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Introduction
TeUniversityofWarsawisoneofasizeablegroupofEuropean
andAmericanuniversitieswhichwereestablishedintheAgeoftheEn-
lightenment.ItwasfoundedatthesametimeastheHumboldtUniver-
sityofBerlin(1811),theUniversityofVirginiainCharlottesville(1819)
andtheUniversityofLondon(1822).1However,unliketheseinstitu-
tions,itspastwasfraughtwithdifculties,especiallyinthenineteenth
century.TeUniversity,whichisanintegralpartofWarsaw,sulereda
fatesimilartothatofthecityitself.Itshistoryisalsoakintothatofthe
entirePolish-LithuanianCommonwealthwhichwaspartitionedbythe
neighbouringpowersinthelateeighteenthcentury(1772–1795),and
essentiallywipedolthemapformorethanahundredyears.Hopesfor
Poland’srebirthgrewintheearlynineteenthcentury,firstawakenedby
theNapoleoniccampaignsin1806,andthentheCongressofViennain
1815.2However,theDuchyofWarsaw(1807–1813),andlatertheKing-
domofPoland,establishedin1815andbetterknownastheCongress
Kingdom,werebutpoorsubstitutesforsucharevival.AlthoughNapo-
leondisappointedmanyPolesbyrecreatingPolandasonlytheDuchyof
Warsaw(seemap),thissmallstate’sexistencemadeitpossibletoestablish
theCongressKingdom.Tegreathopeswhichrestedintheliberaland
relativelyreformistAlexanderI(1801–1825)tsarofRussiaandsubse-
quentlykingofPolandturnedsoursoonafter1820.Hissuccessorto
thethronesofRussiaandPoland,TsarNicholasI,3furtherlimitedthe
CongressKingdom’sindependencethusprecipitatingtheoutbreakofthe
NovemberUprisingin1830.4TetsarwasdethronedaskingofPoland
byanactofthePolishParliament,andmilitaryactivitiescontinuedfor
sevenmonths.TeUprisingwasneverthelessdoomedtofail.
TeUniversity,establishedintheyears1808–1818byagroup
ofWarsawintellectuals,ofciallysanctionedbyAlexanderIon19No-
vember1816andformallyinauguratedon14May1818,wasclosed
downin1831.Intheyearswhichfollowed,itsmostvaluabletreasures
includingthelibrary,avastcollectionofmorethan100,000printsand
drawings,acollectionofcoinsandmedalsandmanyotherworksofart
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