Michal Oginski

Michal Kleofas Oginski (Michał Kleofas Ogiński) was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, diplomat, political figure and amateur composer, known worldwide for his cycle of 24 polonaises for piano, including the famous Farewell to the Homeland. Born into a highly educated aristocratic family, he received early musical training from court musician Osip Kozlovsky, later studied violin with Giovanni Giornovichi, and perfected his skills in Italy with G. B. Viotti and P. Baillot. He belonged to the Rietavas branch of the Oginski princely family, the only son of Andrzej Ignacy Oginski and Paulina Szembeck, and nephew of the enlightened statesman and patron of the arts Michal Kazimierz Oginski, whose cultural activities and private theatre in Slonim deeply influenced the young musician.

From 1789 he was active in political life, served as envoy of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Netherlands and Great Britain, and later became treasurer of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. As a supporter and leader of the Kościuszko Uprising in 1794, he emigrated after its defeat, living in Constantinople and Paris. During his Paris years he engaged with Talleyrand and the French Directory in efforts to restore the Commonwealth’s independence, and his military involvement included leading a battalion of riflemen during the uprising.

In 1802 he returned to the Russian Empire, settled in Zalesie, and from 1810 served as a senator in Saint Petersburg, acting as a trusted adviser to Emperor Alexander I. He presented the emperor with a political project later known as the Oginski Plan, aimed at creating an autonomous Grand Duchy of Lithuania within the empire, though it was ultimately rejected. In 1807 he met Napoleon Bonaparte in Italy. In later years he lived in Vilnius, and from 1823 in Italy. Ogiński died in Florence in 1833 and was buried in the church of Santa Croce, the pantheon of distinguished cultural and political figures.

His musical legacy includes polonaises, mazurkas, marches, romances, a large body of piano pieces, and the opera Zélida and Valcour, or Bonaparte in Cairo. His works became symbolic for supporters of the 1794 uprising and remain emblematic of Polish musical culture. His marches and battle songs were widely sung by insurgents, and some researchers once attributed to him the melody of Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła, though this has since been disproven.

In 2025 newly discovered archival material introduced an alternative version of his birth, suggesting he may have been born on 25 September 1764 near Salantai in Samogitia and baptized there shortly afterward, challenging the long-accepted birthplace of Guzów. Lithuanian scholars described the finding as historically significant.

Oginski was twice married, first to Izabella Lasocka and later to Maria de Neri, and had several children, including Tadeusz Antoni, Franciszek Ksawery, Amelia, Irenej Kleofas, and Emma. Over time his legacy has been honored through monuments, museums, music festivals, memorial benches in Vilnius and Minsk, and commemorations such as the UNESCO-listed 250th anniversary of his birth in 2015 and the Lithuanian Seimas' proclamation of the Year of Oginski. His name has been given to numerous streets across Belarus, as well as to postage stamps, commemorative coins, and a Belarusian banknote featuring a musical fragment of his famous polonaise.

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