a Lithuanian-Byelorussian, later polonized, princely family, that claimed to trace its origins back to Gedymin. Its most prominent members were Adam Jerzy Czartoryski and Władyslaw Czartoryski.
Adam Jerzy Czartoryski. Born Jan. 14, 1770, in Warsaw; died July 15, 1861, in Montfermeil, France. Polish and Russian state and political figure.
A. J. Czartoryski was one of Alexander I’s closest friends and a member of the Unofficial Committee. He became deputy foreign minister in 1802 and served as foreign minister from 1804 to 1806. He put forth a program by which all the Polish lands would be united under the rule of Alexander I. In 1816 he became a senator of the Kingdom of Poland. During the Polish Uprising of 1830–31, as head of the National Government, he obstructed the implementation of social and political reforms. After the defeat of the uprising he emigrated to Paris, where his residence, the Hotel Lambert, became a center for conservative monarchist emigres. In 1834 his adherents proclaimed him de facto king. Czartoryski developed a program for the restoration of Polish independence that relied on the support of the Western powers.
Władyslaw Czartoryski. Born July 3, 1828, in Warsaw; died June 23, 1894, in Boulognesur-Seine, France. Polish political figure. Son of A. J. Czartoryski.
W. Czartoryski succeeded his father as head of the Hotel Lambert group. On May 15, 1863, during the Polish Uprising of 1863–64, the “white” Rząd Narodowy appointed Czartoryski its chief diplomatic agent. Czartoryski opposed the alliance of the Polish people with the revolutionary forces of other peoples and recommended that the insurgents limit themselves to armed demonstrations that would bring about the military intervention of the Western powers.
I. S. MILLER