Between Geneva, Florence and Rietavas: the cultural experiences of Ireneusz Kleofas Ogiński (1808-1863).

Straipsnyje analizuojamas Rietavo dvarininko lrenėjaus Kleopo Oginskio (1808-1863) edukacijos kelias, dėmesį telkiant į Apšvietos epochos idėjomis paremtą ugdymą tėvų namuose bei tolesnį jaunuolio mokymąsi Italijoje ir Šveicarijoje vadovaujant asmeniniam guverneriui, šveicarų rašytojui ir poetui Johnui Ruegger (1796-1868). Telkiamasi į kunigaikščio I. K. Oginskio kultūrines patirtis, įgytas jaunuoliui keliaujant po Vakarų Europą ir dirbant Rusijos imperijos diplomatinėje atstovybėje Florencijoje. 1822-1830 m. laikotarpio Mykolo Kleopo Oginskio (1765-1833) ir jo sūnaus lrenėjaus Kleopo korespondencijos analizė atskleidžia plačius jaunojo kunigaikščio kultūrinių aspiracijų horizontus ir leidžia nubrėžti tiesiogines Lietuvos dvarininko ir XIX a. pirmos pusės Vakarų Europos politinio ir kultūrinio elito idėjinės bendrystės sąsajas bei rasti atsakymus į klausimus dėl Rietavo dvaro, kaip kultūrinių ir techninių inovacijų židinio Lietuvoje XIX šimtmečio viduryje, fenomeno.The article analyses the path of education taken by the Rietavas manor lord, Ireneusz Kleofas Ogiński (1808-1863), focusing on his education based on the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment in his parents home, and the youths further studies in Italy and Switzerland with a personal governor, the Swiss writer and poet, John Ruegger (1796-1868). The analysis continues on to Duke Oginskis cultural experiences acquired while the youth travelled around Western Europe and worked at the diplomatic embassy of the Russian Empire in Florence. Literature and archival sources testify that Ireneusz Kleofas Ogiński had not attended university, however the systematically organised education at his parents’ home, where great attention was dedicated to both the physical and intellectual education of the youth, like his further enlightenment guided by his personal teacher, helped him acquire the education necessary for a young man and to form the required qualifications for diplomatic service. Ireneusz Kleofas Ogiński matured as a distinct, strong and responsible person carring for the wellbeing of his family and country. His home schooling based on the ideas of the Enlightenment established a broad foundation in the humanities, while his four-year-long educational journey around Italy and Switzerland formed a constant need to take an interest in the latest news from all academic fields, and to try to apply advanced technical and scientific discoveries in practice. The surviving written fragments from his travels around Lower Silesia, Saxony and Prussia reveal the wide economic and cultural interests of the young aristocrat. The analysis of Ireneusz Kleofas Ogińskis educational and cultural experiences lets us make direct links between the ideological commonality between a Lithuanian manor lord and the West European political and cultural elite, and shows that the cultural and techical innovations introduced at the Rietavas manor were a direct result of the systematic education the youth received, his world view being formed by qualified pedagogues. The phenomenon of Rietavas as a centre for innovations in mid-19th-century Lithuania was the outcome of the educational foundations laid by Ireneuesz Kleofas Ogmski’s parents in the family home, and his cultural experience acquired in Western Europe