Count Stanisław Małachowski, of the Nałęcz coat-of-arms (Polish pronunciation: [staˈɲiswaf mawaˈxɔfskʲi]; 1736–1809) was a Polish statesman, the first Prime Minister of Poland, a member of the Polish government's Permanent Council (Rada Nieustająca) (1776–1780), Marshal of the Crown Courts of Justice from 1774, Crown Grand Referendary (1780–1792) and Marshal of the Four-Year Sejm (1788–1792).
The son of Jan Małachowski, the royal grand chancellor, Małachowski was named marshal (speaker) of the Sejm (Diet) in 1788. He was the prime force behind the constitution, adopted in 1791, that embodied such modern Western European reforms as majority rule in parliament, separation of powers, and enfranchisement of the middle classes; this constitution was abrogated at the Second Partition of Poland in 1792. In 1807–1809 Małachowski served as president of the senate (government) of the Duchy of Warsaw, promoted by Napoleon Bonaparte.
Contents
Biography
Born on 24 August 1736, Stanisław Małachowski came from a wealthy, powerful and influential noble family and was the son of statesman and nobleman Jan Małachowski, and the grandson of the like-named Stanisław Małachowski (zm. 1699). He studied law and was elected provincial deputy to the Sejm in 1764. In 1771, he was appointed clerk of the United Polish crown. As a member of the House of Deputies in the Sejm, he earned great respect. He was a member of the Permanent Council of the Government and was appointed Marshal (President) of the Four-year Sejm (1788-1792). In this capacity, he was one of the main authors of the Constitution of 3 May 1791. He signed, as Marshal of the Sejm in 1790, the treaty of alliance with Prussia with the aim to protect Poland from foreign domination.