TheSociety of Friends of Science (Polish:Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk,TPN) was one of the earliestPolishscientific societies, active inWarsaw from 1800 to 1832.
The Society was also known asWarszawskie Królewskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk (Warsaw Royal Society of Friends of Sciences). Sometimes the word "Royal" was omitted as it denoted the monarch of the occupying authority.
Though the Society was founded in 1800, its traditions harked back to theThursday dinners that had been held in the final decades of the 18th century by Poland's last king,Stanisław August Poniatowski.[1][2] From 1824 the Society was headquartered in theStaszic Palace (after its renovation in 1820–23), purchased for the Society by one of its most prominent members,Stanisław Staszic.[3] In 1828 the Society had 185 members.[4]
The Society flourished in theDuchy of Warsaw andCongress Poland, but was eventually dissolved by theRussian authorities in the aftermath of the failedNovember Uprising of 1830–31, when many Polish cultural organizations were delegalized as part of therepressions.[3][5] The Society's traditions were continued by theWarsaw Scientific Society (Towarzystwo Naukowe Warszawskie).
The Society was an important part of the second half of theEnlightenment in Poland, preservingPolish culture and science after thepartitions of Poland damaged the fledgling Polish education system (after the world's first ministry of education, theKomisja Edukacji Narodowej - Polish forCommission of National Education - was abolished, many schools were closed andGermanization andRussification begun).[5] The Society gathered Polish scientists, academics, writers and their sponsors throughoutpartitioned Poland;[5] many of whom met twice in month in Warsaw for discussions. The creation and activities of the Society had a very significant impact on the development ofscience in Poland. It supported various scientific pursuits, fromresearch, through creation ofmuseums andlibraries, organizing various events to supportingeducation andpublishing. The society sought to popularize learning and shape intellectual and artistic trends, it also had a very broad membership[specify][citation needed].
After theZałuski Library had been removed by the Russians toSt. Petersburg, the Society's library was the greatestpublic library in former Poland.[2] Its collection was partially confiscated by the Russians in 1832,[3] and later parts of it were destroyed by theNazis during theSecond World War.[6] It had its ownjournal, theAnnals of the Warsaw Society of Friends of Learning (Roczniki Warszawskiego Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Nauk, vols. 1-21, published 1802–30),[7] and theWarsaw Chronicle (Pamiętnik Warszawski), a seriousmonthly modeled on publications such as theEdinburgh Review.[8]
While some Society members studied thehistory of Poland (Joachim Lelewel) or thePolish language (Samuel Linde), others implement new inventions and spread ideas of theIndustrial Revolution. Staszic was responsible for substantial improvements inmining,Tadeusz Czacki worked at regulating rivers, and others appliedengineering ormedicine.
After the Warsaw Society was disbanded in 1832, organizations in other cities began using analogous names, e.g., thePoznań Society of Friends of Learning.
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