The history of the Palace has been closely connected with the history of Poland.

1820-1830. The Staszic Palace was erected in 1823 to serve as the seat of the Society of Friends of Science and named after Stanislaw Staszic, the founder of the Society and of the building. The Palace was built in 1820-1823 according to designs by Antonio Corazzi, an Italian architect, on the site of a 1668 Dominican church. On Staszic's initiative, the Copernicus monument, designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen, a Danish sculptor, was erected in 1830 in front of the Palace. At that time Poland was partitioned, Warsaw being located in the area under Russian authority (the so-called Congress Kingdom, formed after the 1814 Vienna Congress). Under these circumstances, Stanislaw Staszic, who was one of the most distinguished representatives of the Polish Enlightenment, focused the Society's activity on fostering the country's development in the areas of the economy, science and education. Staszic was both President of the Society of Friends of Science, and also one of the founders of Warsaw University (1816). Staszic's activity also included, but was not limited to initiating the construction of a coal mine in Dabrowa Gornicza, forming an Agricultural Association in Hrubieszow, carrying out research into geology and preparing a geological map of Poland and neighbouring countries.

The Society of Friends of Science, founded by Staszic, aimed at defending Polish culture and at developing science. The Society brought together in the Staszic Palace many Polish works of art, as well as materials referring to Polish history.

1830-1918. Following the defeat of the November 1830 uprising, the Society of Friends of Science was dissolved by the Russian authorities and the works of art gathered there were confiscated. Warsaw University was also closed. Since then, the Palace has served different purposes, i.e. it housed the offices of the State Lottery, and since 1862, a secondary school for boys. In 1892-93 the Palace was rebuilt in Russian Byzantine style according to designs by Pokrowski, a Russian architect. The central part was turned into an Orthodox chapel, in commemoration of the Shuysky Tsars.

1918-1939. After Poland had regained independence, from1919-1924 the Palace was leased to the Warsaw Scientific Society, which continued the work of the Society of Friends of Science. In 1924-1926 the Palace was restored to its original neo-classical style, although the design by Lalewicz differed from Corazzi's version.

1939-1946. After the outbreak of the Second World War, the Warsaw Society for Science ceased its activities. The Palace was heavily damaged, in particular during the 1944 Warsaw uprising. However, some parts of it remained above ground.

1946-1950 reconstruction of the Palace, carried out by Bieganski, is an attempt to restore the original 1820 design. The architects in charge of the reconstruction faced many difficulties, since no authentic materials, pictures or designs by Corazzi were available. Thus, comprehensive research was carried out both on Corazzi's work as a whole, and on the remaining walls of the Palace. In 1948, the Warsaw Society for Science officially took over use of the Palace. At present, the Palace is used by the Polish Academy for Science (the supreme scientific institution in Poland, formed in 1951), the Centre for Social Studies and other scientific institutions, such as the Polish Sociological Association and the Graduate School for Social Research.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

BIEGANSKI, Piotr: Palac Staszica - siedziba Towarzystwa Naukowego Warszawskiego, Towarzystwo Naukowe Warszawskie, Warsaw 1951, p. 60-123.
GLEBOCKI, Wieslaw: Palace Warszawy, Wydawnictwo Sport i Turystyka, Warsaw 1991, p. 112.
JAROSZEWSKI, Tadeusz Stefan: Ksiega palacow Warszawy, Interpress Publishers, Warsaw 1985, p. 147.