Count Xavier Branicki

Count Xavier Branicki (in Polish: Franciszek Ksawery Branicki, in French: François Xavier Branicki; 26 October 1816 – 20 November 1879) was a Polish nobleman, political exile, and landowner who took French nationality.

He became a political writer, financier, art collector, and philanthropist.

He was the owner and restorer of the Château de Montrésor and estate in France.

He was descended from a powerful magnate family with immense land holdings in the Duchy of Lithuania and in Ukraine, partly as a result, it is said, of a family connection with Catherine the Great.

He was a co-founder of the Crédit Foncier de France, a bank that continues to this day.

Interior of the Château de Montrésor , Branicki's decades-long restoration project