Jump to content

August Czartoryski

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by GreenC bot (talk | contribs) at 17:43, 17 November 2016 (3 archive templates merged to {{webarchive}} (WAM)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

August Czartoryski
Blessed August Czartoryski
Coat of armsCzartoryski coat of arms
BornAugust 2, 1858
Paris, France
DiedApril 8, 1893(1893-04-08) (aged 34)
Alassio, Italy
Noble familyCzartoryski
FatherWładysław Czartoryski
MotherMaria Amparo, Countess of Vista Alegre

Blessed August Franciszek Maria Anna Józef Kajetan Czartoryski, Duke of Vista Alegre[1] (1858–1893) was a Prince of the Polish Czartoryski family, born in Paris during the family's exile. A sickly child, he spent much of his youth being shuttled to various health spas. He was accompanied and tutored by a Polish patriot, Father Raphael Kalinowski, a man who was later canonized. Prince August also turned to the priesthood, and after dying at a relatively young age of tuberculosis, was himself beatified, on the path towards becoming a saint.

Biography

Prince August was born in Paris, the only child of Prince Ladislaus (Władysław) Czartoryski and Princess María Amparo, Countess of Vista Alegre (daughter of Maria Christina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Queen of Spain, and her secret husband Agustín Fernando Muñoz, Duke of Riánsares).[2]

The Czartoryski magnate was one of the most powerful families in Poland during the 18th century, but in the 19th century they were exiled from Poland by the Russians, and had their base of operations at the Hôtel Lambert in Paris.

To his family, the young prince was known as "Gucio". He was a sickly child, having contracted tuberculosis from his mother at the age of 6 (she later died of the disease, leaving him her title of Count of Vista Alegre). Much of his life was spent being shuttled to different health spas in mountains and along beaches that had "good air" for the afflicted. From the age of 10 to 17 he studied in Paris and Kraków.

Tutored by the future Saint Raphael Kalinowski

In 1872, when Gucio was 14, his father Prince Ladislaus remarried to Marguerite Adélaïde, and had two more sons in 1872 and 1876. A tutor was hired for Gucio in 1874—Joseph Kalinowski, a Polish patriot who had just returned to Poland from a ten-year sentence in Siberia.[3] Joseph also suffered from respiratory ailments, and accompanied Gucio to many of his destinations. In a letter to his sister Mary, Joseph wrote that he was "father, mother, nurse, brother, companion and caretaker" for the boy. Joseph and August remained close companions until 1877, when Joseph joined the religious order of the Discalced Carmelites and took the name "Raphael of St. Joseph". He was declared a saint by Pope John Paul II in 2004.

Career

It was Prince Ladislaus's desire that his son Gucio pursue a diplomatic career, but the young prince felt a different calling. He was encouraged by Pope Leo XIII to follow Don Bosco (later Saint John Bosco) of the Salesians.

In 1887, after meeting Don Bosco, Gucio joined that order in Turin, with the ailing Bosco's blessing. He studied theology and philosophy but his health continued to decline. On April 2, 1892 he was ordained as a priest by the Bishop of Ventimiglia, though his family discouraged this, and refused to attend the ceremony. He died only a year later, on April 8, 1893, in Alassio, Italy, of tuberculosis, at the age of 34.

He had been created Duke of Vista Alegre in 1876. The title was inherited by his eldest sister's son.

Veneration

Relics of August Czartoryski, in Przemyśl, Poland

On February 14, 1921 the process for his beatification began, and on the 24 of April 2004, he was beatified by Pope John Paul II, the next step towards becoming a Saint.[4] His remains are currently in Przemyśl, Poland.

Blessed August Czartoryski
Beatified
Born August 2, 1858, Paris
Died April 8, 1893, Italy
Venerated in December 1, 1978
Beatified April 24, 2004

Ancestry

Family of August Czartoryski
16. August Aleksander Czartoryski
8. Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski
17. Maria Zofia Sieniawska
4. Adam Jerzy Czartoryski
18. Georg Detlev von Flemming
9. Izabela Fleming
19. Antonina Czartoryska
2. Władysław Czartoryski
20. Józef Sapieha
10. Aleksander Antoni Sapieha
21. Teofila Jabłonowska
5. Anna Zofia Sapieha
22. Andrzej Zamoyski
11. Anna Zamoyska
23. Konstancja Czartoryska
1. August Czartoryski
24. Francisco Javier Muñoz y Carrillo de Torres
12. Juan Antonio Muñoz y Funes, Count of Retamoso
25. Eugenia Dorotea Funes y Martínez
6. Agustín Fernando Muñoz, Duke of Riánsares
26. Gabriel Antonio Sánchez y Ordóñez
13. Eusebia María Sánchez y Ortega
27. María Ortega y Campos
3. María Amparo Muñoz, Countess of Vista Alegre
28. Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
14. Francis I of the Two Sicilies
29. Maria Carolina of Austria
7. Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies
30. Charles IV of Spain
15. María Isabella of Spain
31. Maria Luisa of Parma

Notes

  1. ^ family tree at thepeerage.com (lists his name as Francisek Czartoryski)
  2. ^ Vatican press release about Czartoryski's beatification Archived September 20, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Vatican biography Archived September 20, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Catholic News Archived March 22, 2006, at the Wayback Machine - Pope presides at beatification of six

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Augusto Czartoryski.
Spanish nobility
Preceded by Count of Vista Alegre
1864–1876 		Countship elevated
into dukedom
Countship elevated
into dukedom 		Duke of Vista Alegre
1876–1893 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=August_Czartoryski&oldid=750071798"