Outstanding people of Grabów nad Prosną

TEOFIL CIESIELSKI (1846-1916) – Polish apiarist and botanist

Born on 13 November 1846 in Grabów nad Prosną, he died on 8 May 1916. Professor of the University of Lwów (now Lviv in Ukraine), botanist, editor of “Bartnik Postępowy” („Progressive Apiarist”), chairman of the Galicia Apiary and Gardening Association. He was studying in grammar schools in Ostrów Wielkopolski and Śrem, then at Berlin University, where he obtained the PhD degree and became an assistant at the chair of botany. For patriotic reasons, in 1872 he moved to Lwów, where he was given the position of a botany professor at the local university. There he remained till his death.

Starting from 1875 till WWI, he edited and published at his own cost the magazine “Bartnik Postępowy”, which he maintained at the highest European standard.

On his own initiative, in 1875 the Lwów Apiary and Gardening Association was founded, of which he was first vice-president and then president.

WŁADYSŁAW BIEGAŃSKI (1857-1917) – physician, philosopher, teacher, social activist.

Born on 28 April in Grabów nad Prosną, Ostrzeszów County, son of Tomasz, owner of a small manor farm and the village locksmith, and Bibianna née Danielewicz.

After graduating from grammar school in Piotrków in 1875, he was studying medicine and philosophy at Warsaw University and in 1880 obtained a degree in Medicine. In the following year he left for Russia, where he worked as a district doctor, and then completed his medical knowledge at the universities of Berlin and Prague. In October 1883, after his return to the country, he soon became a physician at Our Lady Hospital in Częstochowa. From 1884 to 1905 he worked as a doctor in the cloth making factories La Czenstochovienne and Motty’s, and in the years 1884-1910 also at the Warsaw-Vienna Railway.

He died on 29 January 1917 in Częstochowa and was buried in the cemetery in Kule. The town’s central square, the public library and a high school in Częstochowa were named after him. In 1997, Biegański’s bust was placed near the railway station in Częstochowa.

In Grabów nad Prosną, there is an exhibition chamber named after him and a street bearing his name.

Famous sayings by Dr. Władysław Biegański:

A golden rule in life: require little from the world, but a lot from yourself.
Opinions are created not by the wisest, but by the most talkative.
Illness is a great equalizer, which levels all social inequalities.

STEFAN SZMAJ – 1893-1970 painter and graphic artist

Born on 10 August 1893 in Książnice, he died on 19 September 1970.

Stefan Szmaj began painting in 1905. During his studies he continued painting and drawing. In 1915 and 1916 in Berlin he became acquainted with German expressionism and felt an expressionist at once. At that period his first linoleum engravings were created.

In 1918 he exhibited his works, including his linoleum engraving titled “The Kiss”, in Poznań, at an exhibition named “BUNT” (“REVOLT”). In the 1920s his artistic activities were very lively, resulting in numerous linoleum engravings, drawings, portraits of parents, oil works, the portfolio “Poplars” (linoleum engravings), a series of gods, bookplates etc. His most active period is deemed to be during his stay in Ostrów Wielkoposki and Bydgoszcz.

Karolina Sadowska