Powazki Cemetery
Encyclopedia
Powązki Cemetery also known as the Stare Powązki (Old Powązki) is a historic cemetery located in the Wola
district, western part of Warsaw
, Poland
. It is the most famous cemetery in the city, and one of the oldest. Found here are the graves of many illustrious individuals from Polish history, including those interred along the "Avenue of Notables" (Aleja Zasłużonych) established in 1925.
The cemetery is often confused with the newer Powązki Military Cemetery
, which is located to the north-west of the Powązki Cemetery.
were also soon built.
Soon afterwards, several other cemeteries were founded in the area: Jewish, Calvinist
, Lutheran
, Caucasian
and Tatar
. The Orthodox cemetery is located not far from the Powązki necropolis
.
Like many of the old European cemeteries, Powązki's tombstones were created by some of the most renowned sculptors of the age, Polish and foreign. Some of the monuments are excellent examples of various styles in art and architecture.
On All Saints Day (November 1) and Zaduszki
(November 2) in Warsaw, vigils are held not only in the Roman Catholic cemeteries, but in the Protestant
, Muslim
, Jewish and Orthodox
cemeteries as well. At Powązki Cemetery, all the graves are decorated with candles.
Wola
Wola is a district in western Warsaw, Poland, formerly the village of Wielka Wola, incorporated into Warsaw in 1916. An industrial area with traditions reaching back to the early 19th century, it is slowly changing into an office and residential district...
district, western part of Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Poland
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...
. It is the most famous cemetery in the city, and one of the oldest. Found here are the graves of many illustrious individuals from Polish history, including those interred along the "Avenue of Notables" (Aleja Zasłużonych) established in 1925.
The cemetery is often confused with the newer Powązki Military Cemetery
Powązki Military Cemetery
Powązki Military Cemetery is an old military cemetery located in the Wola district, western part of Warsaw, Poland. The cemetery is often confused with the older Powązki Cemetery, known colloquially as "Old Powązki"...
, which is located to the north-west of the Powązki Cemetery.
Details
The Powązki Cemetery was established on 4 November 1790, it was consecrated on 20 May 1792 and initially covered the area of only about 2.5 ha. In the same year the Saint Karol Boromeusz Church, designed by Dominik Merlini, was built at the cemetery. The catacombsCatacombs
Catacombs, human-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place can be described as a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman empire...
were also soon built.
Soon afterwards, several other cemeteries were founded in the area: Jewish, Calvinist
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
, Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
, Caucasian
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
and Tatar
Tatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
. The Orthodox cemetery is located not far from the Powązki necropolis
Necropolis
A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek νεκρόπολις - nekropolis, literally meaning "city of the dead"...
.
Like many of the old European cemeteries, Powązki's tombstones were created by some of the most renowned sculptors of the age, Polish and foreign. Some of the monuments are excellent examples of various styles in art and architecture.
On All Saints Day (November 1) and Zaduszki
Zaduszki
Zaduszki is a Polish tradition of lighting candles and visiting the graves of the relatives on All Souls Day. Its origins can be traced to the times of Slavic mythology....
(November 2) in Warsaw, vigils are held not only in the Roman Catholic cemeteries, but in the Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
, Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
, Jewish and Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
cemeteries as well. At Powązki Cemetery, all the graves are decorated with candles.
Selected notable burials
A few of the notables buried here are:- Tekla Bądarzewska-BaranowskaTekla Badarzewska-BaranowskaTekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska was a Polish composer.Bądarzewska was born in 1834 in Warsaw. She married Jan Baranowski and they had five children in their nine years of marriage. Bądarzewska-Baranowska died on 29 September 1861 at the age of 27. Her grave in the Powązki Cemetery features a young...
(1834–1861), composer - Izabela Barcińska née Chopin (1811-1881), youngest sister of Fryderyk Chopin, composer.
- Wojciech Bogusławski (1757–1829), writer, actor, director
- Emilka Chopin (1812-1827), sister of Fryderick Chopin, composer.
- Ludwika Jędrzejewiczowa nee Chopin (1807-1855), oldest sister of Fryderyk Chopin, composer.
- Mikołaj Chopin (1771-1844), father of Fryderyk Chopin, composer.
- Justyna Chopin (d.1861), mother of Fryderyk Chopin, composer.
- Gerard Antoni Ciołek (1909–1966), architect and historian of gardens
- Ignacy Dobrzyński (1807–1867), composer
- Jerzy DuszyńskiJerzy DuszyńskiJerzy Duszyński was one of the most popular actors in a post-war Poland. He starred in a number of film productions as well as theatrical plays.-Biography:...
(1917–1978), actor - Józef ElsnerJózef ElsnerJózef Antoni Franciszek was a composer, music teacher and music theoretician, active mainly in Warsaw...
(1769-1854), composer and conductor. Piano teacher of Fryderyk Chopin. - Władysław Filipkowski (1892–1950), military commander
- Pola GojawiczyńskaPola GojawiczyńskaPola Gojawiczyńska, real name Apolonia Gojawiczyńska, née Koźniewska was a Polish writer.-Early life:...
(1896–1963), writer - Józef Gosławski, (1908–1963), sculptor and medallic artist
- Leopold Janikowski (1855–1942), meteorologist, explorer and ethnographer
- Stanisław Janikowski (1891–1965), Polish diplomat
- Stefan JaraczStefan JaraczStefan Jaracz was a Polish actor and theater director. The Stefan Jaracz Theatre in Łódź, Poland is named after him.-Life:He was born in Stare Żukowice, near Tarnów, and died in Otwock, near Warsaw....
(1883–1945), actor - Jan KiepuraJan KiepuraJan Wiktor Kiepura was an acclaimed Polish singer and actor.-Biography:...
(1902–1966), singer and actor - Krzysztof KieślowskiKrzysztof KieslowskiKrzysztof Kieślowski was an Academy Award nominated influential Polish film director and screenwriter, known internationally for The Double Life of Veronique and his film cycles The Decalogue and Three Colors.-Early life:...
(1941–1996), film director - Jan KilińskiJan KilinskiJan Kiliński was one of the commanders of the Kościuszko Uprising. A shoemaker by trade, he commanded the Warsaw Uprising of 1794, an uprising against the Russian garrison in Warsaw. He became a member of Polish provisional government as well.Jan Kiliński was born in Trzemeszno, a minor town in...
(1760–1819), freedom fighter - Stefan KisielewskiStefan KisielewskiStefan Kisielewski , nicknames Kisiel, Julia Hołyńska, Teodor Klon, Tomasz Staliński, was a Polish writer, publicist, composer and politician, and one of the members of Znak, one of the founders of the UPR, the polish libertarian and conservative political party.Kisielewski was born to a Polish...
(1911–1991), art critic and writer - Krzysztof KomedaKrzysztof KomedaKrzysztof Komeda was a Polish film music composer and jazz pianist. Perhaps best-known for his work in film scores, Komeda wrote the scores for Roman Polanski’s films Rosemary’s Baby, The Fearless Vampire Killers, Knife in the Water and Cul-de-sac...
(1931–1969), jazzJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
composer - Henryk KunaHenryk KunaHenryk Kuna was a sculptor, active in the early twentieth century. His long career produced many famous works of arts including several renowned public monuments in his native country of Poland.-Life:...
(1885–1945), sculptor - Tadeusz Łomnicki (1927–1992), actor
- Witold Lutosławski (1913–1994), composer
- Witold Małcużyński (1914–1977), classical pianist
- Stefan MazurkiewiczStefan MazurkiewiczStefan Mazurkiewicz was a Polish mathematician who worked in mathematical analysis, topology, and probability. He was a student of Wacław Sierpiński and a member of the Polish Academy of Learning...
(1888–1945), co-founder of the Warsaw school of mathematics - Stanisław MoniuszkoStanisław MoniuszkoStanisław Moniuszko was a Polish composer, conductor and teacher. His output includes many songs and operas, and his musical style is filled with patriotic folk themes of the peoples of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
(1819–1872), composer - Antoni OsuchowskiAntoni OsuchowskiAntoni Osuchowski was a Polish lawyer, publicist, philanthropist and national activist in Silesia, Warmia and Mazury....
(1849–1928), philanthropist and national activist - Lech PijanowskiLech PijanowskiLech Pijanowski was a Polish film critic, broadcaster, director, screenwriter and populiser of games.He is buried in the Powazki Cemetery.-Games:...
(1928–1974), film-maker and game designer - Bolesław Prus (1847–1912), journalist and novelist
- Kazimierz PużakKazimierz PuzakKazimierz Pużak was a Polish politician of the interwar period. Active in the Polish Socialist Party, he was one of the leaders of the Polish Secret State and Polish resistance, sentenced by the Soviets in the infamous Trial of the Sixteen in 1945.-Biography:Born on 26 August 1883 in a family of...
(1883–1950), died in the CommunistCommunismCommunism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
prisonPrisonA prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
, secretly buried in Powązki - Władysław Reymont (1867–1925), Nobel PrizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
-winning novelist - Irena Sendlerowa (1910–2008), head of Children's Section of the ŻegotaZegota"Żegota" , also known as the "Konrad Żegota Committee", was a codename for the Polish Council to Aid Jews , an underground organization of Polish resistance in German-occupied Poland from 1942 to 1945....
- Wacław Sierpiński (1882–1969), mathematician
- Andrzej Sołtan (1897–1959), physicist
- Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski (1893–1964), general
- Jerzy WaldorffJerzy WaldorffJerzy Waldorff-Preyss was a Polish writer, publicist, literary critic and music activist. Author of over 20 books, mostly on the subject of classical music...
(1910–1999), art critic and one of the benefactors of the Cemetery - Henryk WieniawskiHenryk WieniawskiHenryk Wieniawski was a Polish violinist and composer.-Biography:Henryk Wieniawski was born in Lublin, Congress Poland, Russian Empire. His father, Tobiasz Pietruszka, had converted to Catholicism. His talent for playing the violin was recognized early, and in 1843 he entered the Paris...
(1835–1870), composer - Kazimierz WierzyńskiKazimierz WierzynskiKazimierz Wierzyński was a Polish poet and journalist.-Life:Kazimierz Wierzyński was born in Drohobycz, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, and died in London....
(1894–1969), poet and writer - Stanisław Wigura (1901–1932), aircraft designer and aviator
- Stanisław Wojciechowski (1869–1953), president of Poland
- Aleksander ZelwerowiczAleksander ZelwerowiczAleksander Zelwerowicz was a Polish actor, director, theatre president and a teacher. He received the Order of Polonia Restituta and is one of the Polish Righteous among the Nations....
(1877–1955), actor and director, patron of the Warsaw Drama Academy - Franciszek Żwirko (1895–1932), aviator
- Wojciech Żywny (1756-1842), first piano teacher of Fryderyk Chopin, composer.