Ledóchowski, Count Mieczislaw

Ledóchowski, Count Mieczisław (myĕchĭs`läf lĕdkhôf`skē), 1822–1902, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, b. Russian Poland. He became (1865) archbishop of Gniezno and Poznań (then in Prussian Poland). When the Prussian government, opening the Kulturkampf, forbade the use of Polish in instruction in Poznań, Ledóchowski ignored the order and was jailed in 1874. In March the pope created him a cardinal, and in April the government declared him deposed. In 1875, Ledóchowski was released and banished and thereafter ruled his see from Rome. He resigned in 1885.