Mikhail Cleofas Oginsky: biography. Michal Oginsky Oginsky Mikhail

Mihail Oginskiy Career: Musician
Birth: Poland" Warsaw, 25.9.1765 - 15.10
Mikhail Oginsky is a famous Polish, Belarusian and Russian politician, famous composer, count. Born on September 25, 1765. A significant part of the legacy of Mikhail Oginsky are piano pieces: Polish dances - polonaises and mazurkas, as well as marches, minuets, waltzes, romances.

He took up political activity in 1789. Since 1790, the ambassador of the Commonwealth in Holland, since 1791 in England, in 17931794 - treasurer of the ON. In 1794 he participated in the Belarusian-Polish uprising at the head of the battalion of huntsmen formed by him. After the defeat of the uprising, he emigrated to Constantinople, where he became an active figure in the Belarusian-Polish emigration, then moved to Paris. In Paris, he contacted Talleyrand and the French directory in order to restore the independence of the Commonwealth. After weakening hopes for the restoration of independence and an amnesty announced in 1802, he returned to Russia and settled in the village of Zalesye on the territory of the modern Smorgon region (Belarus). In 1807 he meets with Napoleon in Italy. In 1810, Oginsky moved to St. Petersburg and became a senator of the Russian Empire, actively involved in politics. In 18101812, the entrusted physiognomy of Emperor Alexander I, offers the latter a plan for the creation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as part of the Russian Empire, one that, for all that, was rejected.

In 1817 Oginsky moved to Vilnius. In 1823, his failing health forced him to move to Italy, where he lived for the last 10 years of his life.

The composer's gift manifested itself in Oginsky in the 1790s. In that very period of time, he wrote countless battle songs, marches, polonaises. The most famous was the polonaise Farewell to the Motherland (i) (Oginsky's polonaise) (Pol. Pozegnanie Ojczyzny). A number of researchers still attribute to Oginsky the music of the Polish anthem (Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła). The works of Oginsky gained great popularity among the participants in the uprising of 1794.

In exile, the composer continues his creative work. The only opera by Oginski, Zelida and Valcour, or Bonaparte in Cairo (1799), is associated with the name of Napoleon.

A significant part of his heritage is made up of piano pieces: Polish dances - polonaises and mazurkas, as well as marches, minuets, waltzes, romances.

Michal-Kleofas Oginsky: I'm not a pro in music

Michal-Kleofas Oginsky (17651833) was a diplomat and politician by the nature of his occupation, but from early youth he was fond of music, played many musical instruments excellently, especially the piano, violin, harp and cello, he himself composed polonaises, romances, songs, operas. The polonaises of Oginsky, a well-known diplomat and popular composer, were performed at balls in St. Petersburg at the beginning of the 19th century, and the Viennese, Berlin, Leipzig and other editions of his works were very popular abroad. Michal-Kleofas was born in the Guzow estate near Warsaw, but he himself confirmed the Belarusian, or, as they said then, the Litvinian origin of his family. The family of Michal-Kleofas belonged to the highest aristocratic circles. His father Andrzej Oginsky (17401787) was a senator and ambassador of the Commonwealth in St. Petersburg, Vienna and Berlin, and was born in the Tadulino estate near Vitebsk. And this was not by chance, because from the second half of the 17th century and throughout the entire 18th century, Vitebsk region was one of the centers of residence of representatives of the Oginsky family, who at that time could only be compared with the Radziwill princes in terms of their wealth and influence on the political existence of the Commonwealth.

When Michal-Kleofas was 7 years old, his father was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary of the Commonwealth in Vienna, and the family moved there. However, already a year later, mother, together with the boy, returned to Guzov, and from that time his systematic training began. Together with a French tutor, he studied foreign languages, humanities and exact sciences. To study music, Michal-Kleofas was invited by the then young 16-year-old native of Belarus, and in the future the largest composer Osip Kozlovsky, who taught the boy to play the clavier and violin, and also theory, music history and composition. Together with Kozlovsky, Michal-Kleofas visited in Slonim the residence of his older relative, the well-known philanthropist, composer, violinist, harpist and clarinetist Michal-Kazimir Oginsky. These visits had a great effect on the young man and strengthened his penchant for music.

Having received an excellent education at home and continuing it in Warsaw with the study of mathematics, calligraphy, Romance languages and the works of ancient writers, at the age of 19 Michal-Kleofas Oginsky made a brilliant political career and became a member of the Sejm. Later, he was appointed State Treasurer by the Grand Treasury of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL). At the age of 23, he was awarded the Order of the White Eagle. When the domestic and foreign policy of the Commonwealth became especially complicated, Michal-Kleofas became a diplomat and in 1790, on behalf of the king, he left for Holland as an envoy extraordinary, and then with a special diplomatic mission to London. Interestingly, when he arrived in London and opened the morning newspapers, Michal-Kleofas read the following: Count M.K. Nobody managed to escape. This was the first tale of this kind about Oginsky, after which he would read more than once in the newspapers about his death. The most common version of his death will be that the composer shot himself because of unhappy love at the ball at a time when the orchestra performed his famous polonaise Farewell to the Motherland. In Paris, moreover, an album of Oginsky's polonaises will be released, on the cover of which the composer will be drawn with a pistol pointed to his temple and a carefree couple of dancers nearby. Nothing so surprised and amused me, wrote Michal-Kleofas later, like that very copy. In Germany, his Polonaise was published under the sensational title Polonaise of Death.

However, all this will still be ahead, and for now, little by little, the main interests of Michal-Kleofas are concentrated on music and history. Returning from diplomatic travels, he creates his initial polonaise. He later wrote about it: In the autumn of 1792, I created, or rather improvised, that same polonaise in Warsaw, when for the first time I experienced a sensation caused by love, which lasted for a short time. The feeling was quiet, calm and happy () My second polonaise attracted more attention. Connoisseurs predicted that I would make a reform by developing modulation in polonaises, which are popular in our country only as secular dances, that in polonaises it is allowed to preserve the national temper, embodying in them melodiousness, expressiveness, flavor and feeling.

In March 1794, an uprising began in the Commonwealth, led by Tadeusz Kosciuszko. Count Michal-Kleofas Oginsky is his ardent supporter. He was elected to the National Council, at one of the meetings of which he declared: I give my goods, work and life for the good of the Motherland. At his own expense, he formed a hefty armed detachment, which he himself commanded. He replaced the old coat of arms of the Oginskys with a shield with the motto: Freedom. Persistence. Independence. In one of his letters to his wife Isabella Oginsky, he asked her to be thrifty, because coins are needed for the uprising, for the maintenance of the detachment. He addressed the letter not to the princess, but to the citizen. He called himself a citizen and a soldier of the revolution.

Michal-Kleofas was the head of the rebels in Vilkomir, Sventsyansky and Braslav counties. With a thousand cavalrymen and one and a half thousand infantrymen, he attacked the Dinaburg fortress. However, the attack failed.

At this time, not only the mind and courage of Oginsky, but also his art, are in demand. For my detachment, I wrote a march in my own words. This march has since been performed by many other Poles. I also wrote military patriotic songs that had luck among comrades in arms, aroused heroism, energy and enthusiasm, wrote Michal-Kleofas later.

