Adam Zamoyski | |
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| Born | Adam Stefan Zamoyski 11 January 1949 New York City, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Historian, author |
| Spouse | Emma Sergeant (m. 2001) |
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| Family | Zamoyski |
Adam Zamoyski (born 11 January 1949) is a British historian and author descended from the historically important Polish nobility. [1]
Born in New York City in 1949, as Adam Stefan Zamoyski, the youngest son of Count Stefan Zamoyski (1904–1976), member of the Zamoyski family and his wife, Princess Elizabeth Czartoryska (1905–1989), who left their homeland when it was invaded by Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939. When the Soviets took power at the end of World War II, they found themselves stranded in the West, eventually settling in London. [2]
Zamoyski has dual Polish-British nationality. He was brought up in England and educated at St Philip's Preparatory School, The Queen's College, Oxford, where he read History and Modern Languages (BA Hons. 1970, MA Hons 1974).
Zamoyski lives in London with his wife, the painter Emma Sergeant (b. 1959), daughter of Sir Patrick John Rushton Sergeant.[ citation needed ] He first visited Poland in the 1960s and now has a second home in an area of great biodiversity near Zamość, where he has planted over a thousand trees and restored a number of traditional wooden cottages. [3]
Zamoyski is a historian and author, with numerous books including his history of Poland, The Polish Way, and Moscow 1812: Napoleon's Fatal March , his account of Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812. His biography of Frédéric Chopin, Chopin. Prince of the Romantics, was serialised as the 'Book of the Week' on BBC Radio 4 in 2012. [4] His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages. [5] [2]
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leading musician of his era, one whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation".
The Battle of Borodino took place near the village of Borodino on 7 September [O.S. 26 August] 1812 during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The Grande Armée won the battle against the Imperial Russian Army, but failed to gain a decisive victory and suffered tremendous losses. Napoleon fought against General Mikhail Kutuzov, whom the Emperor Alexander I of Russia had appointed to replace Barclay de Tolly on 29 August [O.S. 17 August] 1812 after the Battle of Smolensk. After the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon remained on the battlefield with his army; the Imperial Russian forces retreated in an orderly fashion southwards. Because the Imperial Russian army had severely weakened the Grande Armée, they allowed the French occupation of Moscow, using the city as bait to trap Napoleon and his men. The failure of the Grande Armée to completely destroy the Imperial Russian army, in particular Napoleon's reluctance to deploy his Imperial Guard, has been widely criticised by historians as a huge blunder, as it allowed the Imperial Russian army to continue its retreat into territory increasingly hostile to the French.
Joachim Murat was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the military titles of Marshal of the Empire and Admiral of France. He was the first Prince Murat, Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808, and King of Naples as Joachim-Napoleon from 1808 to 1815.
The Battle of (the) Berezina took place from 26 to 29 November 1812, between Napoleon's Grande Armée and the Imperial Russian Army under Field Marshal Wittgenstein and Admiral Chichagov. Napoleon was retreating toward Poland in chaos after the aborted occupation of Moscow and trying to cross the Berezina River at Borisov. The outcome of the battle was inconclusive as, despite heavy losses, Napoleon managed to cross the river and continue his retreat with the surviving remnants of his army.
Wilhelm Würfel, aka Wenzel Würfel was a Czech composer, pianist and conductor.
The Battle of Tarutino was a part of Napoleon's invasion of Russia. In the battle, Russian troops under the general command of Bennigsen, on instructions from Kutuzov, launched an attack and defeated French troops under the command of Joachim Murat. The battle is sometimes called the Battle of Vinkovo or the Battle of the Chernishnya after the local river. Many historians claim that the latter name is more fitting because the village of Tarutino was 8 km from the described events.
During the French occupation of Moscow, a fire persisted from 14 to 18 September 1812 and all but destroyed the city. The Russian troops and most of the remaining civilians had abandoned the city on 14 September 1812 just ahead of French Emperor Napoleon's troops entering the city after the Battle of Borodino. The Moscow military governor, Count Fyodor Rostopchin, has often been considered responsible for organising the destruction of the sacred former capital to weaken the French army in the scorched city even more.
The Second Battle of Polotsk took place during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. In this encounter the Russians under General Peter Wittgenstein attacked and defeated a Franco-Bavarian force under Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr. In the aftermath of this success, the Russians took Polotsk and dismantled Napoleon's operations in Belarus. Wittgenstein's victory set the stage for the Battle of Berezina in November, in which three Russian armies converged on Napoleon from separate directions.
Moscow 1812: Napoleon's Fatal March is a non-fiction book analysing the events and circumstances during the French Invasion of Russia and the events during the reign of Napoleon, which would, ultimately, mark the beginning of the end of the Napoleonic empire after his troops were driven from Russia. The book was written by Adam Zamoyski and first published on August 3, 2004 by HarperCollins; receiving positive reviews by critics and the media.
The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign and in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812, was initiated by Napoleon with the aim of compelling the Russian Empire to comply with the continental blockade of the United Kingdom. Widely studied, Napoleon's incursion into Russia stands as a focal point in military history, recognized as among the most devastating military endeavors globally. In a span of fewer than six months, the campaign exacted a staggering toll, claiming the lives of nearly a million soldiers and civilians.
Poles in France form one of the largest Polish diaspora communities in Europe. Between 500,000 and one million people of Polish descent live in France, concentrated in the Nord-Pas de Calais region, in the metropolitan area of Lille, the coal-mining basin around Lens and Valenciennes and in the Ile-de-France.
Konstancja Gładkowska (1810–1889) was a Polish soprano. Frédéric Chopin at age 19, while studying at the Warsaw School of Music, fell in love with Gładkowska. She admired many early works by Chopin, who in 1830 left Poland, eventually settling in Paris.
The IV Cavalry Corps of the Grande Armée was a French military unit that existed during the Napoleonic Wars. The corps was created in 1812 and rebuilt in 1813 and 1815. Emperor Napoleon I first organized the corps for the invasion of Russia. Under General Victor de Fay de La Tour-Maubourg, the corps fought at Borodino. During the War of the Sixth Coalition in 1813, General François Étienne de Kellermann commanded the all-Polish corps at Leipzig.
Tytus Sylwester Woyciechowski was a Polish political activist, agriculturalist, and patron of art. He was an early friend — and possible lover — of the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin.
Wojciech Grzymała, also known as Albert Grzymala or Albert Grzymała, was a Polish soldier, politician, and banker who was a close associate in Paris of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin.
Chopin is a four-act opera by Giacomo Orefice (1865–1922) to a libretto by Angiolo Orvieto, premiered in Milan in 1901.
By the first decades of the 21st century, over a hundred biographies of Frédéric Chopin had been published.
The Battle of Inkovo took place on 8 August 1812, between the Cossack corps of General Platov and the 2nd Light Cavalry Division of General Sebastiani and ended as a minor Russian victory.
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