata" and "Conservative Quarterly." In 2001-2002 he was vice-director of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. Since 2006 he has headed the Museum of Polish History.

PRAYER for the beatification of Father August Czartoryski Priest of the Congregation of the Salesians, blessed by Father John Bosco.

O most beloved Jesus! You, who called blessed those poor in spirit, deign to glorify Your faithful Servant Priest August Czartoryski, who out of love for You became poor from the wealthy, and from one mighty in the world became a humble disciple of Father Bosco, sanctifying himself through the observance of monastic vows, love of suffering, and continual union with God.

Glorify him with the praise of holiness on earth, as You crowned him with the crown of glory in heaven, and through his intercession deign to grant us the graces for which we humbly beseech You.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

We permit printing. Przemyśl, January 20, 1931.

† Anatol Bishop of Przemyśl

Servant of God FATHER AUGUST CZARTORYSKI of the Congregation of Salesians b. August 2, 1858 fell asleep in the Lord April 2, 1892

Queen of the Crown of Poland, pray for us

Saint Stanislaus, pray for us Saint Casimir, pray for us Saint Andrew Bobola, pray for us

Whoever, through the intercession of Father August Czartoryski, has received from God graces whose prayers were heard is requested to notify the Salesians of this fact.

May God grant that it occur as soon as possible and that he be raised to the altars for the greater glory of God and especially for the edification of our Polish youth.

PRAYER for the acceleration of the beatification of the holy PRINCE AUGUST CZARTORYSKI.

O God, who in Your care for the salvation of souls deigned to give us the holy August Czartoryski, that he might be a model for the rich and powerful, and a comfort to the poor and unfortunate, and might serve all as an example of faith, hope, and charity, and of self-denial, humility, and patience—grant us, we beseech You, that this model and example, established among us through the elevation to the altars of this holy young man and through his recognition by Your Holy Church among those blessed souls through whose intercession we offer You honor here on earth and glorify You in heaven.

For the establishment of political peace in the world, grant us, O God, that through the elevation to the altars of Your holy servant August Czartoryski we may obtain a new and most fervent bond between France and Poland.

For the establishment of social peace in society, grant us, O God, that through the elevation to the altars of Your servant August Czartoryski we may obtain a new example of the most sincere cooperation always existing between the class of wealthy people and the class of poor people.

For the establishment of personal peace in our souls, grant us, O God, that through the elevation to the altars of Your servant August Czartoryski we may obtain a new impulse to seek our happiness only in heaven.

And for the establishment of Your glory on earth, grant us, O God, that through the elevation to the altars of Your servant August Czartoryski we may obtain a new source of mercy and divine graces, which shall support us in our work for the glory of God.

Saint Louis, King of France, Saint Casimir, Prince of Poland, and Saint John Bosco, founder of the Salesians, pray for us and obtain for us the grace of the elevation to the altars of the holy August Czartoryski.

(Persons who believe that through the intercession of the holy August Czartoryski they have received from God some grace are requested to make this known to the mother house of the Salesians in Turin).

Imprimatur, Paris, May 20, 1935,

† Eugene Jacques Bishop of Tralles.

SOUVENIR FROM THE PARISH OF SAINT LOUIS ON THE ISLAND IN PARIS

where he was born and baptized

Servant of God FATHER AUGUST PRINCE CZARTORYSKI priest of the Congregation of Saint John Bosco 1858-1893

Prince August Francis Czartoryski was born in the "Hotel Lambert," on the Île Saint-Louis in Paris on August 2, 1858, and was baptized on August 5 of that year.

He belonged to one of the most distinguished families in Poland. Through his father, Prince Władysław Czartoryski, he descended from the family once related through Saint Casimir, prince of Poland. Through his mother Maria Cristina, daughter of the Queen of Spain and granddaughter of Ferdinand, King of both Sicilies, he descended from the family once related to Saint Louis, King of France.