The selfless and tragic days of the uprising ended in November 1794. General Kosciuszko was seriously wounded, almost the entire Grand Duchy of Lithuania was included in the Russian Empire, only a small share of the land beyond the Neman went to the Prussian kingdom. The Habsburg secret police began to keep a close eye on Oginsky, who took a different surname. Together with his wife, he was forced to emigrate to Italy. For some time he hid in Rome. Arriving in Naples, at the fundamental sunset of the day, he went to the San Carlo Opera House, where else ?! There, due to his short-sightedness, he did not notice the Russian ambassador in the crowd of spectators, with whom he was familiar. The ambassador recognized the prince, and, knowing that he would have to inform the Russian empress about the location of Oginsky, through third parties he warned him of the imminent danger. Oginsky left for Constantinople, followed by Paris, Hamburg, Venice and Warsaw. He still thought about the revival of his homeland, about the restoration of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and counted on the support of Napoleon Bonaparte in this, in whose honor he even wrote the opera Zelis and Valcour, or Bonaparte in Cairo.

The return to their homeland was possible only after the amnesty that followed in 1802. Michal-Kleofas was moreover returned a large number of estates. In 1810, the nobility of the Vilna and Grodno provinces decided to send a representative to the tsar for a meeting on the economic and administrative affairs of the region. Michal-Kleofas Oginsky was elected as this representative. This candidacy was supported by Governor-General Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov. In his opinion, Prince Oginsky was worthy of imperial mercy, despite the fact that, in the way of his thoughts, he had previously been an enemy of Russia. Emperor Alexander I received Oginsky in June 1810 and later appointed him his Privy Councilor and Senator. Michal-Kleofas entered the highest circles of the Russian nobility. In St. Petersburg, he, a well-known political figure, diplomat and popular composer, was desired to be seen in aristocratic salons. Here he also met his former music teacher Osip Kozlovsky, the one who now was the leader of the musical life not only of the royal court, but of the entire capital. (Osip Kozlovsky composed the music of the festive polonaise with the choir Thunder of victory, resound at the celebration given by Prince Potemkin in honor of Catherine II in the Tauride Palace. This work soon became the anthem of the Russian Empire).

Immediately after returning from emigration, Michal-Kleofas settled in the Zalesye estate close to Smorgon, located halfway from Minsk to Vilna. Here he lived for 20 years and turned his native estate into a real civilized middle, whose life was full of musical events. In Zalesie, Michal-Kleofas built a fresh classical-style palace designed by Mikhail Shults, professor of architecture at Vilna University, and painted a park with a greenhouse. Contemporaries called Zalesie Northern Athens. Osip Kozlovsky came here from St. Petersburg, as well as countless musicians and performers. Poets, writers, and also scientists from Vilna University, whose honorary member of the Academic Council Oginsky was elected, also visited here. (It should be noted that historical and natural science collections were replenished with his funds, he donated a telescope and two microscopes to the university).

All the experiences, hopes, doubts of the past years, Oginsky confided to friends and music. Today, about 60 of his piano and vocal works are known, including 26 polonaises, 4 marches, 3 mazurkas, a gallop and a minuet. However, Michal-Kleofas still had, like dogs, uncut, unpublished or published in small editions of works that have not yet been found. According to the Belarusian musicologist and music historian Olga Dadiomova, the creation of the musical tastes of Michal-Kleofas Oginsky was undoubtedly influenced by the impressions received in different countries, for all that, his work is closest to the Slavic musical art. This commonality manifested itself both in the figurative content, and in the musical language of his works, and in their genre orientation.

About the process of creating his works, which were characterized by the features of spontaneity and improvisation, Oginsky himself wrote: Under no circumstances did it occur to me to create a perfect and scientific composition and devote a lot of time to it. An emotional outburst, a feeling of love or friendship, anxiety, and sometimes pain or a deep depression dictated to me the nature of the sounds and modulations that depicted all these emotional experiences and truthfully outlined the state of my soul. I rarely had to make changes to my first improvisation.

For all his musical talent, Michal-Kleofas did not consider himself a professional in music and emphasized the amateur nature of his work. So, in his Letters on Music, he wrote: All I have is a good ear, a deep sense of harmony and taste, which I have brought up in myself by listening and often doing good music. If I managed to compose some little things a few times, marked by the praise of music lovers and famous artists, if they stirred a sensitive heart a couple of times, I cannot attribute this either to outstanding abilities, which I never had in my life, or to a deep knowledge of music.

The life of Michal-Kleofas ended in Florence, where he lived for the last 10 years. He died on October 15, 1833 at 1014 Legnaoli Street, surrounded by his family, his second Italian wife and four children. But, according to his contemporaries, the uncle, who had already become a legend during his lifetime, could hardly audibly leave his life. And then another tale arose about the death of Oginsky. According to her, the existence of the prince ended tragically. When relatives approached the composer, the one who had been standing for a long time at the railing of the terrace of the mansion, they saw that a dagger was sticking out in his chest

Michal-Kleofas was buried in the monastery cemetery near the church of Santa Maria Novella. After some time, the remains of the composer were transferred to the church of Santa Croce, to the pantheon, where Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Galileo rest.

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Representative of the Retovsky branch of the Lithuanian-Polish princely family of the Oginskys (Rurikovichi) of the “Brahma” coat of arms, the only son of the voivode of the Troksky Andrzej Ignacy Oginsky (1740-1787) and Paulina Szembek (d. 1797), the grandson of the voivode of the Troksky Tadeusz Frantisek Oginsky.

Childhood

Michael Cleophas grew up in a highly educated noble family. His uncle, the great Lithuanian hetman Mikhail Kazimir Oginsky, was not only a statesman and military man, but also a great lover of art, in particular music and poetry, and therefore he played several instruments, he himself composed operas, polonaises, mazurkas, songs. Mikhail Kazimir improved the design of the harp and even became the author of an article about the harp in Diderot's Encyclopedia. Young Mikhail Kleofas often came to his uncle's residence in Slonim, there was a theater with opera, ballet and drama troupes, an orchestra, Polish, Italian, French and German operas were staged. His uncle is characterized as a true figure of the Enlightenment, who, in particular, organized a children's school.

Mikhail Cleofas was taught to play the piano by Osip Kozlovsky, a court musician of the Oginsky family, then Giovanni Giornoviki taught him to play the violin, later he improved in Italy with G. B. Viotti and P. M. F. Baio.

Political figure

He took up political activity in 1789.

Since 1790, the ambassador of the Commonwealth in Holland, since 1791 - in Great Britain, in 1793-1794 - treasurer of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1794, he participated in the uprising for the restoration of the independence of the Commonwealth at the head of the battalion of rangers formed by him. After the defeat of the uprising, he emigrated to Constantinople, where he became an active figure in emigration, then moved to Paris. In Paris, he contacted Talleyrand and the French directory in order to restore the independence of the Commonwealth.

After weakening hopes for the restoration of independence and an amnesty announced in 1802, he returned to Russia and settled in the Zalesye estate, where he built an estate and laid out a park (now it is the territory of the Smorgon region of Belarus). In 1807 he meets with Napoleon in Italy.

In 1810, Oginsky moved to St. Petersburg and became a senator of the Russian Empire, actively involved in politics. In 1810-1812, he was a confidant of Emperor Alexander I. He offered the latter a project to create the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as part of the Russian Empire, known as the Oginsky plan, which, however, was rejected.

In 1817 Oginsky moved to Vilna. In 1823, failing health forced him to move to Italy, where he lived for the last 10 years of his life.

Composer

Oginsky's talent as a composer manifested itself in the 1790s. During this period, he wrote numerous martial songs, marches, polonaises. The most famous was the polonaise "Farewell to the Motherland" (Pożegnanie Ojczyzny), better known as Oginsky's polonaise. A number of researchers also attributed to Oginsky the music of the Polish anthem Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła. The works of Oginsky gained great popularity among the participants in the uprising of 1794.

In exile, the composer continued his creative activity. Oginsky's only opera Zelida and Valcour, or Bonaparte in Cairo (1799) is associated with the name of Napoleon.

