Leon Walerian Ostroróg


Leon Walerian Ostroróg, was an Islamic scholar, jurist, adviser to the Ottoman government and émigré in Istanbul. He was also a writer and translator.

Early life

Ostroróg was the third son of Count Stanisław Julian Ostroróg, a British and France-based Polish emigrant of noble descent and his wife, Teodozja Waleria Gwozdecka. The family travelled frequently between the UK, France and Poland. The father was a noted Victorian photographer, who after working in Marseilles and Paris, eventually settled in London. Meanwhile, Ostroróg underwent schooling in France and attended the Sorbonne where he completed a doctorate, later specialising in Islamic Law.

Career

He was attracted to the Ottoman Empire as it was a popular destination for the exiled Polish diaspora in the 19th-century. It was also a place to which his father had travelled in his youth and is reputed to have taken a death-bed photograph of the Polish bard, Adam Mickiewicz. His first job was as an adviser in the Ottoman Public Administration of debt in Istanbul. His erudition and social connections led to a friendship with a number of French intellectuals, including, Pierre Loti. He was later taken on as a government adviser despite his christian origins. He kept his employment status through the Young Turk Revolution, until 1914. With the outbreak of the I World War, he returned to Europe. By 1918 his star in Istanbul had waned and his contract with the government was terminated. He was enamoured of the country and married Marie-Jeanne Lorando of christian European descent, but from a long-established Levantine family with whom he had two sons, Jean and Stanislas. The younger of the two, Stanislas became a French diplomat. He also had a traditional wooden mansion, a Yali built in Kandilli on the Bosphorus waterfront, which stands to this day.
Count Ostroróg was a member of the Polish delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, 1919. According to The New York Times obituary about him, he was a contributor to the Encyclopædia Britannica.
Later in life, he settled in London where he lectured at University College London in Turkish studies. He died in London and his body was taken for burial back to Turkey. His contribution to Turkish-European relations is said to have been significant and his role in Turkey becoming a modern state is still being evaluated.

Works

His publications include: