Andrzej Ciechanowiecki

Andrzej Ciechanowiecki was a Polish-British nobleman, diplomat, prisoner and agent of Communist Poland, economist, academic, art historian, philanthropist, art collector, antique dealer, antiquarian and exhibition curator. He was considered an authority on French baroque sculpture in the second half of the 20th century. He was founder of the Ciechanowiecki Foundation at the Royal Castle in Warsaw (1986), Honorary Professor of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Honorary Member or Life Member of many learned societies both British and Polish, FSA, member of the board of trustees of the Royal Castle in Warsaw, and member of the board of the Lanckoroński Foundation. He was also a prominent member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George. His distinctions included the Order of the White Eagle (1998), Grand Cross of Polonia Restituta and war medals, the Gloria Artis Gold Medal, among other awards. ¹ Ciechanowiecki was born in Warsaw in 1924, the only child of Jerzy Stanisław Ciechanowiecki, a Polish diplomat, and Matilda, "Tilly", née Countess Osiecimska-Hutten-Czapska, a prominent figure in the élite social circles of pre-war Warsaw. ¹ On his father's side, he came from an impoverished Masovian noble and senatorial family, established in Belarus, and who had recently lost their landed estates as a result of the Treaty of Riga (1921), when they fell to Soviet control. He had spent his early childhood in Budapest, where his father died at the early age of 37 while working at the Polish embassy, obliging the family to return to Warsaw. There he attended the Mikołaj Rey Primary School followed by the Stefan Batory Gimnazjum & Liceum. The household came to be dominated by his widowed mother and maternal grandmother and their social connections. Ciechanowiecki later attributed his multilingual skills and lifelong academic discipline to their influence. ¹ Ciechanowiecki's war experience was marked by several escapes and arrests. In September 1939, he fled with his family to the east, hoping to reach Romania, but was stopped by the Soviet invasion of Poland. He witnessed the massacre of his relatives, the Skirmunts, by the NKVD in Mołodów. He also helped the Polish soldiers of General Kleeberg during the Battle of Kock. He returned to Warsaw in 1940 and joined the underground resistance movement. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1942 and sent to Auschwitz, where he was tattooed with the number 76543. He survived the camp thanks to his knowledge of languages and his contacts with the Polish intelligentsia. He was liberated by the Red Army in 1945 and joined the Polish diplomatic service. He was sent to London as a cultural attaché, but soon became disillusioned with the communist regime. He defected to the West in 1947 and obtained British citizenship in 1953. ¹ Ciechanowiecki pursued his academic interests in art history and economics at the Jagiellonian University and the University of Tübingen. He also worked as a lecturer at the London School of Economics and the University of Oxford. He became a renowned art dealer and antique dealer, specializing in French baroque sculpture, paintings, furniture, and porcelain. He established his own gallery in London, the Heim Gallery, which organized many exhibitions of European art. He also amassed a large collection of artworks, some of which he donated to various museums and institutions in Poland and abroad. He was especially generous to the Royal Castle in Warsaw, where he founded the Ciechanowiecki Foundation in 1986. The foundation supported the reconstruction and furnishing of the castle, as well as the acquisition of many artworks and historical objects. Ciechanowiecki also contributed to the restoration of other Polish cultural heritage sites, such as the Wawel Castle, the Wilanów Palace, and the Łazienki Palace. He was involved in many charitable and scholarly activities, both in Poland and in the United Kingdom. He was a member of several prestigious organizations, such as the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Society of Antiquaries of London, and the Royal Society of Arts. He was also a knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George. He received many honors and awards for his achievements and contributions, including the highest Polish distinction, the Order of the White Eagle, in 1998. ¹² Ciechanowiecki died in London on 2 November 2015, at the age of 91. He was buried in the crypt of the Church of St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe in Krakow-Mistrzejowice, next to his mother. He never married and had no children. He left his estate to his foundation and to his relatives. He was remembered as a remarkable man, a passionate art lover, a generous benefactor, and a loyal friend of Poland. ¹²³