Ossoliński

The House of Ossoliński (plural: Ossolińscy) is the name of a Polish szlachta (nobility) family. Because Polish adjectives have different forms for the genders, Ossolińska is the form for a female family member.

History

The Ossolińskis were a magnate family. They appeared in the historical annals at the beginning of the 14th century. The progenitor of the family was Jan of Ossolin [pl], son of Great Marshal of the Crown and castellan of Kraków Nawoj of Tęczyn. Jan was the main heir of the property that Nawoj left after his death. Due to the tradition in medieval Poland, he started to use the surname derived from the main family seat, the Ossolin Castle [pl] in Ossolin, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship.

Grand Chancellor of the Crown Jerzy Ossoliński was granted a hereditary princely title by Pope Urban VIII in 1633. He also received a similar title, Reichsfürst, from the Emperor Ferdinand II in 1634. Another title was granted to Jerzy's cousin Franciszek Maksymilian Ossoliński by Louis XV, King of France, in 1736. Both titles became extinct in 1790. Józef Maksymilian Ossoliński's famous library assembled in Vienna was transferred to Lwów, where he had located the Ossoliński Institute in 1817.

Franciszek Maksymilian Ossoliński

Józef Maksymilian Ossoliński
Princely House of Ossoliński (1633)
Counts Ossoliński (1785)
Coat of Arms of the Ossoliński family on the Church of St. Anthony of Padua, in Warsaw