Prince Kazimierz Nestor Sapieha (1757–1798) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

- Lithuanian noble ( szlachcic) and one the creators of the

3 May Constitution The Constitution of 3 May 1791,; lt, Gegužės trečiosios konstitucija titled the Governance Act, was a constitution adopted by the Great Sejm ("Four-Year Sejm", meeting in 1788–1792) for the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a dual mo ...

Biography

Early life and career

Kazimierz Sapieha was educated at the Knight School in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

from 1767 until 1771, and later studied in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Upon his return he served as Artillery General of Lithuania, from 1773 to 1793. As Deputy from Brzesc Litewski, he participated in several

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

s. Most notably, from 1790 he participated in the

Four-Year Sejm The Great Sejm, also known as the Four-Year Sejm (Polish: ''Sejm Wielki'' or ''Sejm Czteroletni''; Lithuanian: ''Didysis seimas'' or ''Ketverių metų seimas'') was a Sejm (parliament) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that was held in Wars ...

in Warsaw, and became

Sejm Marshal The Marshal of the Sejm , also known as Sejm Marshal, Chairman of the Sejm or Speaker of the Sejm ( pl, Marszałek Sejmu, ) is the speaker (chair) of the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish Parliament. The office traces its origins to the 15th ...

from 6 October 1788 until 29 May 1792, and Marshal of the Lithuanian

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

Politics

An early supporter of the magnate opposition to any liberalization (his uncle

Hetman ( uk, гетьман, translit=het'man) is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders. Used by the Czechs in Bohemia since the 15th century. It was the title of the second-highest military co ...

Franciszek Ksawery Branicki Franciszek Ksawery Branicki (1730–1819) was a Polish nobleman, magnate, French count, diplomat, politician, military commander, and one of the leaders of the Targowica Confederation. Many consider him to have been a traitor who participated wit ...

was its leader), Sapieha changed his position under the influence of Stanisław Małachowski, and became a supporter of reforms, and the

. He strongly protested, when King Stanisław August Poniatowski joined the

Targowica Confederation The Targowica Confederation ( pl, konfederacja targowicka, , lt, Targovicos konfederacija) was a confederation established by Polish and Lithuanian magnates on 27 April 1792, in Saint Petersburg, with the backing of the Russian Empress Cather ...

, and this so angered Sapieha, that he decided to leave Poland. He briefly settled in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

. After the outbreak of the Kościuszko Uprising, he returned to his homeland and participated in the uprising, holding the rank of an Artillery Captain. After the Uprising collapsed, he left Poland again, and spent the rest of his life in exile in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where he died 1798.

Awards

* Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, awarded on January 1, 1779.

References

1757 births 1798 deaths People from Brest, Belarus People from Brest Litovsk Voivodeship Generals of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Kazimierz Nestor Polish generals Members of the Great Sejm Kościuszko insurgents Signers of the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian politicians 18th-century Lithuanian nobility Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) {{Lithuania-noble-stub