Editing Jan Potocki (section)

==Life==
Jan Potocki was born into the [[Potocki family|Potocki aristocratic family]], that owned vast estates across Poland. He was educated in [[Geneva]] and [[Lausanne]], served twice in the [[Polish Army]] as a captain of engineers, and spent some time on a galley as novice to the [[Knights Hospitaller|Knights of Malta]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Lachman |first=Gary |date=2014 |title=Revolutionaries of the Soul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AmBbBgAAQBAJ |publisher=Questbooks |page=35 |isbn=9780835631815}}</ref> His colorful life took him across [[Europe]], [[Asia]] and [[North Africa]], where he embroiled himself in political intrigues, flirted with [[secret society|secret societies]] and contributed to the birth of [[ethnology]] – he was one of the first to study the precursors of the [[Slavic peoples]] from a [[linguistics|linguistic]] and historical standpoint.<ref name="forteantimes.com">{{cite web|url=http://forteantimes.com/articles/140_potocki.shtml |title=The Mystical Count Potocki. ''Fortean Times.'' |access-date=2008-08-14 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020811153132/http://forteantimes.com/articles/140_potocki.shtml |archive-date=August 11, 2002 }} Retrieved September 22, 2011.</ref>

In 1790 he became the first person in [[Poland]] to fly in a [[hot air balloon]] when he made an ascent over [[Warsaw]] with the aeronaut [[Jean-Pierre Blanchard]], an exploit that earned him great public acclaim.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lachman|2014|p=37}}</ref> He spent some time in France, and upon his return to Poland, he became a known publicist, publishing newspapers and pamphlets, in which he argued for various reforms.<ref name=Bauer>{{cite book|author=Krzysztof Bauer|title=Uchwalenie i obrona Konstytucji 3 Maja|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WLNGAAAAIAAJ|access-date=2 January 2012|year=1991|publisher=Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne|isbn=978-83-02-04615-5|page=38}}</ref> He also established in 1788 in Warsaw a publishing house named ''Drukarnia Wolna'' (Free Press)  as well as the city's first free reading room. His relation with [[Stanislaus Augustus]] was thorny, as Potocki, while often supportive of the king, on occasion did not shy from his critique.<ref name=Bauer/> He was also highly critical of the Russian ambassador, [[Otto Magnus von Stackelberg (ambassador)|Otto Magnus von Stackelberg]].<ref name=Bauer/>

Potocki's wealth enabled him to travel extensively about Europe, the Mediterranean and Asia, visiting Italy, [[Sicily]], [[Malta]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Germany]], [[France]], [[England]], [[Russia]], [[Turkey]], [[Dalmatia]], the [[Balkans]], the [[Caucasus]], [[Spain]], [[Tunisia]], [[Morocco]], [[Egypt]], and even [[Mongolia]]. He was also one of the first [[travel writer]]s of the modern era, penning lively accounts of many of his journeys, during which he also undertook extensive historical, linguistic, and ethnographic studies.<ref name="forteantimes.com" />

Potocki married twice and had five children. His first marriage ended in divorce, and both marriages were the subject of scandalous rumors. In 1812, disillusioned and in poor health, he retired to his estate at Uładówka (now Uladivka) near [[Vinnytsia]] in present-day Ukraine, suffering from "[[melancholia]]" (which today would probably be diagnosed as [[Clinical depression|depression]]), and during the last few years of his life he completed his novel.<ref name="forteantimes.com" />