Antoni Wiwulski
Encyclopedia
Antoni Wiwulski was a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
- Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n architect and sculptor.
He was born February 20, 1877 in Totma
Totma
Totma is a town and the administrative center of Totemsky District of Vologda Oblast, Russia,, located on the left bank of the Sukhona River at the confluence with the Pesya Denga River. Municipally, it is incorporated as Totemskoe Urban Settlement in Totemsky Municipal District. Population:...
near Vologda
Vologda
Vologda is a city and the administrative, cultural, and scientific center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the Vologda River. The city is a major transport knot of the Northwest of Russia. Vologda is among the Russian cities possessing an especially valuable historical heritage...
in Imperial Russia, where his father, of Lithuanian
Lithuanians
Lithuanians are the Baltic ethnic group native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,765,600 people. Another million or more make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland. Their native language...
origin, served as a forest superintendent. He graduated from the reputable Jesuit boarding school Zakład Naukowo-Wychowawczy Ojców Jezuitów w Chyrowie
Zakład Naukowo-Wychowawczy Ojców Jezuitów w Chyrowie
Zakład Naukowo-Wychowawczy Ojców Jezuitów w Chyrowie was a Jesuit academic institution, with the status of high school, founded and run by the Jesuits in Khyriv, near Przemyśl, southeast Poland between 1883 - 1939...
and then two of the most prestigious art and architecture universities of the epoch: the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
The École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts is the distinguished National School of Fine Arts in Paris, France.The École des Beaux-arts is made up of a vast complex of buildings located at 14 rue Bonaparte, between the quai Malaquais and the rue Bonaparte, in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Près,...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and the Higher Technical School
Vienna University of Technology
Vienna University of Technology is one of the major universities in Vienna, the capital of Austria. Founded in 1815 as the "Imperial-Royal Polytechnic Institute" , it currently has about 26,200 students , 8 faculties and about 4,000 staff members...
in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
.
Among the most notable of his works are:
- the Battle of GrunwaldBattle of GrunwaldThe Battle of Grunwald or 1st Battle of Tannenberg was fought on 15 July 1410, during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respectively by King Jogaila and Grand Duke Vytautas , decisively defeated the Teutonic Knights, led...
monument in KrakówKrakówKraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north... - Chapel in ŠiluvaŠiluvaŠiluva is a small town of less than 1,000 inhabitants in Lithuania. It is located in the region of Samogitia.Šiluva was first mentioned in 1457 in relation to the building of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Bartholomew by the Lithuanian...
, Lithuania - Three CrossesThree CrossesThree Crosses is a monument in Vilnius, Lithuania, designed by Polish–Lithuanian architect and sculptor Antoni Wiwulski in 1916. It was torn down in 1950 by order of the Soviet Union authorities...
on the Hill of the Three Crosses VilniusVilniusVilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, Lithuania - the Holy Heart of Jesus' Church in Vilnius, Lithuania
The latter building was started in 1913 and was the first example of usage of reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
in former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
. Wiwulski, astonished by the possibility to build gigantic buildings of the newly-rediscovered material prepared a project of a giant church with a stylised gigantic sculpture of the Creator sitting on the dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
. However, the project was discontinued after Wiwulski's death on January 10, 1919.
In 1919, despite suffering from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, he volunteered for the Polish militia (Lithuanian and Belarusian Self-Defence
Lithuanian and Belarusian Self-Defence
Lithuanian and Belarusian Self-Defence was a voluntary military formation composed primarily of Poles that was created in the aftermath of First World War during the formation of Second Polish Republic in the Kresy Polish-Russian borderlands....
) and took part in the defence of Vilnius against the Bolshevik assault in the early stages of the Polish-Bolshevik War. He contracted pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
while on guard in the Vilnius' suburb of Užupis
Užupis
Užupis is a neighborhood in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, largely located in Vilnius' old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Užupis means "on the other side of the river" in the Lithuanian language and refers to the Vilnia River. The name Vilnius was derived from the Vilnia...
. After his death he was buried in the cellars beneath the church he had designed. When it was converted by the Soviets into a Palace of the Construction Workers in 1964 his ashes were moved to Rasos Cemetery
Rasos Cemetery
Rasos Cemetery is the oldest and most famous cemetery in the city of Vilnius, Lithuania. It is named after the Rasos district where it is located. It is separated into two parts, the old and the new cemeteries, by a narrow Sukilėliai Street. The total area is 10.8 ha...
.
A monograph on Wiwulski was published by Nijolė Tolvaišienė in 2002