Count Roman Ignacy Potocki, generally known as Ignacy Potocki (; 1750–1809), was a Polish nobleman, member of the influential magnate Potocki family, owner of Klementowice and Olesin (near Kurów), a politician, writer, and office holder. He was the Marshal of the Permanent Council (Rada Nieustająca) in 1778–1782, Grand Clerk of Lithuania from 1773, Court Marshal of Lithuania from 1783, Grand Marshal of Lithuania from 16 April 1791 to 1794. He was an educational activist, member of the Commission of National Education and the initiator and president of Society for Elementary Textbooks. He was an opponent of king Stanisław II August in the 1770s and 1780s, and a major figure in the Polish politics of that era. During the Great Sejm he was a leader of the Patriotic Party and the reform movement and eventually backed the King in many reform projects. An advocate of a pro-Prussian orientation, he helped conclude an alliance with Prussia in 1790. He co-authored the Constitution of 3 May 1791. Life Youth Potocki was born in Radzyń on 28 February 1750 into the influential magnate Potocki family. He was the son of Eustachy Potocki and Marianna Kątska, brother of Jerzy Michał Potocki, Jan Nepomucen Eryk Potocki and Stanisław Kostka Potocki. Potocki was an alumnus of the Collegium Nobilium in Warsaw, where he was a student in the years 1761–1765. From 1765 he studied theology and law in Rome, where he attended the Collegium Nazarenum, up to about 1769. His parents intended for him to join the ranks of clergy, but he refused to follow this path. After traveling through Italy and Germany, he returned to Poland around 1771. On 27 December 1772 he married Elżbieta Lubomirska. This marriage brought him close to the political faction of Familia. Early on, Potocki made a major impression on many of his contemporaries, being groomed as the next leader of Familia. From 1772 he was invited to the King Stanisław II Augustus' Thursday Dinners. Political career As a member (1772–1791) of Poland's Commission of National Education () – the world's first ministry of education – he was the initiator of and presided over the Society for Elementary Textbooks (, founded in 1775). He presided over the renovation of the Załuski's Library (in 1774). He was involved in the development of numerous projects, such as the history curriculum. In 1781 he reviewed and endorsed Hugo Kołłątaj's work at the Cracow Academy.