Adam Broel-Plater

Adam Alfred Gustaw Count Broel-Plater (23 April 1836 – 24 December 1909) was a Polish-Lithuanian noble known as collector and archaeologist. He was also a marshal of nobility of the Vilna Governorate. Biography Adam Alfred Plater was born into the noble Plater family. He inherited the Švėkšna estate from his parents. Later, thanks to his influence at court, despite being Polish, he obtained the right to acquire estates in the Northwestern Krai. He acquired the Vepriai estate with the town and manors of Kowalaki and Bataniszki in the Ukmergė County. Plater sponsored construction of both Roman Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran churches in Švėkšna. After completing his education, he travelled around Western Europe as well as Greece and the Middle East. He became interested in archaeology from an early age. At age 15, he began excavating ancient graves near his family's estate in Švėkšna. In one of the tumulus he discovered seven Egyptian amulets which modern archaeologists cannot explain and suggest that they were brought by the Plater family from Egypt. He also excavated 72 tumuli near Rokantiškės (suburb of Vilnius) and researched tumuli and hillforts in Kernavė. He started collecting souvenirs and monuments connected with the pagan period of the Lithuania and Polish history. He gathered a rich library of Polish old prints and a collection of numismatics. In 1860, he was invited to the Vilnius Archaeological Commission and later to the St. Petersburg Archaeological Society. In 1857 he took up the post of honorary superintendent of the Švenčionys Gymnasium. In 1861, he became the marshal of the Raseiniai County. He took positions loyal to the Russian government and fought the influence of the "whites" in the region. Nevertheless, after the outbreak of the January Uprising, he accepted the nomination for the insurgent chief of the district. After the collapse of the uprising, having a choice of death, he allegedly agreed to become marshal of the Vilna county. In August 1863, together with his father, he was one of the first landowners to sign a pledge of allegiance to the Tsar in Vilnius. Nevertheless, Plater supported the Lithuanian National Revival and is rumored to had smuggled the prohibited Lithuanian press.