Emeryk August Hutten-Czapski

Emeryk August, Count Hutten-Czapski (born 21 August 1897 in Stankow, Minsk Governorate, died 31 January 1979 in Rome, Italy), was a Polish aristocrat, politician, military officer, diplomat and Bailiff of the Polish Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Emeryk August Hutten-Czapski, descended from a long line of nobles who contributed much to Poland's political and cultural life. His father was Count Karol Hutten-Czapski (1860-1904), President of Minsk, and his mother was Maria Leontyna Pusłowska (1870-1965). His grandfather was Count Emeryk Hutten-Czapski, renowned collector and numismatist, founder of The Emeryk Hutten-Czapski Museum in Kraków. Emeryk was adopted by a second cousin twice removed, Count Bogdan Hutten-Czapski, who had no issue, was very wealthy, and was a prominent and controversial figure in Polish politics. Józef Czapski, the painter, and Maria Czapska, the writer, were his first cousins. Emeryk had two sisters: Elżbieta (1895-1930) married to Count Aleksander Piotr Mohl, and Fabianna (1895-1974), married to Józef Godlewski. Life before the War Hutten-Czapski lost his father in 1904, when he was seven years old. He was sent to boarding school at the Benedictine boarding school in Ettal, Bavaria, Germany. After graduation he studied law at the university in St Petersburg. In 1919 he worked for the Hoover Food Mission of the American Relief Administration in Warsaw, and in 1920 he was placed in charge of the religious and ethnic affairs of Minsk. After this he worked in administration at the headquarters of the Fourth Army under General Leonard Skierski. From 1921 to 1923 he was named Starosta of the town of Stowbtsy. In 1922 three bombs were thrown into his bedroom, only one exploded, and he survived the assassination attempt. He settled on his Synkowicze estate, near the district of Słonim. He was very active in community affairs. From 1925 to 1931 he was involved in the Landowners Association. From 1933 to 1939 he was adviser to the Board of Agriculture of Vilnius. He represented the Nowogródek Voivodeship, as deputy in the Sejm (Parliament), for two terms, between 1930 and 1935. He was involved in various other associations and economic trade delegations and commissions. He was accepted into the Polish Knights of Malta in 1932.