A significant part of his heritage is made up of piano pieces: Polish dances (polonaises and mazurkas), as well as marches, minuets, waltzes, romances.

Family

Was married twice. In 1789, his first marriage was to Isabella Lyasotskaya (1764-1852), whom he divorced in 1803, remarrying Maria de Neri (1778-1851). Children:

Tadeusz Anthony (1798-1844)
Frantisek Xavier (1801-1873)
Amelia (1803-1858), wife since 1826 of Karol Theophil Załuski (1794-1845), illegitimate son of O. A. Igelstrom
Irenaeus Kleofas (1808-1863/1870), chamberlain
Ema (1810-1871), 1st husband since 1827 Ippolit Bzhostovsky, 2nd husband Vysotsky
Ida (1813-1864)

Memory

In 1994, a postage stamp of Belarus dedicated to Oginsky was issued.
A monument to Mikhail Oginsky was erected in the Belarusian city of Molodechno.
The musical school in Molodechno bears the name of Oginsky.
In 2011, a street in the Belarusian city of Grodno received the name of Oginsky.
A street in Zhdanovichi, the nearest suburb of Minsk, bears his name.
Since 2008, the Polish city of Iwonicz-Zdrój has been hosting an annual festival of classical music named after. Oginsky (Festiwal im. Księcia Michała Kleofasa Ogińskiego).
In 2011, the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus issued a gold coin "Mikhail Kleofas Oginsky".
December 12, 2013 in the Belarusian city of Molodechno, the premiere of the opera “Mikhal Kleofas Oginsky. Unknown portrait”, dedicated to the life of the composer.
On September 25, 2014, the grand opening of the Oginsky estate-museum in the village of Zalesye (Smorgon district) took place.
The 250th anniversary of the birth of Oginsky was included in the UNESCO list of significant dates in 2015.
In 2015, the Bank of Lithuania issued a silver coin "Mykolas Kleopas Oginskis", in honor of his 250th birthday. In 1991, after the declaration of independence and the formation of the state - the Republic of Belarus, it was proposed to declare the polonaise "Farewell to the Motherland" ("Oginsky's Polonaise") the national Belarusian anthem. A poetic text was written to the melody of the polonaise. However, this proposal in the Parliament of the Republic of Belarus was blocked by the communists.

life is like a novel

Michael Cleophas Oginsky , the 250th anniversary of whose birth UNESCO celebrated in 2015, is known by many as the author of the legendary polonaise Farewell to the Motherland.

Although the composer was born near Warsaw, he himself claimed in his memoirs that he belonged to the “Litvinian” family, and the Oginsky family in the 16th-18th centuries was considered one of the richest and most influential in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

On the day of the death of Michael Cleofas (he died on October 15, 1833 at the age of 68), we collected interesting facts about a man whose life was like an adventure novel.

Oginsky's great-grandfather was a governor in Vitebsk. Mikhail Kleofas considered himself a politician, not a composer

Mikhail Oginsky was predicted the future of a great politician or military leader, and how could it be otherwise if all his ancestors held high positions. The great-grandfather was the governor in Vitebsk, the uncle was the governor in Vilna and the great Lithuanian hetman, and the grandfather and father headed the Troksky province.

Already at the age of 20, Mikhail Kleofas became a deputy of the Seim of the Commonwealth. His speech at the meeting was so convincing that Mikhail was elected a member of the GDL Financial Commission.

Soon, the future composer was appointed ambassador of the Commonwealth in Holland, then sent to England for negotiations. There, Oginsky did not waste time in vain: he was able not only to successfully negotiate the expansion of trade contacts, but also to get acquainted with local attractions and even take several music lessons.

All this time, Michael Cleofas kept a diary in which he described what he did abroad. Interestingly, in his recordings, Oginsky considered himself, first of all, a political figure, and considered playing music as a hobby.

Michael Kleofas first tried to write music in 1792, when he had already returned to Warsaw. The first polonaise, written by the composer, is considered lost, but the second one made its author famous. We are talking about the "Polonaise of Death", dedicated to the division of Poland. In autumn, this piece of music was already performed at balls in St. Petersburg.

Commander of the Belarusian-Lithuanian rebel forces and meeting with Napoleon

The composer was elected to the rebel Provisional Council, he armed a detachment of almost half a thousand people with his own money and soon received the first baptism of fire between Oshmyany and Soly.

After the victory, the detachment went to Minsk. There, Mikhail Oginsky, according to notes in his memoirs, was going to give freedom to 12 thousand peasants who were in the possession of the Oginsky family, and thus replenish the size of his detachment. Despite the fact that this did not happen, Oginsky was appointed commander of all the Belarusian-Lithuanian rebel forces, and he carried out several successful campaigns.

When the uprising was defeated, and a reward was placed on Oginsky's head, he was forced to flee to Italy, from there to Turkey. In Paris, the composer met with Napoleon and asked the French for help in restoring the independence of the Commonwealth. Despite the fact that Bonaparte received Litvin quite kindly and even listened to several of his musical works, he refused to help the rebels.

"Northern Athens" and over 40 piano pieces

Mikhail's uncle, Frantishek Oginsky, in 1802 presented his nephew with the Zalesye estate in the Oshmyany district of the Vilna province (today the Smorgon district of the Grodno region). Soon the estate became a cultural center, it was called "Northern Athens".

Guests often gathered in Zalesye, musical and literary evenings were held, during which the owner himself played the violin.

When Napoleon came to these lands, the composer went to St. Petersburg to Alexander I, whom he met at a ball in Minsk in 1802. By the way, having learned about this, Napoleon was very disappointed, because he believed that he and Oginsky understood each other during a meeting in Paris.

After the war, Mikhail Cleofas returned to his native estate, which was practically not damaged, helped the peasants to restore the economy and composed music.

According to Svetlana Nemogay, who studied the life and work of Mikhail Oginsky, the composer wrote about 40 piano pieces in total, including 25 polonaises, as well as waltzes, mazurkas, quadrilles, and marches. In addition, he owns 18 vocal works: songs, romances and even a one-act opera Zelis and Valcour, or Bonoparte in Cairo.

"Farewell to the Motherland"

There are several versions of when Mikhail Oginsky wrote his most famous work, Farewell to the Motherland.

Most often you can find information that this happened at the end of the 18th century, when, after the defeat of the uprising, Oginsky went into exile and crossed the Russian-Prussian border.

But, for example, Adam Maldis adheres to a different version. In his opinion, the trip to Prussia was short-lived, but Oginsky really said goodbye to his homeland in the early 1820s, when he firmly decided to leave for Italy.

According to Adam Iosifovich, the composer had two reasons for this. Firstly, Mikhail Oginsky became disillusioned with the conservative policy of Alexander I and believed that he could no longer be useful to his country. And secondly, he lost interest in family life. His second wife, Maria de Neri, according to contemporaries, behaved inappropriately. There is even a version that Mikhail Oginsky was not the father of her children. At this time, Mikhail Kleofas could write "Farewell to the Motherland."

The Oginsky house in Vitebsk and the crypt that has not survived to this day

Representatives of the Oginsky family also lived in the Vitebsk region. We wrote about how

The building was first mentioned in a document of 1627, and how it looked can be seen on the “Drawing of the Vitebsk site of 1664”.

Because of the peculiarities of the architecture, it was called the "house with a dome." The estate existed until the end of the 18th-beginning of the 19th century, then the Basilian school was located on this site.

The first owner of the house was Prince Lev Samuil Oginsky, who, among other things, financed the restoration of the Holy Trinity Markov Monastery. His son, Simeon Karl, also donated money to the monastery. But Marcian Michal Oginsky (by the way, the great-grandfather of Mikhail Kleofas) acted as a patron of the construction of the church of St. Joseph (in the future, the Nicholas Cathedral on Freedom Square).

