Franz Leopold Lafontaine

Franz Leopold Lafontaine
Franz Leopold Lafontaine
Born	Franz Anton Leopold (1756-01-14)14 January 1756 Biberach an der Riss
Died	12 December 1812(1812-12-12) (aged 56) Mogilev
Nationality	German-Polish
Occupation	Surgeon
Known for	Work on catarrh
Spouse	Maria Theresia Kornély

Franz Leopold Lafontaine with his wife Maria Theresia Kornély and daughters Zofia and Wiktoria.

Franz Anton Leopold Lafontaine (Polish: Franciszek Lafontaine; 14 January 1756 – 12 December 1812) was a German-born Polish military surgeon. He was known as the editor of the first Polish medical journal and for his work on catarrh.

Early life

Leopold was born in Biberach as the son of Benno Leopold Ignatius Lafontaine (1731–1777), a merchant, and his wife Maria Katharina Franziska Leonhardt (b. 1725). It is possible that the Lafontaine family was descended from a Huguenot refugee.

Marriage and descendants

He married Maria Theresia Kornély (1765–1827), daughter of Joseph Kornély (né Nathan Adelkind), a wealthy Polish-Hungarian Court Jew converted to Catholicism. They had two daughters:

• Sophie (1790–1831), married Count Hans Moritz von Hauke. Through her, Lafontaine was the maternal grandfather of Julia, Princess of Battenberg. Through her, Lafontaine is an ancestor to Charles III and other descendants of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in the British royal family, and also an ancestor to King Felipe VI of Spain and other descendanrs of Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, in the Spanish royal family.
• Victoria (1797–1849), married firstly Kazimierz Tomasz Słupecki, Rawicz coat of arms (1782–1832) and married secondly Stanislaus Albert Friedrich von Lessel (1807–1888). She had issue from both marriages.

Other sources

• Kierzek, Andrzej (2010). "Franciszek Leopold Lafontaine (1756–1812) and his work on catarrh". Otolaryngol Pol (in Polish). 64 (2). Poland: 118–21. doi:10.1016/S0030-6657(10)70047-0. ISSN 0030-6657. PMID 20568542.