From his earliest childhood he distinguished himself by piety. When his mother died prematurely when he was five years old, this painful loss bound him even more closely to God and deepened in him his devotion to the Blessed Virgin, in whom he sought especially a maternal care.

His orphanhood was sweetened at first by two of his aunts: Countess Iza, from the Czartoryski princes, Działyńska, and Princess Witoldowa, from the Counts Grocholski, Czartoryska.

After his father's second marriage, his true second mother and spiritual confidante became his stepmother, Princess Margaret of Orleans, daughter of the Duke of Nemours and granddaughter of King Louis Philippe of France.

Young Prince August owed much also to his teacher Joseph Kalinowski, who in his youth had been an officer in the Russian army and later entered the Carmelites, shining forth with the brilliance of extraordinary virtues.

In the tenth year of his life, young Prince August began his school studies at the Lycée Charlemagne in Paris, but the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 soon interrupted them. He was taken then to Poland, where in Sieniawa at the castle he prepared for his first Holy Communion throughout the entire year.

This First Holy Communion in Poland was an event of immeasurable importance in his spiritual life. He soon returned to Paris to continue his studies at the Lycée Charlemagne, but his weak health did not permit him to pursue them regularly.

He was taken to the Riviera, then to Italy, then again to Algeria and to Egypt.

He was educated as a consequence primarily privately under the guidance of his own teacher.

While in Italy he was presented to Pope Pius IX, from whom he received a special blessing.

Before departing for Algeria, he was for a time a guest of his cousin, King Alfonso XII, in Spain.

After returning from Paris, he became acquainted with the holy priest John Bosco, who in April 1883 was invited as a guest to the Hôtel Lambert.

From the first moment of their meeting a bond of connection was forged between these chosen souls, a bond that endured until death.

Young Prince August from his earliest childhood had no inclination toward the world, nor toward any earthly honors, nor toward riches, but from the moment of his meeting with Saint John Bosco he clearly understood his calling—to dedicate himself solely to God and to give his life to prayer and service to those in need and suffering.

He was then 25 years of age. After Father Bosco's departure from Paris he left as well to follow him to Turin. However, the holy founder of the Congregation of Salesians desired for a long time first to test the steadfastness of his holy pupil, and it was only on July 14, 1887 that he admitted him to the Oratory of Saint Francis de Sales for the novitiate.

A few weeks later, on September 2 (4), Prince August Czartoryski donned the Salesian clerical habit. This was the last ecclesiastical ceremony in which Saint John Bosco personally took part before his death. A few days later Saint John Bosco gave his soul to God.

After his death, Prince August Czartoryski thought of nothing else but fulfilling the testament left to him—to become a saint.

Completely detached from all that is earthly and does not serve God's glory and the good of neighbor, he observed the monastic rule of the Congregation of Salesians so meticulously that one of his companions justly said concerning it that should the constitutions of the congregation be lost, they could very easily be restored anew by copying the life of Prince August in that period.

Devotion especially to the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, along with the goodness, humility, and patience of Prince August, built up his companions in the Congregation at every step.

On October 2, 1888, Prince August pronounced his monastic vows into the hands of Father Michael Rua, the first successor of Saint John Bosco in the leadership of the congregation, and began his theological studies.

But the health of Prince August was steadily declining. On April 2, 1892, he was ordained a priest. However, immediately after celebrating his first Mass, it was evident to all that he would not be given the grace to celebrate it long on earth, for his soul was already fully mature for God, and God would soon call it to Himself.

Indeed, a year later, on April 8, 1893, Prince August Czartoryski fell asleep in the Lord happily and passed into eternity.

By then he was already too weak to be able to celebrate Mass as he desired, but he received Holy Communion, after being anointed with Holy Oil and receiving a special papal blessing, without agony—peacefully, quietly, as he had lived, so he went to his reward in heaven.

His remains were brought from Turin to Sieniawa in Poland and buried in the family graves.

The graces and miracles, of which many have already been obtained through his intercession, prompted the beginning of the so-called informative process in Rome for the purpose of his beatification.