The palace was located near the building of the first city power plant (Prospect Frunze, 11). Photo by Sasha May

Several representatives of the Oginsky family were buried in the Vitebsk Jesuit church, but, unfortunately, their crypt has not survived to our time.

Childhood and youth

M. K. Oginsky belonged to an old princely family, which used its own coat of arms "Aginets". The clan received its surname from the name of the possession of Oginta (Lithuania), which was granted to Dmitry Ivanovich Glushonok instead of Smolensk estates, by the Grand Duke of Lithuania Alexander Jagielonchik around 1500.

The composer's father, Andrei Oginsky, was one of the closest associates of the Polish king Stanislaw August Poniatowski. Andrzej Oginsky (1740-1787), governor of Troksky, headman of Oshmyany, was the plenipotentiary ambassador of the Commonwealth in St. Petersburg and ambassador in Vienna. In 1763, he married Paulina Shembek, who brought him a dowry from the Guzov starostvo. Here, in Guzov, on September 25, 1765, their second child was born - a son who was given a magnificent name at baptism - Kleofas Mikhail Frantisek Felix Anthony Ignatius Jozef Tadeusz, and we know him as Mikhail Cleofas Oginsky.

When the boy was four years old, the king liked him very much at one of the receptions: the king put Michael on the table, asked him a few questions about the Bible and, satisfied with the answer, asked the boy what he would become when he grew up. "I want to serve my country, but I don't want to be king, because people say Your Majesty is very unhappy," was the child's answer, they say.

When Mikhail Kleofas was 7 years old, his father was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary of the Commonwealth in Vienna, and the family moved there. There, his sister Jozefa was sent to a convent, and the parents began to look for a tutor for Mikhail, who would take care of his education. The choice fell on Jean Roley, who at that time was one of the mentors of the Archduke, who later became Emperor Leopold.

In the memoirs of Michael Kleofas about childhood, there is one particularly interesting moment - a description of the methodology of this wonderful teacher. Jean Roley discovered that a seven-year-old boy could read, knew some quotations from the Bible, and could recite like a parrot in La Fontaine. What disturbed him most, however, was that Michael Cleofas was a little overweight, and this was not suitable for hard work. He changed the boy's diet, made him eat a lot of fruits, stewed vegetables, limited his meat intake and took him with him on long walks along the ramparts of Vienna. As for education, it was focused on the personality of the child: it took into account his needs, although it was strict and demanding.

When the boy grew up, Jean roles invited teachers in individual subjects. Subsequently, Michael Cleofas will be grateful that he was introduced to the Latin language relatively late, when he was mature enough to appreciate Latin authors. For a year and a half, the young man read almost all of Cicero, Tacitus, Virgil, Horace, something from Ovid, Catullus, Juvenal and a number of other authors. He was equally well-read in French literature. Studying became a habit with Michael Kleofas. He studied law until the age of 16. In addition, Michael Kleofas did everything to learn how to write in Polish and knew everything about Polish literature. At seventeen or nineteen he worked sixteen hours a day.

Osip Kozlovsky, then a young 16-year-old native of Belarus, and in the future the largest composer Osip Kozlovsky, was invited to study music with Mikhail Kleofas, who taught the boy how to play the clavier and violin, as well as theory, music history and composition. Together with Kozlovsky, Mikhail Kleofas visited in Slonim the residence of his older relative, the famous philanthropist, composer, violinist, harpist and clarinetist Mikhail Kazimir Oginsky. These visits made a great impression on the young man and strengthened his penchant for music. Soon, the young Oginsky became an excellent pianist, but due to other interests and responsibilities, he could not constantly keep in shape. Subsequently, he will regret that he devoted more time to the violin - "this ungrateful instrument that cannot stand mediocrity."

Having received an excellent education at home and continuing it in Warsaw with the study of mathematics, calligraphy, Romance languages and the works of ancient writers, at the age of 19, Mikhail Kleofas Oginsky made a brilliant political career - he became a deputy of the Sejm. Later he was appointed State Treasurer - Grand Treasury of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL). At the age of 23, he was awarded the Order of the White Eagle. When the domestic and foreign policy of the Commonwealth became especially complicated, Mikhail Kleofas became a diplomat and in 1790, on behalf of the king, he went to Holland as an envoy extraordinary, and then to London with a special diplomatic mission. Interestingly, having arrived in London and opening the morning newspapers, Mikhail Kleofas read the following: “Count M.K. managed". This was the first legend of this kind about Oginsky, then he would read more than once in the newspapers about his death. Due to family circumstances, Oginsky asked to be relieved of his duties as ambassador to Holland and in 1791 returned to Warsaw.

Kostyushkovo movement and emigration

In March 1794, an uprising began in the Commonwealth, led by Tadeusz Kosciuszko. The uprising, which was led by our compatriot Tadeusz Kosciuszko, was a protest against the second division of the Commonwealth and the magnates who seized power in it as a result of the Targowice Confederation. The leaders of the rebels sought to revive the independence of the state within the borders of 1772, restore the Constitution adopted in 1791 and continue reforms.

Following Poland, where the uprising began on March 24, Belarus took up arms in April. Here a provisional revolutionary government was created - the Highest Lithuanian Rada. On our lands, the insurgents were led by the thirty-three-year-old colonel Yakub Yasinsky, who belonged to the so-called "Vilna Jacobins". He was an ardent supporter of the ideas of the French Revolution, he wanted to abolish serfdom, he wrote verse proclamations addressed to the peasants in Belarusian. Count Michael Cleophas Oginsky is his ardent supporter. He was elected to the National Council, at one of the meetings of which he declared: "I give my property, work and life for the good of the Motherland." At his own expense, he formed a large armed detachment, which he himself commanded. He declares to the Supreme National Council (the leadership of the uprising) that he brings "his property, labor and life as a gift to his homeland." Having transferred a significant part of his personal funds to the national council, Oginsky joined it as a "Vilna delegate". At his own expense, he armed a detachment of 480 people and, at the insistence of the inhabitants of Vilna, led it.

This detachment received its first baptism of fire in the battles near Soly, near Smorgon, Oshmyany, Ivenets and Volozhin. Soon Oginsky becomes the head of all the Lithuanian-Belarusian rebel troops. He personally led several campaigns to the banks of the Dvina, to the Braslav region. He replaced the old coat of arms of the Oginskys with a shield with the motto: "Freedom. Fortitude. Independence." In one of his letters to his wife - Isabella Oginsky - he asked her to be thrifty, because money is needed for the uprising, for the maintenance of the detachment. He addressed the letter not to the "princess", but to the "citizen". He called himself a citizen and a soldier of the revolution. At this time, not only the mind and courage of Oginsky, but also his art, are in demand. “For my detachment, I wrote a march in my own words. Since that time, many other Poles have also performed this march. I also wrote military patriotic songs that were successful among comrades in arms, arousing heroism, energy and enthusiasm,” Michal Kleofas wrote later. At first, Belarusian peasants actively helped the rebels, believing in the promise of the interim government (the Supreme Lithuanian Rada) to abolish serfdom. The rebels took power in Vilna, Gorodnya, Berestye, Novogorodka, Slonim, Pinsk, Volkovysk, Kobrin, Oshmyany, Lida, Braslav.

However, the forces were not equal. In addition, the rebel authorities did nothing to free the peasants.

