Medal Jean Emmanuela Giliberta w zbiorach Narodowego Muzeum Historii Naturalnej w Paryżu

ENIn 1782, Jean-Emmanuel Gilibert fell victim to attempted poisoning in Vilnius. The eminent naturalist and friend of the king was saved by his student, Anupras Orlauskas, who was warned in time and poured out the poisoned coffee. Stanisław August Poniatowski commemorated this event with a commemorative medal. The medal of honor commemorating Orlauskas is a great rarity in museum collections. The search conducted in the interwar period in Paris and Lyon, Gilibert’s hometown, did not yield any results. Only two copies were identified in the numismatic collection of Emeryk Hutten-Czapski in Kraków. Recently, the medal has also been found in the collection of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. The article presents the history of the medal and the hypotheses regarding its origin and acquisition by the Paris Museum. Keywords: Jean-Emmanuel Gilibert, Stanisław August Poniatowski, commemorative medal, National Museum of Natural History in Paris, history of natural sciences. [From the publication]