Janusz Witwicki (10 September 1903 in Lwów – 16 July 1946 also in Lwów) was a Polish architect and art historian, creator of the

Plastic Panorama of Old Lviv Plastic Panorama of Old Lwów (Polish: ''Panorama Plastyczna Dawnego Lwowa'') is a model of the city of Lwów (since 1945 Lviv in Ukraine) as it looked like in mid-18th century, when it belonged to the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. The model, with ...

. He was the son of

Władysław Witwicki Władysław Witwicki (30 April 1878, Lubaczów – 21 December 1948, Konstancin-Jeziorna, Konstancin) was a Poles, Polish psychologist, philosopher, Translation, translator (mainly of Plato's works into Polish language, Polish), historian (of phi ...

– a psychologist, philosopher, translator, historian (of psychology and art), artist, and one of the fathers of Polish psychology. Witwicki attended the VII Tadeusz Kościuszko High School in Lwów, and in 1920 he volunteered to the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stre ...

, to take part in the Polish-Soviet War. After the conflict, he studied architecture at the

Lwów Polytechnic Lviv Polytechnic National University ( ua, Націона́льний університе́т «Льві́вська політе́хніка») is the largest scientific university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since its foundation in 1816, it has bee ...

, which he graduated in 1926. Also, he studied history of art at the University of Jan Kazimierz, with extra courses taken in Paris and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Witwicki had his own office, he designed city of Lwów's

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

for the 1929

Poznań International Fair The Poznań International Fair (PIF, pl, Międzynarodowe Targi Poznańskie, MTP) is the biggest industrial fair in Poland. It is held on the Poznań fairground in Poland. Poznań International Fair is located in the centre of the city opposite ...

. In the same year, Witwicki started working on the deed of his life - the

. For a few years, in the early 1930s, he moved to

Toruń )'' , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg , image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg , nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town , pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...

, and then returned to Lwów, to take up the job of assistant at the Historical Architecture Department at the Lwów Polytechnic. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Witwicki continued his work on the Panorama, he was three times arrested by both Soviet and German occupiers. He was murdered by unknown perpetrators (possibly

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

agents) on July 16, 1946. Witwicki was buried at the

Lychakivskiy Cemetery Lychakiv Cemetery ( uk, Личаківський цвинтар, translit=Lychakivs’kyi tsvyntar; pl, Cmentarz Łyczakowski we Lwowie), officially State History and Culture Museum-Preserve "Lychakiv Cemetery" ( uk, Державний істор ...

. The book '' Lviv through the ages'' (2003) by Ihor Kaczor and Love Kaczor includes a dedication to Witwicki.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Witwicki, Janusz 1903 births 1946 deaths Architects from Lviv Lviv Polytechnic alumni