The detachment of Michal Kleofas Oginsky tried to break through to the Minsk region, but was defeated in June. The insurgents led by S. Grabovsky managed to advance further, however, in September, in the battle near Lyuban, they were forced to capitulate. Disagreements arose in the rebel camp. Kosciuszko was afraid to rely on the common people. He was frightened by the revolutionary program of Yakub Yasinsky and the latter's intention to restore the state independence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. At the same time, tsarism was conducting cunning propaganda among the Belarusian peasantry, promising them the land taken from the "panov-rebels". The highest Lithuanian Rada was accused of separatism and actions against the "union of fraternal peoples" and dissolved, and Yasinsky was removed from the post of chief of troops. This further weakened the uprising, and in August Russian troops occupied Vilna.

The uprising was strangled by the regular army of A. Suvorov, hardened in aggressive campaigns. Throughout his career, he devotedly served the gendarme policy of tsarism and, by the way, did not participate in any defensive war. For Russia, he is a truly outstanding commander, for Belarus, first of all, the commander of the occupiers. For the bloody exploits committed by his soldiers in 1794, the empress granted Suvorov the Kobrin volost and other Belarusian lands with 13,279 souls of male serfs. In other words, the general field marshal received a total of more than 25,000 Belarusian serfs as a gift. The selfless and tragic days of the uprising ended in November 1794. Oginsky received news of the defeat and learned that a detachment of five hundred Cossacks was heading to Sokolov to capture him and those members of the commission for the protection of public order who were with him on the estate. With great difficulty they managed to slip away and go to Warsaw. In connection with the need to emigrate, Oginsky wrote the famous polonaise "Farewell to the Motherland" ..

He was given a passport in the name of Mikhalovsky. It was the first fictitious name he had to use in the next two years. In Vienna, he met his wife. Many were shocked to learn that Countess Oginskaya "gets along" with some type named Mikhalovsky. Oginsky stayed in Vienna for ten days. The fictitious name and position of the actual exile meant that he could not maintain contacts in the environment of the Viennese aristocracy familiar to him. By mid-October, they arrived in Venice, where a passport and a letter from Suvorov were waiting for them, with the message that Mikhail Cleofas would be guaranteed safety if he returned. In another letter, from Prince Repnin, who has now become a powerful governor of Lithuania, Oginsky was asked to write a rather obsequious and submissive letter to Catherine in order to keep his estates in ownership.

Oginsky knew that Kosciuszko, Ignatius Potocki, Vavzhetsky and other leaders of the uprising were languishing in prison in St. Petersburg. He could not bring himself to write a letter to the empress in such a submissive and disgraceful tone. And Oginsky chose another life full of uncertainty as an exile. This meant that he would lose all his estates and be unable to pay his debts to his creditors. Uncle Michael Casimir soon came forward with a proposal to change the agreement of 1791, return his property and separate his debts from the debts of Michael Cleophas. The uncle continued to pay his debts until his death in 1800. The rest of the debts were paid from the income of the estate after death. For reasons that are not entirely clear, Michael Cleofas was still heavily indebted, or so some claim.

Venice and Paris became at that time the two most important centers of concentration of Polish emigrants forced to leave their country after the uprising. They intended to continue the struggle, counting mainly on cooperation with revolutionary France. In Venice, Oginsky met with the former ambassador to Constantinople, Peter Potocki, with Prozor, who fled with him from Poland and was soon to leave for Paris, and many others. The authorities of Venice did not obstruct the Poles, and they could regularly meet and correspond with their compatriots in Paris and Poland. For Oginsky that year was not full of significant events, and for some time the interests of the traveler took over. On February 20, in a letter to Vienna, he talks about the carnival, the reception at the Doge's Palace, and theaters. March 18 Michael Cleofas travels to Padua. Due to lack of funds, Oginsky sends his wife to her father in Poland. He himself accompanies her to Verona.

In Paris, both the French and the Poles considered it necessary to send Polish representatives to Constantinople, Denmark, and Sweden. The question was how to persuade these countries, together with France, to help the Poles restore their independence or declare war on Imperial Russia. In August, "citizen Oginsky" learned that it was he who was destined to go to Constantinople to try to push the Turks to a new war with Russia. In Venice, he saw the new French ambassador to Turkey, Citizen Verninac, who was passing through here, with whom he needed to cooperate. Oginsky had to take another fictitious name. His name was now Jean Riedel, and he introduced himself as a French citizen. All negotiations were to be confidential. However, the matter was complicated by the fact that at this stage Oginsky did not have enough money to pay for housing and food, not to mention a trip to Constantinople. He sent a trusted friend to Poland to try to sell the remaining property there. He returned and confirmed the report that all the estates were confiscated, but brought back a couple of thousand ducats.

During the first two months of his stay in Constantinople, Oginsky was in constant contact with Verninak. At that time there was still hope to create an alliance directed against Russia with the participation of France, Turkey, Sweden and Denmark. On June 13, Verninac arranged for Oginsky to meet with Prince Moruzzi, who was a member of the government and was responsible for contacts with foreign envoys. He assured Oginsky of the friendly attitude of the Turkish Empire towards the Poles, who were allowed to concentrate along the Turkish border with the aim of the proposed campaign against Poland, but opposed hasty actions.

Oginsky spent six months in Constantinople. As usual, many of his letters contain information about important "tourist" attractions. Somehow he managed to rent a piano, which must have helped him pass the time. Michael Cleofas writes about the plague that was raging in Constantinople at that time. He took Turkish lessons and, although he learned to communicate, Turkish grammar seemed insurmountably difficult to him. In June, Oginsky learned of a further rapprochement between France and Prussia. There were also reports of growing divisions between Poles. Oginsky began to embrace confusion.

Michael Cleofas realized that he would not achieve anything in Constantinople, and the money that he shared with other local Poles was running out. On November 4, a French merchant named Monsieur Martin left Constantinople. It was Count - citizen Oginsky, hiding under his new pseudonym. Michael Cleofas is heading to Bucharest. There he learns about the death of Empress Catherine and that the new Tsar Pavel freed Kosciuszko, Ignatius Potocki and other leaders of the uprising. He began to think about returning to his family in Poland, but at the same time he understood that it was necessary, together with his emigration associates, to continue activities for the sake of the country's independence.

On December 10, he arrived in the possession of Count Dziedushitsky - Yablonov. After 10 days, he will become aware that the Austrian police know about Oginsky, including his fictitious name, so Oginsky leaves on January 10th.

In Krakow, he barely escaped arrest.

On February 2, Michael Cleofas arrived in Paris. There he held a meeting with all the Polish emigrants to report to them about his actions, hand them a letter from Galicia and, if possible, act as an intermediary. It is absolutely surprising that during that period of political activity Oginsky also studied music. In his letter dated March 15, 1797, addressed to Mikhail Velgorsky, he writes that he is visiting the salon of a famous harpsichord performer. Mikhail Kleofas did not miss the opportunity to attend balls and Svetsky receptions.

Oginsky and other Poles were concerned that no clear promise had been made by the French to restore Poland's independence; the French attitude was very reminiscent of the princes "take it or leave it". Despite this, Oginsky and Vybitsky began to develop a plan, and in a day it was ready. Michael Cleofas goes to Brussels for a while. There he felt that he could "breathe fresh air." Two and a half months of discord among the Parisian Poles led him to despair. In Brussels he attended opera and ballet, went to La Harpe's lectures on French literature and Foureroi's lectures on chemistry. The news of the legions in Italy was not encouraging. On December 2, 1797, just before Bonaparte returned from Italy, he again arrived in Paris.

