Spouse Dorota Przebendowska Mother Ludwika Maria Morsztyn Role Politician | Noble family Bielinski family Name Franciszek Bielinski Coat of arms Junosza coat of arms | |
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Father Kazimierz Ludwik Bielinski Died October 8, 1766, Warsaw, Poland Parents Kazimierz Ludwik Bielinski | ||
Franciszek Bielinski of Junosza coat of arms (1683–1766) was a Polish politician and statesman. A Grand Marshal of the Crown, Marshal of Prussia and a voivode of Chelmno, he is best remembered as a strong proponent of the expansion and the modernisation of the city of Warsaw. He is also the eponym of Marszalkowska Street (Marshal Street) in Warsaw, one of the major and most iconic streets of Poland's capital.
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Early life
He was born in 1683 to Grand Marshal of the Crown Kazimierz Ludwik Bielinski and Ludwika Maria Bielinska, daughter of Grand Treasurer of the Crown. While officially a high-ranking military officer, for most of his life Bielinski had been in fact a skilled civilian administrator. Initially a starost of Malbork, Czersk, Grojec and Garwolin (since 1713), with time he allied himself to the mighty Czartoryski family. This allowed him to move to the royal court and start his career there.
Political career
In his role as a Marshal of the Court (since 1732) and then Grand Marshal of Poland during the reign of Augustus II the Strong, Bielinski had in fact administrative and judiciary control over a large part of Prussia (as Grand Treasurer of Prussia), Masovia (as czesnik of the Crown) and the city of Warsaw. In 1740 he created the Warsaw-based Cobblestone Commission, tasked with paving the streets and creating a modern sewer system. Under his leadership in 20 years the commission managed to pave 222 streets, a large majority of streets of the contemporary Polish capital.
In 1752 he allowed for the creation of the first professional fire brigade in Poland (based in Ostrow Wielkopolski). In 1757 with his personal funds he created a jurydyka of Bielino, a small village that with time became the core of what is now the city centre of Warsaw. During his civil service he also served as a starost of Kowalewo, Brodnica and Garwolin.
Marriage and death
He married Dorota Henrietta nee Przebendowska, daughter of his father's successor as Grand Treasurer and widow of Jan Mikolaj Radziwill, the Voivode of Nowogrodek. He died heir-less on 8 October 1766 in Warsaw. In 1770 the Marszalkowska Street was named in his honour and bears that name to this day.