Polish magnate and politician
Princess Anna Paulina Jabłonowska née Sapieha (22 June 1728, Wołpa - 7 February 1800) was a Polish magnate and politician. She was known for her remarkable activity on her estates, in which she introduced social inventions as well as industry. She was also known for her scientific interests, and possessed a naturalist collection famed in contemporary Europe. She has been referred to as one of the most significant women of 18th-century Poland.
Life.
Princess Anna Jabłonowska was the daughter of Prince Kazimierz Leon Sapieha (1697–1738) and his wife, Princess Karolina Teresa Radziwill (1707-1765). In 1750, she married Prince Jan Kajetan Jabłonowski (1699-1764), governor of Bracław.
Political activity.
After having been widowed in 1764, Anna Jabłonowska actively engaged in Polish politics. She belonged to the opposition of king Stanisław August Poniatowski and supported the Bar Confederation (1768-1772) at the courts of Vienna and Paris, where she travelled in 1769 to act as an informal diplomat, returning to Poland in 1771. After the failure of the Bar Confederation, however, she acknowledged its defeat, reconciled with the king and retired from political life to concentrate on her domains.
Social action and entrepreneurship.
Anna Jabłonowska devoted herself to managing her domains as a magnate. She followed a policy of social action to improve the life of the population in the cities and villages on her estates. She abolished Socage in favour of Quit-rent for the peasants and other tenants, built hospitals and founded textile and other factories. Because of her concern for efficient management in her vast domains, she developed a system of procedures to clarify the duties of officials employed in Siemiatycze, Kock and Wysocko.
She was particularly interested in developing the cities of Podlasie, Volhynia, Siemiatycze and Kock. In Siemiatycze, she founded a government building, a printing press, a Midwifery school and factories, making Siemiatycze a regional trading and industrial center. She also introduced a type of "loan fund" for peasants.
Scientific activity.
In Kock, she rebuilt the existing palace to an impressive residence, which she made in to a center of science. Known for her interest in science, Anna Jabłonowska invited foreign scientists to Kock, which became famous in contemporary Europe for her library and naturalist collection, referred to as one of the best in Europe.