This time Oginsky intended to act as a private individual and not as a Polish representative. He wanted to know what people really thought of Poland, not just vague promises and vague support. It was introduced to Napoleon by Talleyrand. Mikhail Cleofas still thought about the revival of his homeland, about the restoration of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and counted on the help of Napoleon Bonaparte in this, in whose honor he even wrote the opera Zelis and Valcour, or Bonaparte in Cairo. As for the hope of French help to restore an independent Poland, Michael Cleofas needed Talleyrand's advice. He advised Oginsky to return home to his family. There was no chance of getting help now or in the near future. In the event that Michael Cleofas went to Berlin, Talleyrand offered French diplomatic support and protection. In a remarkable, even prophetic, fragment of his memoirs, Oginsky expresses his belief that Poland will eventually gain independence as a result of some future unforeseen upheavals, but nothing could be achieved with the help of Parisian emigrants; the only hope lay in the legions.

Oginsky was afraid to go directly to Berlin because of his reputation as a dangerous revolutionary. First he went to Hamburg. Even here he was followed by English and Russian spies. Oginsky got himself a piano and met interesting people, such as the lexicographer Rivarol, whom they saw daily. Subsequently, Oginsky will describe in detail his friendship with Rivarol.

Soon Michael Cleophas was running out of money. During a visit to Warsaw by the new Prussian royal couple (Friedrich Wilhelm II had died by then), his wife managed to secure permission for him to return to Prussian-occupied Poland. In this matter, he was also supported by William of Orange. When Oginsky visited the royal court in Berlin, he was very kindly received by the royal family, but he was still considered a dangerous Jacobin.

Such a life became painful. Deprived of the right to enter the part of the Commonwealth occupied by Russia, Mikhail Kleofas found himself penniless and was forced to live on his father-in-law's estate. Moreover, by that time his marriage had broken up. Much later, in 1828, he would write to his son-in-law Karol Załuski, the husband of his daughter Amelia, that he sympathized with him in connection with the heavy burden of duties of the leader of the gentry in the Upitsky district. Michael Cleofas advises Karol not to let these responsibilities lead to the disintegration of his marriage, as happened to him as a result of his own huge duties and exile. An attempt to obtain permission from Tsar Paul to return to Lithuania turned out to be futile, however, after the assassination of Paul in 1801, young, but at that time already influential, Adam Czartoryski obtained forgiveness from Tsar Alexander I for Michael Kleofas and a number of other participants in the uprising and permission for them return home.

Life in Zalesye

Mikhail Kleofas settled in Zalesye in 1802.

Zalesie became the property of the Oginsky family in the first half of the 18th century, when it was acquired by Marcian Michal Oginsky (1672-1750), a castellan, and then the governor of Vitebsk, the great-grandfather of the composer. It was then called Derby. Later, the estate passed to his son Tadeusz Franciszek (1712-1783), and after his death to his younger son Franciszek Xavier Ogiński (1742-1814).

After the death of little Sophia, three more children were born in the Oginsky family: in 1808 Irenush, in 1809 Emma and in 1813 Ida. The eldest, daughter Amelia, was born in 1803. The family traveled a lot, but Zalesye remained their home.

Oginsky arrived in Zalesye with his new wife, the Italian Maria Neri-Nagurskaya. They settled in the old palace, and next to it they began to build a new one, designed by Mikhail Shults, professor of architecture at Vilna University. He was helped, and after his death, another Vilna provincial architect Joseph Pousse supervised all the work. The builders were local.

Uncle Franciszek Xavier's estate in Zalesie included a large wooden house and a magnificent French-style park - long rectangular in shape, with geometrically planted flower beds, trees and bushes. It was located halfway between Vilna and Minsk. The estates of the bachelor-uncle, located on Belarusian lands, were, according to the will of Mikhail Kleofas' grandfather - Tadeushka Frantishka, to become the property of Mikhail Kleofas after the death of his uncle. Therefore, his uncle allowed Mikhail Kleofas to occupy Zalesye, after the latter returned from exile in 1802, while he himself moved to another estate, in Molodechno, closer to Minsk.

Like all the estates of the magnates, the estate in Zalesye included large adjacent lands, so Mikhail Kleofas soon set about building his own estate. Compared to the typical palaces of magnates, this estate turned out to be surprisingly modest: a rather spacious one-story L-shaped bungalow-type house and many detached buildings: a chapel, living quarters for servants, a water mill, stables; describing this famous summer estate in its time, it is impossible not to say that it was quite impressive. The length of the shortest wing was approximately 50 meters, and the length of the longest was at least 160 meters. The house reflected the romantic tastes of its owner and subsequently fit perfectly into the adjacent park landscape. Integral parts of the building were 4 "towers", the dimensions of which made it possible to place a large room on the second floor. The towers were located at the end of the "L" base, in the corner and in the middle of the long wing. The fourth tower divided the short wing in half, and it also housed a spacious vestibule. Three other towers were residential. The second floor of the towers could be reached by a spiral staircase. All the towers had their own names: the tower of Mary, Amelia, Ireneush; Michael Kleofas used one of them as a studio. It was furnished quite simply, and there was a piano in it.

However, the parks were the pride of Zalesye. The large French park in front of the long wing "L" was supplemented by a romantic English-style park on the other side, which extended to the Viliya River. It had many nooks and crannies, hidden places, and three bizarre landmarks, including a Greek-style pavilion ("Temple of Amelia") and a Chinese pagoda. Part of the main building was taken over as a "greenhouse", where exotic tropical fruits were grown. The main building consisted of three two-story parts and two connecting one-story parts. The middle part in appearance looked more like a temple than a dwelling place. Along its entire length it had a portico with four columns. The roof ended with a turret in the form of an obelisk with a clock and ended with a stone vase. Low terraces adjoined this central part from the side of the park. A greenhouse with 14 arched windows and 15 pilasters adjoined the side pavilion. The internal layout of the palace made it possible to place here not only living rooms, but also various living rooms and salons. Through the massive door of the main entrance, guests entered the central lobby, from where they could get into the enfilade of front rooms - a music salon, a pink living room, a billiard room, and a dining room. Through a series of rooms and glazed doors, the guests entered the greenhouse, which was used as a dining room in summer. On the second floor of one of the pavilions there was a library where the composer worked. The books were mostly in French. From the library it was possible to go out to the gallery, from where a beautiful view of the pond, the park and the menagerie opened. Landscape architecture has been formed over the years, and only around 1820, shortly before the departure of Mikhail Kleofas from Zalesye forever, did a description of life in Zalesye and the estate itself appear, the author of which was the young poet Alexander Khodko.

After 1815, Zalesie became known as the "Northern Athens". Balls and receptions were noisy in Zalesye, and eminent and dignitary guests considered it an honor to be invited to "Northern Athens". Oginsky's great-great-great-grandson, composer and pianist Ivo Zalussky, in the book "Oginsky's Gene" cites the memoirs of one of Michal Kleofas' contemporaries: "All people who had weight in society, eminent citizens of the Crown and Lithuania, who cared for the welfare of their country, came to Zalesie to exchange views, and sometimes gathered at the prince's for whole weeks. Political news was discussed here, new musical and literary works were listened to. It was located not far from the road from St. Petersburg to Poland and on the way from Vilna to Minsk, so many eminent guests stopped in Zalesye and often spent several weeks there. In addition, among the permanent servants and residents of Zalesye was one old soldier who, during the Minsk raid during the uprising of 1794, saved the life of Mikhail Kleofas. It was a memorable place. Although Zalissia was full of people in those years, the limited area of the palace and the need for guests to stay overnight contributed to the fact that Zalissia never lost its atmosphere of intimacy. It simply could not accommodate a large number of people.

