The National Defence University of Warsaw (Polish: Akademia Obrony Narodowej - AON) is the civil-military highest defence academic institution in Poland, located at Rembertów (now part of Warsaw). It was re-established in 1947 as the General Staff Academy and continues traditions of the Szkoła Rycerska ("The School of Knights") founded in 15 March 1765 and other subsequent military schools.
The present National Defence University inherits the traditions of all previous Polish military academies. The first such school, the Szkoła Rycerska, was founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski. Its graduates included some of the most notable military men of the 18th and 19th centuries, including Tadeusz Kościuszko, Jakub Jasiński, Maurycy Hauke, Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Karol Kniaziewicz, Józef Sowiński, Kazimierz Nestor Sapieha and Rajmund Rembieliński.