Napoleon Orda was a Belarusian composer, writer, sculptor, teacher and artist, best known for his renowned landscapes and architectural sketches of Europe, especially of the sites of the present-day Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland. Moreover, Orda composed mazurkas, waltzes, polonaises, polkas, serenades and nocturnes.
Background
Napoleon Orda was born on February 11, 1807, in the village Worocewicze, Pinsky Uyezd of Minsk Governorate (present-day Ivanava region, Belarus). He was a son of Michał Orda, an impoverished nobleman of Lithuanian ancestry and a marshal of the Kobryń County (powiat), and Józefina (Butrymowicz) Orda, a gifted piano player and a daughter of a judge and a nobleman ‒ Tadeush Butrimovich.
Also, Napoleon had a sister, whose name was Hortensia Orda.
Education
Initially, Napoleon studied at home under the guidance of his parents. In 1819, he started to attend Svislach Classical School, graduating in 1823. The same year, Orda entered the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of Vilnius University. However, he did not manage to graduate from the educational establishment, as he was expelled for the participation in the activities of the secret student society "Zoryane" in 1826.
During his time in Paris, the artist studied piano play under the guidance of Chopin and Franz Liszt. He also took drawing classes from Pierre Girard, who was famous for his architectural painting.
In 1830, Napoleon Orda joined Polish insurgents of the failed November Uprising of 1830 and fought against Russian Empire. He served with distinction in the famous 4th Regiment. From May 1831, Orda served as an adjutant to General Wojciech Chrzanowski. For his bravery, he was honored with the highest Polish military decoration ‒ War Order of Virtuti Militari.
After the fall of the uprising, Orda had to escape abroad in order to avoid being imprisoned and sent to Siberia. The Russian authorities denied his right to inherit the properties, owned by his mother. He stayed in Austria, Switzerland, Italy and finally settled down in Paris in 1833. At that time, he was involved in the political life of the Polish Emigrants, as well as in the cultural life of Paris. It was in France, that Orda met Adam Mickiewicz, Giuseppe Verdi, Hector Berlioz, Honoré de Balzac, Marie-Henri Beyle (also known as "Stendhal") and Ivan Turgenev.
In Paris, Orda also worked as the head of a commission shop. In 1847, he became the director of Italian Opera house in Paris, a post he held until it was closed due to the February Revolution of 1848.
Some time later, in 1856, when amnesty was proclaimed by the Tsar, Orda returned to his motherland, unsuccessfully trying to restore the household in his ancestral estate of Worocewicze. In 1859, he requested from the Tsar and received back his money, that was confiscated together with his estate.
In 1862, Napoleon moved to Wierzchownia (present-day Verkhovnia, Ukraine), where he served as a manager of general Adam Rzewuski's domain and a music teacher. In 1866, Orda was arrested by the Russian authorities on suspicion of participation in the January Uprising (1863-1864) and sentenced to be dispatched to the remote provinces of Russia. But thanks to the efforts of his wife and the help of the Ambassador of France, the sentence was commuted.
Napoleon’s great passion was drawing architectural landscapes. From 1872, he traveled through historic regions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: Podolia, Volhynia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Samogitia, Livonia, Galicia, Great Poland, Mazovia and also Royal Prussia, drawing hundreds of pictures of castles, palaces, or gentry mansions, recording charm and architectural heritage of the partitioned and occupied country. During his summer trips throughout the country, he made more than 1000 sketches, depicting various towns, cities and historical landscapes. He also depicted landscapes, urban and rural architecture, churches and palaces of partitioned Commonwealth — regions of today's Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, as well as several regions of France, Germany, Portugal and Switzerland. These works are pencil sketches, tinted with watercolour, gouache and sepia.
Between 1872 and 1874, Orda visited most of the notable castles, manors and towns in Volhynia, Podolia and Ukraine. Until 1877, he documented the historical heritage of Lithuania, Samogitia, Livonia and Belarus. Between the years 1873-1883, eight albums of his drawings and watercolors (totally 260 lithographs, selected from over 1000 paintings and drawings) were printed under the title "Album widoków historycznych Polski" (Album of Polish Historical Landscapes).
Napoleon Orda passed away on April 26, 1883 in Warsaw, but he was buried in his family crypt near present-day Kobryn. In 1980's, the cemetery was destroyed by Soviet authorities and some time later, the gravestone from Orda's tomb was found and removed to a museum in Pinsk.
Napoleon Orda was baptized at Holy Cross Catholic Church in present-day Ivanava, Brest Region, Belarus.
Politics
When Napoleon was a student of Vilnus University, he became a member of the secret student society "Zorzanie". As a result, that membership led to his arrest by the Russian secret police on August 27, 1826. In 1830, Orda joined Polish insurgents of the failed November Uprising of 1830 and fought against Russia.
During his time in Paris, the artist was one of the prominent members of the Polish diaspora and was involved in the political life of the Polish Emigrants. Moreover, Orda was an active member of various Polish political and social organisations, including the Committee of Polish Emigrants.
Membership
Secret student society "Zorzanie"
1823 - 1826
Connections
In Paris, Orda married his friend Irene Bougle. Their marriage produced one son — Vitovt Orda.