In 1821, a special guest arrived in Zalesie. Iosif Kozlovsky, Oginsky's first music teacher and lifelong friend, made a great career for himself in the tsar's service. He even composed the Russian national anthem that existed until 1833. In 1821, after a heart attack, he returned to Belarusian lands for several years and it was during that period that he temporarily stopped in Zalesye. For Michael Cleofas, this meant a return to musical activity, which throughout his life was sporadic. Now he was able to create a string quartet in which he played the first violin himself, the Spanish violinist Escudero was the second violinist, Kozlovsky played the cello, and apparently Kozlovsky's daughter played the viola. Crews with newly created quartets arrived one after another to the estate to receive an expert assessment here. There was a process of "music-making", not concentration, and the guests could either listen or do something else at their discretion.

Life in Zalissya proceeded with a civilized regularity, its regularity was reminiscent of the life of Versailles, judging by the descriptions of Saint-Simon. The morning was devoted to serious pursuits: study, formal meetings to discuss political issues, business meetings, correspondence, work on memoirs. Lunch was always and for everyone at one in the afternoon. The food and wines were especially exquisite, and no sooner had one of the guests noticed in passing that he had eaten goose pate from Strasbourg abroad and liked it, this delicacy was already served on the table in a surprisingly short period of time; and, perhaps, not without the desire to brag. The day was devoted to trips, a whole set of horses and carriages were at the service of those wishing to take a walk on horseback or in a carriage. The landscape architecture of the adjacent parks provided maximum enjoyment during these walks, and often the road ended at the banks of the river. Then followed classes in "musicmaking", among others, the girls' music teacher, an Italian singer and composer named Paliani, took part in them.

All the experiences, hopes, doubts of the past years, Oginsky confided to friends and music. Today, about 60 of his piano and vocal works are known, including 26 polonaises, 4 marches, 3 mazurkas, a gallop and a minuet. However, Michael Cleophas also had many unpublished or small edition works that have not yet been found. According to the Belarusian musicologist and music historian Olga Dadiomova, the formation of the musical tastes of Mikhail Kleofas Oginsky was "undoubtedly influenced by the impressions received in different countries, but his work is closest to the Slavic musical art. This commonality manifested itself both in the figurative content and in the musical language of his works, and in their genre orientation.

About the process of creating his works, which were characterized by features of spontaneity and improvisation, Oginsky himself wrote: “It never occurred to me to create a perfect and scientific composition and devote a lot of time to it. An emotional outburst, a feeling of love or friendship, excitement, and sometimes and pain or deep sadness dictated to me the nature of the sounds and modulations that painted all these emotional experiences and truthfully outlined the state of my soul. I rarely had to make changes to my first improvisation. "

For all his musical talent, Mikhail Kleofas did not consider himself a professional in music and emphasized the amateur nature of his work. So, in his Letters on Music, he wrote: “All I have is a good ear, a deep sense of harmony and taste, which I brought up in myself by listening and often doing good music. If I managed to compose some then little things, praised by music lovers and famous artists, if they stirred a sensitive heart a couple of times ... - I cannot attribute this to outstanding abilities that I never had, nor to a deep knowledge of music.

In the English park there were two monuments in the form of large stone blocks. On one of them there was an inscription in memory of Kosciuszko, on the other - in memory of Jean Roley.

In 1822, eighteen-year-old poet Alexander Khodko, who was four years older than Alexander, arrived in Zalesye, had served as Oginsky's secretary since 1819. In a conversation at the table, Zalesye was compared with other famous and beautiful estates. In a fit of inspiration, the young poet composed a beautiful poem about Zalesye. In it, he associates the unusual structure of the palace and the merits of the Oginskys to their country, especially the merits of the current owner, whose image dominates the poem. The delights of a romantic English park are described in detail, other associations are given. There is a swan island on the lake, where, according to legend, a swan once predicted the future beauty of Zalesye. The poet mentions the "Temple of Amelia", he admires Emma's flower bed, the range of colors of which is combined with the greenery of the trees; a stone monument in honor of Jean Roley makes him think: "What kind of mater was he, since such a student grew up with him!"; a stone in honor of Kosciuszko reminds the author of the unhappy love of this hero for Yulia Sosnowska, which prompted Kosciuszko to leave Poland and go to fight in the American War of Independence near Washington, "sowing fear among the proud islanders!".

The poet goes on to describe bee hives. The fluttering of the bees' wings reminds him of the youth of Michael Cleophas. As if penetrating Oginsky's thoughts, Khodko makes him compare the industriousness and unity of purpose of the bees with the disunity of the Poles, with the efforts he himself spent in vain for the good of Poland.

Life in Zalesye had a beneficial effect on Mikhail Kleofas. He returns to an active political and social life. Oginsky is elected an honorary member of the Vilna University, he takes an active part in the meetings of the academic council, replenishes the collections of the university. He is the chairman of the Vilna Charitable Society, to whose accounts he transfers significant amounts of money received from the sale of collections of his musical works.

The composer's diplomatic activity also resumed. The foreign policy events of 1806 (relations between Russia and France were deteriorating) forced Oginsky to leave Zalesye for a while. His path runs through Vilna, St. Petersburg, Paris. In 1810, Oginsky moved to St. Petersburg and became a senator of the Russian Empire, actively involved in politics. In 1810-1812, he was a confidant of Emperor Alexander I. He offered the latter a project to create the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as part of the Russian Empire, which, however, was rejected. There are many meetings with influential persons of European states. When fulfilling the orders of Emperor Alexander I, the experience of the former diplomatic service was very useful to him. After one of his trips to Paris in April 1811, Senator Oginsky (he received the title of senator in 1810), in a conversation with the emperor, suggested that the French army would soon invade Russia. When the war of 1812 began, Oginsky had no hesitation about choosing his place. Having stopped for several days in Zalesye, he left it after the retreating units of the Russian army and headed for St. Petersburg.

In 1811, M. K. Oginsky sent Alexander I a memorandum on the restoration of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as part of the Russian Empire with the provision of a certain administrative and legal independence. The project was met with understanding by the Russian emperor, the composer and his supporters had hope. Mikhail Kleofas spent the whole of 1812 in St. Petersburg, continuing to work on this project. But time passed, despite his promises, Alexander I kept putting off the promised reforms. In November 1815, after a conversation with the Russian Tsar, he realized that the reunification of Lithuania and other former provinces of the Commonwealth with Poland was unlikely to happen.

And the composer returns to his beloved Zalissia, which in 1814, after the death of his uncle Franciszek Xavier, becomes his full property.

Zalesye is not the birthplace of Mikhail Kleofas Oginsky, but here he lived, perhaps, the best 20 years of his life. Today, from the once huge estate in Zalesye, a manor house, a mill, a chapel, a pavilion, and several dilapidated outbuildings remain. During the First World War the palace was destroyed.

In 1920, a private boarding house was opened in the manor house. Today it is not known exactly who rested in it. After the accession of Western Belarus to the BSSR, the boarding house was turned into a Soviet sanatorium. During the Second World War, the headquarters of the German army was located in the house. After the war - a nursing home. In some ways, the typical fate of the old Belarusian estates.

In 1996, the estate was transferred to the Ministry of Culture as a branch of the Literary Museum, in 2000 - a branch of the Museum of History and Musical Culture. It was in the last decade that the estate in Zalesye became inhabited again. The new floors in the hall still smell of fresh wood, radiators timidly warm the air, and drawings of local schoolchildren are hung on the walls.

Since 1989, there has been a tradition in Zalesye to celebrate the birthday of Mikhail Kleofas Oginsky. On this day, music sounds here, young poets read their poems, masters of the poetic word also perform.

In 2010, an international conference "Historical estates of Belarus. Status and prospects" was held in Zalesye. It was attended by representatives of UNESCO, the Department for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture, the National Agency for Tourism and Sports and a number of other organizations. The conference participants were sent a welcome letter by the Oginskys, who now live in England.

