Bolesław Matuszewski (August 19, 1856

Pińczów Pińczów is a town in southern Poland, in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, about 40 km south of Kielce. It is the capital of Pińczów County. The population is 10,946 (2018). Pińczów belongs to the historical region of Lesser Poland (Polish: ...

, – c.1943 or 1944; in French texts Boleslas Matuszewski) - Polish businessman, photographer and cameraman, pioneer of cinematography and documentary film.

Biography

He was born in 1856 in

, the small Congress Poland city, which after partitions of Poland became part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. His father Aleksander was translator of French language and his mother was Stanisława Pochowska. Bolesław Matuszewski had also two sisters and a younger brother Zygmunt. His father taught him French language on advanced level and Matuszewski in 80. of XIX lived in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

where he studied. In that time he was interested in photography and film. He became an employee of the Lumière company and was active photographer and cinematographer, member of photographic society ''"LUX"''. In 1895 he came back to Poland with his younger brother Zygmunt. Both they opened a photographic atelier at Marszałkowska Street 111 in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. Soon atelier became company ''Lux Sigismond et Comp''. Matuszewski's firm between 1897 and 1899 cooperated with Polish weekly magazine „ Tygodnik Illustrowany”. The company was active to 1908 and produced many documentary films and photographs. In 1897, after assuming the position of photographer to Tsar Nicholas II, he used the Lumières' Cinématographe to record the official visit to St. Petersburg, of the French President Félix Faure. After the visit,

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

accused Faure of not baring his head before the Russian flag on his disembarkation. However, this accusation was shown to be false based on Matuszewski's documentary.

Publications

Matuszewski wrote two of the earliest texts on cinema. They are recognized today as the first film manifestos and the first written work to consider the historical and documentary value of film. Matuszewski is also the first filmmaker who appreciated the historical importance of film and proposed the creation of film archives for collecting and safekeeping of visual materials:James Chapman, "Film and History. Theory and History" part "Film as historical source" p.73-75, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, *''Une nouvelle source de l'histoire'' (eng. A New Source of History)(Paris, 1898), *''La photographie animée'' (eng. Animated photography)(1898). *''Les portraits sur emaux vitrifies'' (1901).

Notes

References

Boleslaw Matuszewski at Who's Who of Victorian Cinema, Retrieved October 26, 2006.
* Parish records prove the Who's Who of Victorian Cinema contains a mistake showing his baptism date instead of his birthdate. * Prof. Czeczot-Gawrak's research.
100 Years of Cinema: Remembering Boleslaw Matuszewski
Kinema, Spring 2005. * Scott MacKenzie, Film Manifestos and Global Cinema Cultures: A Critical Anthology, Univ of California Press 2014, . * L’archive-forme: Création, Mémoire, Histoire, Editions L’Harmattan, Paris 2014, . * James Chapman: "Film and History. Theory and History", part "Film as historical source" p. 73-75, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, .

Biography

Publications

Notes

References

Further reading