Jan de Witte

Jan de Witte (1709–1785) was a Dutch military engineer, professional officer and architect in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The designer of, among others, the Dominican church in Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine) and the Carmelite monastery in Berdyczów (now Berdychiv, Ukraine), he was also the military commandant of the Kamieniec Podolski fortress (now Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ukraine). Personal life Jan de Witte was born in the Russian army encampment near Poltava on 8 July 1709, as a son of Jan de Witte (the Elder), a professional officer coming from a Dutch Protestant family from Dordrecht, at that time employed in the Russian army which waged war with Sweden. In 1718, Jan the Witte (the Elder) joined the military of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and took up residence in the town of Kamieniec in Podolia possessing the famous fortress. At that time he probably converted to Roman Catholicism, he also married a local woman from a prominent noble family. His first son, Jan de Witte (the Younger), after completing schooling in Jesuits' college, joined the ranks of Polish royal artillery corps in February 1726, in which he later served until his death. Being promoted several times (captain in 1735, major in 1751, lieutenant-colonel in 1754, colonel of the artillery in 1762, major-general in 1767), he finally became lieutenant general in 1781, from 1768 being also appointed as the commander of the mentioned Kamieniec fortress and other minor frontier forts in Podolia simultaneously. In 1735 he married Marianna Lubońska who bore him numerous offspring. His career's supporter and promoter was a powerful Polish noble, Grand Crown Hetman Wacław Rzewuski. In his later years he also attracted the attention of King Stanisław August Poniatowski, who, in an act of recognition of his loyal duty, highly rated knowledge and works, awarded him with the Order of St. Stanislaus in 1781. It was Rzewuski who pronounced a recognition of de Witte family's indygenat (the recognition of foreign status as a noble) in 1764, four years later positively approved by the Polish Sejm. Jan de Witte was considered as an authority not only in the art of war, but also in questions concerning the Near East, as he was one of the best-informed specialists in Polish-Turkish affairs. For example, he kept a wide correspondence with the Turkish pashas from Ottoman frontier forts along the Commonwealth's south-eastern border.