Last period

In 1822, Michael Cleofas left Zalesye for health reasons and settled in Florence at the same time, although the following year he visited Paris and Dresden. Many do not understand why Oginsky left just when the parks and the beauty of Zalesye were beginning to ripen. Vuillaume, naturally, believes that after the death of Alexander, Oginsky no longer had protection from creditors, forgetting that Alexander would die only three years later. The main reason for leaving was the climate, which harmed Oginsky, who suffered from gout, but many took this as an excuse. In fact, this was probably the main reason for leaving. The owner of Zalesye really had gout. Among his papers is a translation of Dialogues Between Franklin and His Gout. Subsequently, in 1829, Oginsky's arthritis became so aggravated that he could not write, but was forced to dictate and did not sleep at night. Thus, after Michael Cleophas settled abroad and felt some improvement in his health, he may have been afraid to return to Zalesye, where the late autumn period could be especially unpleasant. There was another problem: his marriage was no longer a happy one. It seems that Mary by that time had turned into a rather nymphomaniac creature, in addition, it can be assumed that "Northern Athens" became too provincial for a person with such comopolitan tastes. Kozlovsky could not stay in Zalesie indefinitely, and abroad there were more chances to take up chamber music with a newly discovered pleasure, as well as to finish writing and publish Memoirs. During 1807 and 1808, the Oginskys had already lived in Florence for some time: Mikhail Cleofas apparently liked the city, so the choice fell on Florence this time as well.

Mikhail Cleofas sorted his notes while still in Zalesye and in the first few years of his life in Florence completed "Memoirs about Poland and the Poles, from 1788 to 1815". In this, Oginsky was always helped by Leonard Khodko, who came with him to Italy and stayed there until 1826, when he went to Paris to follow the publication there.

We must not forget that Florence at that time was a capital city. The Oginskys lived there not only in a more favorable climate, but also maintained those ties in society that were especially to their liking. Michael Cleophas regularly attended dinners and balls at court, at the Borghese, in embassies and in the homes of English exiles. He met old acquaintances there, such as Marquis Lukessini, the ubiquitous ruler of Frederick William in Warsaw during the Great Diet. Despite his advanced age, the mental abilities of the Marquis did not suffer. Sievers, the main "scoundrel" of the Grodno Seim, hoped that even before his death he would be able to read Oginsky's memoirs, which were being prepared for publication. He was denigrated by historians and counted on a more balanced and fair attitude towards him from Michael Cleofas. Perhaps Oginsky's attitude towards him was better than what he deserved. In 1826 Oginsky visited Prozor; Khodko was still in Florence at that time.

After the completion and publication of "Memoirs" Oginsky had a feeling of being lost. Two thousand copies have already been printed in Paris and three thousand in Geneva. In 1827, the Memoirs appeared in German translation, the second such edition took place in 1845.

Oginsky continued to write mainly biographical sketches about prominent Poles. He gave the order to transport all his papers and unpublished writings to Zalesye and promised Khodko access to these documents after his death.

Although Michael Cleofas did not have direct access to the new Emperor Nicholas I, he applied through other channels for a job for Ireneusz in the Russian diplomatic mission at the Tuscan court. The request was granted, but after a while the Russian ambassador, a friend of Oginsky, received a letter from St. Petersburg with a complaint regarding the published memoirs: the emperor expressed dissatisfaction with them, especially in connection with the courtesy shown to Ireneush. Oginsky, in his reply, explained that upon careful reading of the memoirs, no one would find anything rebellious in them. He received no further communications on this matter.

In 1829 Oginsky was visited by Mickiewicz, the greatest Polish poet. Mickiewicz arrived with his friend Odynets. Odynets was once a school friend of Alexander Khodko and came to Zalesye with him. Leonard Khodko had already sent Mickiewicz's poems to Oginsky from Paris. It seems that Oginsky was critical of the poet's early works, but a few months later he would praise him in his letter to Khodko. Mickiewicz showed real talent, and his genius, according to Oginsky, was gaining height. Two young people were fascinated by the conversation with Michael Cleofas and visited him several more times. Odynets describes these visits in his memoirs and complains that the meetings usually ended with a chess game between Oginsky and Mickiewicz, while Odynets himself would have preferred to continue the conversation. A fragment from "Letters on Music" testifies that Michael Cleofas was a strong chess player. Subsequently, Mickiewicz will mention Oginsky in his masterpiece "Pan Tadeusz".

In the last years of his life, Oginsky missed his family. He corresponded with Amelia and Ireneush before, but then, on March 13, 1827, Mikhail Kleofas wrote a letter to Emma for the first time. His subsequent correspondence with her is overshadowed by the sadness of the passing years of his life. He recalls the happiness that once brought him life with his family in Zalesye.

Oginsky experienced great joy when, at the beginning of 1833, Emma and her husband arrived in Florence. The last time Mikhail Cleofas saw Emma in Zalesye, still a teenager. Her family stayed in Italy for a whole year. While they were in Viareggio, they received a letter from Oginsky complaining about the damp summer. Apparently, he lived outside the city and came to Florence only on the day the newspapers were published. Father wrote that he had listened to Docinetti's Anna Bolena, that he was bored without Emma's company. Emma came to Florence again before the birth of her daughter Helena on 13 September. Thus, Michael Cleophas saw at least one of his many grandchildren and granddaughters. In October he fell ill. On October 13, Emma brought Helena to show him. He only had the strength to cross the child, he could no longer speak. Oginsky died on October 15, 1833 in house number 1014 on Legnaoli Street, surrounded by his family - his second Italian wife and four children. According to Emma, given how badly he suffered from gout in recent years, death was relatively painless.

Michael Cleophas was buried in the monastery cemetery near the church of Santa Maria Novella. After some time, the remains of the composer were transferred to the church of Santa Croce, to the pantheon, where Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Galileo rest.

Mikhail Kleofas Oginsky (Polish Michał Kleofas Ogiński; September 25, 1765, Guzow near Warsaw, Masovian Voivodeship, Commonwealth - October 15, 1833, Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany) - a famous Polish composer and politician of the Commonwealth, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a participant in the uprising Kosciuszko, Count. He took up political activity in 1789.

Since 1790, he was the ambassador of the Commonwealth in Holland, since 1791 - in England, in 1793-1794 - treasurer of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1794, he participated in the uprising for the restoration of the independence of the Commonwealth at the head of the battalion of rangers formed by him. After the defeat of the uprising, he emigrated to Constantinople, where he became an active figure in emigration, then moved to Paris. In Paris, he contacted Talleyrand and the French directory in order to restore the independence of the Commonwealth.

After weakening hopes for the restoration of independence and an amnesty announced in 1802, he returned to Russia and settled in the village of Zalesye (on the territory of the modern Smorgon region of Belarus). In 1807 he meets with Napoleon in Italy.

In 1817 Oginsky moved to Vilna. In 1823, failing health forced him to move to Italy, where he spent the last 10 years of his life. Oginsky's talent as a composer appeared in the 1790s. During this period he wrote numerous martial songs, marches, polonaises. The most famous was the polonaise "Farewell to the Motherland" (Pożegnanie Ojczyzny), better known as Oginsky's polonaise. A number of researchers also attribute to Oginsky the music of the Polish anthem Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła. The works of Oginsky gained great popularity among the participants in the uprising of 1794.

In exile, the composer continues his creative activity. Oginsky's only opera Zelida and Valcour, or Bonaparte in Cairo (1799) is associated with the name of Napoleon.

A significant part of his heritage is made up of piano pieces: Polish dances - polonaises and mazurkas, as well as marches, minuets, waltzes, romances.