Fryderyk Skarbek

Fryderyk Florian Skarbek (1792-1866) was a Polish nobleman who worked as an economist, novelist, historian, social activist, administrator, politician and penologist. Influenced by Stanislaw Staszic's interest in the poor, charity houses and prisons, he traveled to Paris in 1828 and was then commissioned by the government to study correctional facilities in Holland and Britain, work that led to his design of the Pawiak Prison, completed in 1835. He was also recognized as a pioneer of economic theory: his 1829 book Theorie des richesses sociales influenced the theory of labor Karl Marx later developed. He served as godfather to composer Frederic Chopin. He was born in Torun and died in Warsaw of sepsis.