M. Piotrowska-Marchewa Nędzarze i filantropi. Problem ubóstwa w polskiej opinii publicznej 1815-1863

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Ilustracja przedstawia portret aktorki Heleny Modrzejewskiej

Ladies from distinguished families, who felt equally comfortable in their estates, in Warsaw, as well as in those in Paris, Vienna or Spa, were very busy with setting new, and improving old, rural and urban residences, completing book collections, posing for portraits as a part of their „household duties”, and travelling. Probably this way, but also, as a result of the personal contacts, blood ties and friendship with the enlightened monarchs, they adopted and spread the nascent trend for introducing the innovative solutions in the field of caring for the poor. In Western Europe, at the turn of the 18th and 19th century, these solutions included: free medical treatment and vaccination against smallpox, feeding those poor who „deserved support”, introducing elementary vocational education by employing in the „charity workshops” people, who were at least partially able to work, including the orphaned children.

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Ilustracja przedstawia salę tronową w Zamku Królewskim w Warszawie. Ściany sali są pozłacane i ozdobione licznymi portretami oraz rzeźbami.

In Poland in the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski, philanthropy developed mainly in Warsaw, as a part of the royal court efforts influenced by the Masonry. Its most important postulate was: „acting for the good of people”. Following the example of the capital, the Masonic lodges were also established in smaller towns, but their activities were limited to collecting contributions to help the poor and the victims of the natural disasters. Sometimes, at the initiative of the members, who were doctors, the free medical assistance was provided to the poor.

The fashion for philanthropy led to the opening of the first in Poland, Warsaw Institute of the Poor. It was opened in 1783, on the initiative of the French general, Freemason Baron Pierre Lefort and Stanisław August Poniatowski. The Institute was a kind of manufacture, managed by a private entrepreneur, who employed the beggars taken from the streets, and the volunteering poor residents of the city. Their work consisted of textile manufacturing and wool spinning.

marchewa Source: M. Piotrowska-Marchewa, Nędzarze i filantropi. Problem ubóstwa w polskiej opinii publicznej 1815-1863, Toruń 2004.