Leszno

Leszno (lesh'nô) [key], Ger. Lissa, town (1993 est. pop. 59,500), Wielkopolskie prov., SW Poland. A railway junction, it is a center for metallurgy and light industry. Chartered in 1547, it passed to Prussia in 1793 and again in 1815. It reverted to Poland in 1919. Leszno was a center of the Protestant Reformation of the 16th cent. and the chief seat of the Moravian Brethren in Poland. John Amos Comenius was a rector of the famous Moravian school here. The town has an 18th-century palace.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

• • Cite
  • Print
  • Email
  • Bookmark
    • Add bookmark
    • Add to del.icio.us
    • Digg It!
    • Add to Reddit