Leandro Marconi (1834–1919) was a Polish architect, active mainly in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. His father was

Enrico Marconi Enrico Marconi, known in Poland as Henryk Marconi (7 January 1792 in Rome – 21 February 1863 in Warsaw), was an Italian- Polish architect who spent most of his life in Congress Poland. Initially he was taught by his father Leander, later on, be ...

, also a famed architect associated with that city, while his cousin was

Leonard Marconi Leonard Marconi (Warsaw, 6 October 1835 – 1 April 1899, Lemberg) was a Polish architect and sculptor active in Warsaw and in Austrian Galicia, notably Lemberg (Lwów, now Lviv, Ukraine). Life Leonard Marconi was born on 6 October 1835 in Warsaw ...

, a sculptor. He was born Leandro Jan Ludwik Marconi on 23 April 1834 in Warsaw, then in

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

. His father

was a noted architect, who moved to Poland in 1822 and settled in Warsaw, while his mother was Małgorzata () née Heiton, a lady of Scottish descent.

Biography

Marconi graduated from the local gymnasium in Warsaw and started career as an architect under the tutelage of his father. Initially both Marconis collaborated at the construction of the expensive

Hotel Europejski Raffles Europejski Warsaw, commonly known as Hotel Europejski (''The European Hotel''), is a historic 5-star hotels, five-star luxury hotel located in the city centre of Warsaw, Poland. At the time of its opening in 1857 it was one of the most mod ...

(1856–1859). He also collaborated with his father and Jan Kacper Heurich at the construction of a parochial church in

Wilanów Wilanów () is a dzielnica, district of the city of Warsaw, Poland. It is home to historic Wilanów Palace, the "Polish Palace of Versailles, Versailles," and second home to various List of Polish rulers, Polish kings. Wilanów is home to many v ...

(1857–1860). His first major project was a

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

built for a mighty Rau family of entrepreneurs, financed by Wilhelm Ellis Rau. The building (finished in 1868) was considered successful and soon Marconi's career started for good. Until the end of the decade he authored, among others, the plan of refurbishment of his father's villa at Ujazdów Av. (dubbed "palace under the artichoke"), the monumental seat of

Bank Handlowy Bank Handlowy w Warszawie S.A. (BHW, ), rebranded Citibank Handlowy in 2003 and Citi Handlowy in 2007, is a Polish bank based in Warsaw, Poland. It is one of the oldest banks in Poland, the 10th largest Polish bank by assets, and 18th in terms of ...

(1873), house of

Stanisław Zamoyski Stanisław Zamoyski (1519–1572) was a Polish nobleman (szlachcic). He was Łowczy of Chełmno since 1561, castellan of Chełmno since 1566, Court Hetman of the Crown and starost of Belz. He was married to Anna Herburt and had three child ...

, and a villa for

Sobański The Sobański, plural: Sobańscy, feminine form: Sobańska is a Polish noble family. The family originated from Masovia, taking their name from the village Sobania and Sobanice in the land of Wyszogród and Ciechanów. Connected with the families ...

family (1877). The best-known of his designs - the Great Synagogue in Warsaw - was commissioned in 1877, after two successive architectural competitions were unsuccessful. Around that time Marconi also built a

renaissance revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

palace for Konstanty Zamoyski at

Foksal Street Foksal Street (; from Vauxhall) is a street in central Warsaw, Poland. Situated within the Śródmieście, Warsaw, Śródmieście (Downtown) borough, it extends from Nowy Świat to the Konstanty Zamoyski Palace, Zamoyski Palace and is a dead end ...

, a Branicki family residence in the

Frascati Frascati () is a city and in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated with science, ...

Gardens and numerous palaces and churches outside of Warsaw. For many years he supervised the reconstruction of the

Wilanów Palace Wilanów Palace (, ) is a former royal palace located in the Wilanów district of Warsaw, Poland. It was built between 1677 and 1696 for the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania John III Sobieski according to a design by architect Augustyn ...

, the summer residence of

Polish kings Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Royal elections in Poland, free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electab ...

. He is also said to be the author of

Nożyk Synagogue The Nożyk Synagogue () is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 6 Twarda Street, in the Śródmieście district of Warsaw, in the Masovian Voivodeship of Poland. Designed by Karol Kozłowski in the Romanesque Revival and ...

, though his authorship is not certain. He died on 8 October 1919 in

Montreux Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...

Gallery

File:Warsawsynagoga1.jpg, Model of the Great Synagogue in Warsaw Image:Pałacyk Raua w Warszawie 2021.jpg, Rau Palace
(rebuilt 1948-1949) Image:PL Warsaw Pałac Branickich skarpa.jpg, Little White Palace in Frascati Street Image:Palac Sobanskich Wwa Ujazdowskie.JPG, Sobańskis palace, Warsaw Image:Synagoga Nożyków w Warszawie 2020.jpg,

Image:Warszawa palaczamoyskiego 002.jpg, Konstanty Zamoyski palace, Warsaw Image:Bebrenes muiza.JPG,

Bebrene Manor Bebrene Manor (, , ) is a manor house in Bebrene, Bebrene Parish, Augšdaugava Municipality, in the Selonia region of Latvia. Commissioned by Count Stanisław Kostka Plater-Zyberk and built in French neo-Renaissance style in the late 19th centur ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

External links

Gallery of selected works by Marconi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marconi, Leandro Marconi,Leandro 1834 births 1919 deaths Polish people of Italian descent Polish people of Scottish descent