Michał Plater-Zyberk

Count Michał Plater-Zyberk (28 December, 1777 – 1862, Schlossberg [lv]) – Polish nobleman, naturalist, civilian vice-governor of Vilnius.

In order to save his wife's family name, he adopted her surname and coat of arms, for which he received a special consent from Emperor Alexander I.

The imperial court rejected the idea of reform and ordered to reprimend Plater-Zyberk and the marshal of the nobility, Teodor Ropp.

[1] He was the first to describe the fall of a meteorite that took place on July 12, 1820 near Līksna (probably in Lazdāni [lv]), about 5:30 p.m.[3] He also collected its fragments and prepared a detailed documentation of the event.

Based on the information from Plater-Zyberk, he published an article on the meteorite in Annalen der Physik in 1821, and a year later in The Edinburgh Philosophical Journal.

[4] Today, the largest fragment (weighing 2,760 kg) is in the collection of the museum of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in Kyiv.

[5] Emilia Plater, daughter of Ksawery, the cousin brother of Michał Plater-Zyberk, was raised in the palace in Līksna for some time.