Nicolaus Copernicus of his life. At the instance of Roger Boscovich, the Catholic Church's 1758 "Index of Prohibited Books" omitted the general prohibition of works defending heliocentrism, but retained the specific prohibitions of the original uncensored versions of "De revolutionibus" and Galileo's "Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems". Those prohibitions were finally dropped from the 1835 "Index". There has been discussion of Copernicus' nationality and of whether it is meaningful to ascribe to him a nationality in the modern sense. Nicolaus Copernicus was born and raised in Royal Prussia, a semiautonomous and polyglot region of the Kingdom of Poland. He was
Nicolaus Copernicus Monument, Warsaw Nicolaus Copernicus Monument, Warsaw The Nicolaus Copernicus Monument in Warsaw is one of the Polish capital's notable landmarks. It stands before the Staszic Palace, the seat of the Polish Academy of Sciences on "Krakowskie Przedmieście". Designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen in 1822, it was completed in 1830. The bronze statue of a Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus () holding a compass and armillary sphere was designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen in 1822 and erected in 1828–30. It was funded by public donations and by the scientist and philosopher Stanisław Staszic. The unveiling ceremony, presided over by Tadeusz Kościuszko's former comrade-in-arms, Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz.