Aleksander Branicki (1821 – 20 October 1877) was a Polish traveller, collector, and naturalist. He was a member of the Polish aristocratic family: House of Branicki (Korczak). He owned Sucha castle.

Life and work

Branicki was born in Byla Tserkva (now in Ukraine) to Władysław Grzegorz and Róża née Potocki. He grew up in

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and for his participation in the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

, he was sent by the Tsarist authorities to

Saratov Saratov ( , ; , ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River. Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the List of cities and tow ...

and then banished from his home. In 1843 he inherited the fortunes of his father and moved to purchase Sucha Castle in Beskid Makowski (then part of Galicia) from Ludwik Filip de Saint-Genois. He then took an interest in travelling around the world beginning with expeditions to Egypt and Nubia. His collections included four mummies from Egypt including one that was donated to the museum in Vilnius. Along with his brother Konstanty, they established a large collection of natural history specimens. Branicki also took an interest in photography and horses. On 9 March 1871 he was titled a count by Russia. Branicki married Nina Anna Hołyńska (1824–1907) of the Klamry family and they had a son, Władysław (1848-1914). He died in Nice.

References

External links

Sucha art collection
Polish naturalists

Aleksander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are A ...

1821 births 1877 deaths Place of birth missing 19th-century Polish landowners {{Poland-noble-stub