Stanisław Wawrzyniec Staszic (baptised 6 November 1755 – 20 January 1826) was a leading figure in the Polish Enlightenment: a Catholic priest, philosopher, geologist, writer, poet, translator and statesman. A physiocrat, monist, pan-Slavist (after 1815) and laissez-fairist, he supported many reforms in Poland. He is particularly remembered for his political writings during the "Great (Four-Year) Sejm" (1788–92) and for his large support towards the Constitution of 3 May 1791, adopted by that Sejm. He co-founded the Warsaw Society of Friends of Learning (precursor to the Polish Academy of Sciences), of which he became president. He served as a member of the State Council of the Duchy of Warsaw and as minister of trade and industry in Congress Poland. Staszic is seen as the father of Polish geology, statistics, sociology, Tatra Mountains studies and exploration, mining and industry. Life Early life Stanisław Staszic was born into a burgher family in the town of Piła (he was baptised on 6 November 1755), the youngest of four siblings. His father, Wawrzyniec Staszic, was mayor of Piła and a royal secretary. His brothers were Antoni (1743–1775) and Andrzej (1745–1825), a priest. Staszic attended secondary school at Wałcz. He studied theology and graduated from a Jesuit school at Poznań in 1778 and was ordained a Catholic priest (he took lesser Holy orders in 1774, and higher orders about 1778–79). Between 1779 and 1781 he continued his studies in France at the Collège de France, where he took classes in physics and natural history. On returning to Poland in 1781, he accepted a position as tutor in the house of Grand Crown Chancellor Andrzej Zamoyski. In 1782 he received a doctorate from the Zamojski Academy. He translated several works from French into Polish and briefly worked at the academy as a teacher of French language. Reformer His Remarks upon the Life of Jan Zamoyski (Uwagi nad życiem Jana Zamoyskiego, 1787), published anonymously on the eve of the Great Sejm, transformed the little-known tutor into one of the chief political thinkers of the late 18th-century Commonwealth. It became a model for other similar works and began a flood of political books and pamphlets unprecedented in the Commonwealth's history. It was reprinted numerous times, including in unauthorized editions. Within his Remarks, Staszic did not portray the life of Jan Zamoyski (1542–1605, one of the most prominent statesmen in Polish history); rather, he argued that reforms are needed, and