BADENI STANISŁAW MARCIN (1850 - 1912)
Marshal of Sejm of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
- of VII term (28 December 1895 - 9 July 1901)
- of VIII term (in the office between 26 June 1903 and 12 October 1907)
- of IX term (in the office between 15 September 1908 and 15 June 1912)
Born on 7 September 1850 in Surochow near Jaroslaw, died on 12 October 1912
Radziechow. He came from a well-known aristocratic family, his brother Kazimierz (1846 -
1909) was governor of Galicia 1888 - 1895 and prime minister of Austrian government 1895
- 1897). He graduated from the Faculty of Law and Philosophy at the Jagiellonian University
and received doctor's degrees in law and philosophy. Elected deputy to the National Sejm of
V term 1883 - 1889 in IV kuria of rural communes in Łopatyn - Brody - Radziechow
district. In the sejm of VI term from IV kuria of rural communes in Kamionka Strumilowa
district. In those two terms, he won renown for his knowledge of economy, financial and
educational issues in Galicia. For a few years, he was the principal presenter of the national
budget, which he decided about following the principle of balance and strict economy. A
member of the National School Council 1890 - 1895, curator of Macierz Polska in Lvov from
1903. In educational system, he stressed the necessity of raising the level of education in
village schools. In sejm, he brought on the topic of bigger contribution of the gentry to
financing village schools and was also the author of a school law passed in sejm in 1894. He
sat in the Chamber of Lords of the Austrian Council of State for consecutive terms from VIII
to the beginning of XII, as life member from 1891, and as hereditary member from 1912. On
behalf of the Chamber of Lords, he was elected to a delegation for mutual Austro-Hungarian
affairs for a few years between 1891 and 1895. Famous for his report on military budget.
Vice-president of the great National Exhibition in Lvov 1894. The exhibition was to present
Galicia's economic and cultural development. Soon he got the post of secret councillor and
became a member of the State Tribunal. Elected to the National Sejm of VII term in IV kuria
of rural communes in Kamionka Strumilowa district. Nominated sejm marshal by emperor
Franz Joseph in 1895, he kept the position until the resignation in 1901. He held the office of
national marshal in two subsequent sejms, elected from the same electoral group and district:
in VIII term 1901 - 1907 from 26 June 1903 after Andrzej Potocki's nomination for the office
of Galicia's governor, and in IX term 1908 - 1912. For over 15 years, he chaired as national
marshal the jobs of the National Department, showed great administrative talents, improved
the old and formed some new sections of the National Department. He specially stressed the
budget balance. His financial policy aimed at preventing a deficit in the budget. He designed
the funds received from the introduction of a government monopoly on spirits for economic
and educational purposes (road building, village schools). Badeni's great merit was overtaking
the Wawel Castle from the Austrian army administration in 1899. Beside its function as an
emperor's residence, the Castle was to be the storing place for national souvenirs. Every year
Sejm designed subsidies for the renovation of the Wawel. Due to his poor health, Badeni
resigned his office and retired from active political life from June 1912.
Portrait of Stanisław Badeni
painted by Kazimierz Pochwalski
oil, canvas, 128 x 97 cm
National Museum in Cracow, cat. No II-a-524.