Count Konstanty Tyzenhauz (; 3 June 1786 â 16 March 1853) was a PolishâÂÂLithuanian nobleman, naturalist, artist, and founder of ornithology in Poland and Lithuania. He made a large collection of eggs and bird skins at his estate in Pastavy (now in Belarus).
Tyzenhaus was born in à »oà Âudek near Grodno to Count and Maria née Przezdziecka. After education at the University of Vilnius, he took part in the Napoleonic Wars (1812âÂÂ14), specifically the French invasion of Russia and the War of the Sixth Coalition. At the time, he was the commander of the 19th Lithuanian Infantry Regiment. It was shortly after the war that he became familiar with taxidermic techniques at the Paris Museum of Natural History. French was a second language in the PolishâÂÂLithuanian aristocracy and his correspondents included Félix ÃÂdouard Guérin-Méneville (1799âÂÂ1874). He was made the Officer of the Legion of Honour on August 10, 1813, and he continued to live in Clermont-Ferrand, not returning to Lithuania until the Tsar declared an amnesty for the former soldiers of the Grande Armée.
He then took a keen interest in the birds of the Vilnius region and made collections of eggs and skins. He also wrote some books on ornithology. A trained artist (a student of Jean-Pierre Norblin de La Gourdaine), he also illustrated plates for books by Wà Âadysà Âaw Taczanowski. After his death, the zoological collections (with 1093 skins and 563 eggs) were donated by his son Rajnold Tyzenhauz (1830-1880) to the Archaeological Commission of Vilnius and became part of the Museum of Antiquities.
In , he married Waleria Waà Âkowicz, daughter of Antoni Waà Âkowicz and Anna née Soà Âtan. They had 5 children: Zbigniew, Helena, Maria Anna Waleria, Wà Âadysà Âaw and Rajnold.