page_title: Commission of National Education
section_title: Third phase (1788–1794)
hierarchical_section_title: Commission of National Education / History / Third phase (1788–1794)
caption_attribution_description: Portrait of Otto Magnus von Stackelberg (1736-1800)
context_page_description: The Commission of National Education was the central educational authority in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, created by the Sejm and the King Stanisław II August on October 14, 1773. Because of its vast authority and autonomy, it is considered the first Ministry of Education in European history and an important achievement of the Polish Enlightenment.
context_section_description: After 1789 the supporters of reforms in the Polish Sejm gradually started to lose their influence. Similarly, the KEN was deprived of many of its former privileges. During the Sejm Wielki the Reformers had to sacrifice many of those privileges in order to gain support for the Constitution of May the 3rd. Ultimately, after the victory of the Confederation of Targowica, in 1794, the KEN lost control over most of the schools in the Commonwealth and many of its members were banished or had to defect abroad. This included Hugo Kołłątaj himself, who had to escape to Dresden.
caption: The Russian ambassador Otto Magnus von Stackelberg was persuaded to accept (in the name of the Empress Catherine II) the law establishing the Commission of National Education
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