Jan “Nepomucen” Potocki — Polish writer, historian, ethnographer, archaeologist, geographer, sociologist, publicist, editor, publisher, bibliographer, and traveler of Europe and Asia
Potocki authored 24 major works across diverse fields of knowledge and was the first chronological Slavic scholar. He pioneered regional studies of Volhynia, Podolia, and Kherson, and was also the first Polish aeronaut.
He admired Odesa from the city’s earliest days. Potocki visited the city and its nearby and distant surroundings repeatedly (in the late 18th and early 19th centuries) and dedicated historical-anthropological narratives to them, reaching back to ancient times and drawing on extensive literature, beginning with Herodotus. At the same time, he saw economic opportunities in the city.
Through his travel-scientific narratives from expeditions to Turkey and Egypt (1784), the Netherlands (1787), the Moroccan Empire (1791), and Lower Saxony (1794), Potocki earned the reputation of a “correspondent of the world” and a “historian-anthropologist,” as noted by his biographers François Rosse and Dominique Thiry. In his works, he sought to describe visited places so as to immerse the reader in their past, convey the landscape, and simultaneously depict the contemporary social and political situation.
It should be noted that Potocki did not leave a major work dedicated exclusively to Odesa. Nevertheless, in his extensive bibliography, there are several works that mention this part of the Black Sea coast, where the city was established as the successor to the ancient Tatar fortress of Khadjibey. Chief among these are his historical works from 1796–1805:
● Mémoire sur un nouveau périple du Pont-Euxin, ainsi que sur la plus ancienne histoire des peuples du Taurus, du Caucase, et de la Scythie (1797) — a description of a new journey to the Black Sea coast along with the earliest history of Crimea, the Caucasus, and Scythia;● Podróż przez stepy Astrachania i na Kaukaz (1797–1798);● Histoire ancienne du gouvernement de Cherson (1804) — ancient histories of Kherson Governorate;● Histoire ancienne du gouvernement de Podolie (1805) — ancient histories of Podolia Governorate.
As Rosse and Thiry noted, in these works Potocki provides “the names assigned by each map to every place and village; thus he defines a ‘péryple,’ or navigation around.” Geographic and historical continuity is preserved: he names specific locations with both their ancient and contemporary names, creating “navigational” narratives that contain a wealth of knowledge about the lands on which Odesa lies.
In June 1803, Potocki was in Odesa, where he had previously sent his subordinate Ibrahim to manage the affairs of the writer and landowner, including plots purchased during the city’s founding. He grew fond of Odesa, which offered significant economic and political opportunities. At that time, he was planning an administrative career in the central institutions of the empire under Alexander I. In the summer of 1803, he wrote from the port to his father-in-law, Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki:
“The sacred principles of truth compel me to inform you that you did not act entirely correctly by not coming to Odesa, which this year shines with commercial splendor. Around twenty buildings have been constructed here, the port is bustling, and the city’s fate is assured, for His Imperial Majesty has allocated funds for port construction, which will begin on the first of August.”
He also noted the local seafood, served with fine olive oil and Bordeaux wine. Potocki viewed Odesa through the eyes of a travel writer, capable of documenting a city experiencing impressive, though challenging, growth. It is also known that at that time he sold his Odesa lands, likely to cover expenses for an upcoming journey to Italy.