working for the Russian authorities. Around that time, he and Czartoryski authored a plan for a European federal organization of states intended to prevent armed conflicts and to maintain perpetual peace. Piattoli, through Czartoryski, briefly worked in the diplomatic service and administration of the Russians, too. Like Czartoryski, Piattoli tried to push for a more lenient and friendly attitude towards Poland at the Russian court, but with little success. In 1807 Scipione Piattoli returned to Courland. There he finally settled, abandoned the priesthood, and married one of the ladies of the court. In his final years in Courland he was involved with Courland's educational system, and hoped to pursue some scientific studies, a lifelong dream for which he never found enough time. He died of a lung infection in Altenburg on 12 April 1809. He was buried in a park in Löbichau. Remembrance Piattoli was an inspiration to Leo Tolstoy, who based the figure of the Abbé Morio in War and Peace (1869) on him. He is also one of the figures immortalized in Jan Matejko's 1891 painting, Constitution of 3 May 1791. In his 1980 ten-page entry on Piattoli in the Polish Biographical Dictionary, historian Emanuel Rostworowski notes that, “despite two Italian monographs (by A.D. Ancon and G. Bozzolato)”, Piattoli still awaits a definitive biography. See also Italy–Poland relations References Further reading Bozzolato G., Polonia e Russia alla fine del XVIII secolo – Un avvanturerio ornarato: Scipione Piattoli, Padova 1964 External links Piattoli Scipione (1749-1809), based on the Polski Słownik Biograficzny entry (abridged). Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie 1749 births 1809 deaths Italian emigrants to Poland Clergy from Florence Piarists Italian Freemasons Grand Duchy of Tuscany people Academic staff of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia University of Florence alumni