{{Short description|Jesuit scientist (1714–1758)}} [[File:Portrait of Thomas Zebrowski.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Zebrowski by unknown painter shows him holding a picture of the Vilnius Observatory]]
'''Thomas Zebrowski''' ({{langx|lt|Tomas Žebrauskas}}, {{langx|pl|Tomasz Żebrowski}}; November 24, 1714 in Samogitia – March 18, 1758 in Vilnius)<ref name=zubov/> was a Lithuanian<ref>{{cite web |last1=Matulaitytė |first1=Stasė |title=Tomas Žebrauskas |url=https://www.vle.lt/Straipsnis/tomas-zebrauskas/ |website=vle.lt |publisher=LNB Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos centras |access-date=20 January 2025}}</ref> Jesuit architect, mathematician, and astronomer. He was instrumental in establishing and funding the Observatory of Vilnius University.<ref name=mccon>{{cite book|title=Jesse Ramsden (1735-1800): London's leading scientific instrument maker|date=2007|first=Anita |last=McConnell|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-8B1LYGML44C&pg=PA79|page=79|isbn=978-0-7546-6136-8}}</ref> Marcin Odlanicki Poczobutt was among his students.<ref name=ruta/>
==Biography== Tomasz Żebrowski was born in 1714. At the age of 18, he entered the Jesuit novitiate in Vilnius.{{Sfn|Bednarski|1933|p=340}} Zebrowski studied then philosophy and theology at Vilnius University achievieng a doctorate.<ref name=zubov/> After studying at Charles University in Prague under Joseph Stepling in 1750–52,<ref name="zubov" /> Zebrowski returned to Vilnius on 25 September 1752, becoming a popular lecturer of physics and astronomy at Vilnius University.<ref name="ffvu" />{{Sfn|Zubovas|1978|p=278}} He was also interested in geodesy, horology, mineralogy, geography.<ref name="ruta" />
However, his major passion was astronomy and he pursued funding for an observatory. The construction was funded by Elżbieta Ogińska-Puzynina, while Mikołaj Radziwiłł and bishop Józef Sapieha donated {{convert|13.5|cm|adj=on}} and {{convert|10|cm|adj=on}} diameter reflector telescopes manufactured in Germany.<ref name="mccon" /> Zebrowski designed the observatory; its construction began in 1753.<ref name="ffvu" />
From 1753, he simultaneously began work on the construction of a new church in Ilūkste, traveling there several times for this purpose. At the time of his death, the building was still far from completion. During this period, he also oversaw the design of the Jesuit college in {{ill|Zhodishki|be|Жодзішкі}}, whose foundations were laid only in 1757. Żebrowski’s last known project is the Benedictine nuns’ church in Kražiai, which he also did not complete.{{Sfn|Zubovas|1978|pp=278–283}}
Żebrowski died prematurely on March 18, 1758.{{Sfn|Bednarski|1933|p=340}}
==References== {{Reflist|30em|refs= <ref name=ffvu>{{cite web |title=History |publisher=Astronomical Observatory of Vilnius University |url=http://www.astro.ff.vu.lt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=38 |accessdate=2009-12-14 |archive-date=2013-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202231524/http://www.astro.ff.vu.lt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=38 |url-status=dead }}</ref> <ref name=mccon>{{cite book|title=Jesse Ramsden (1735-1800): London's leading scientific instrument maker|date=2007|first=Anita |last=McConnell|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-8B1LYGML44C&pg=PA79|page=79|isbn=978-0-7546-6136-8}}</ref> <ref name=ruta>{{cite journal| url=http://www.aidai.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8121&Itemid=513 |first=Alė |last=Rūta |title=Knyga apie mokslininką jėzuitą Tomą Žebrauską |journal=Aidai |date=1987 |volume=2 |pages=138–140 |issn=0002-208X|language=lt}}</ref> <ref name=zubov>{{cite encyclopedia | editor-first=Jonas |editor-last=Zinkus | display-editors=etal | encyclopedia=Tarybų Lietuvos enciklopedija | title=Žebrauskas, Tomas |first=Vladimiras |last=Zubovas | date=1985–1988 | publisher=Vyriausioji enciklopedijų redakcija | volume=4 | location=Vilnius | page=640 |lccn=86232954 |language=lt}}</ref> }}
== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book |last=Bednarski |first=Stanisław |title=Upadek i odrodzenie szkół jezuickich w Polsce |date=1933 |location=Kraków |language=pl}} * {{Cite journal |last=Zubovas |first=Vladimiras |date=1978 |title=Uzupełnienia do biografii Tomasza Żebrowskiego |url=https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/bhs1978/0290/image,info |journal=Biuletyn Historii Sztuki |volume=40 |issue=3}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zebrowski, Thomas}} Category:1714 births Category:1758 deaths Category:17th-century Lithuanian Jesuits Category:18th-century Polish–Lithuanian astronomers Category:Architects from Vilnius Category:Charles University alumni Category:Vilnius University alumni Category:Academic staff of Vilnius University Category:18th-century Polish–Lithuanian mathematicians Category:Jesuit scientists