Xavier Branicki

Count Xavier Branicki, born 26 October 1816 in Warsaw, Poland, died 20 November 1879 in Assiut, Khedivate of Egypt, 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 member of the close circle of Napoleon III. He was a co-founder of the Crédit Foncier de France, a bank that continues to this day.