Środowisko intelektualne Zakładu Narodowego im. Ossolińskich w dziewiętnastowiecznym Lwowie

Nineteenth-century Lviv in the Habsburg monarchy played the role of a provincial capital, and it was the largest city in Galicia, the seat of many administrative, judicial and educational institutions. In 1817, with the initiative of Józef Maksymilian Ossoliński, the Ossoliński National Institute, which in the years 1827-1945 had its seat in Lviv, was established. One of the oldest institutions of Polish culture, it attracted Poles from all the partitions. However, the intellectual environment of the Institute was created by its literary curators and vice-curators, deputies and directors, and a range of employees and associates. They all contributed to the intellectual life of Lviv with their various activities. Outstanding scholars, professors of the University of Lviv, writers, journalists, collectors and many aristocrats who supported the Institute financially were associated with the Ossolineum by donating their book collections. They played a significant role in the intellectual life not only of Lviv but also of Galicia.