- Wacław Rzewuski
Wacław Rzewuski (1705-1779) was a Polish drama writer and poet as well as a military commander and a Grand Crown
Hetman . As a notable nobleman andmagnate , Rzewuski held a number of important posts in the administration of thePolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth .He was a
Field Clerk of the Crown since 1732,voivode ofPodole Voivodship between 1736 and 1762 (with a gap between 1750 and 1756). In 1735 he received the prestigiousOrder of the White Eagle . A brave soldier, since 1752 he held the rank of Field Hetman of the Crown. Acastellan of several notable towns, he was an important politician at the royal court inWarsaw and was one of the main supporters of theliberum veto during the diet of 1764, when he became known for his dispute withSzymon Konarski . During the diet of 1767 (Repnin Sejm ) he opposed the embassador ofRussian Empire PrinceNikolai Repnin and along with his son Seweryn and two other prominent Polish politicians he was kidnapped and sent to a prison inKaluga . Upon his release in April 1773 he was promoted for his merits to the rank of Grand Crown Hetman, but gave up the post in the November this year.Since 1778 he was the castellan of
Kraków and the voivode ofKraków Voivodship . At the end of his life he was also thestarost ofChełm ,Ułany ,Romanów ,Dolina ,Drohobycz andKruszwica .As a writer, Rzewuski authored a number of classicist comedies (including the 1759 play "Natręt") and several historical tragedies, including a biography of
Stanisław Żółkiewski (1758). He also published a number of poems and a poetic handbook "On the Science of Poetry" (1762). All of his works were published in 1962.
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