Mikołaj Zyblikiewicz (; uk, Миколай Зиблікевич; 28 November 1823 – 16 May 1887) was a Polish politician and lawyer of Ruthenian origin. He was the Mayor of

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

– in the then Austrian sector of Partitioned Poland. A street in Kraków's

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

is named in his memory, while his monument stands in front of the City Hall. Some of his achievements included the restoration of Sukiennice, the creation of a "national

Panthéon The Panthéon (, from the Classical Greek word , , ' empleto all the gods') is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was b ...

" at

Skałka Saint Michael the Archangel and Saint Stanislaus the Bishop and Martyr Basilica, also known as Skałka, which means "a small rock" in Polish, is a small outcrop in Kraków atop of which a Pauline monastery is located, a place where the Bish ...

, and his campaign towards the renovation of

Wawel Castle The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established on ...

Career

Mikołaj Zyblikiewicz was the son of Szymon Zyblikiewicz, a furrier of Ruthenian (Ukrainian) background in the town of Stare Miasto near Sambor (now

Stary Sambir Staryi Sambir (, ) is a city in Sambir Raion, Lviv Oblast of western Ukraine, close to the border with Poland. Staryi Sambir hosts the administration of Staryi Sambir urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Its population is approximate ...

in western Ukraine); he would later self-identify as " gente Ruthenus, natione Polonus". After graduating from high-school in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

, he enrolled at the

Lviv University The University of Lviv ( uk, Львівський університет, Lvivskyi universytet; pl, Uniwersytet Lwowski; german: Universität Lemberg, briefly known as the ''Theresianum'' in the early 19th century), presently the Ivan Franko Na ...

while working as a home tutor for local nobility. His political activism began during the

Spring of Nations The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

when he joined a series of patriotic Polish youth organizations, and with other young intellectuals (including Platon Kostecki and Jan Dobrzański), became involved with advocacy of Polish national and political rights in the province of Galicia. He moved to

Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. From 1975 to 1998, it was the capital of the Tarnów ...

where he worked at the city high school. He relocated to Krakow soon after to continue his studies at the Faculty of Law in the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

with the aim of attaining a doctorate, and eventually securing a career as a politician. In 1855, Zyblikiewicz obtained the license of an attorney in Kraków and opened his own law firm at ul. Kopernika 14 Street. In the 1850s, Zyblikiewicz began his first large-scale political action. It was a legal battle with the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

imposed in the Polish offices and courts by the Austrian Empire. He took part in parallel academic action as well (organized by local students), demanding the restoration of the

Polish language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In a ...

at the Jagiellonian University. When Józef Dietl resigned from the post of president of the city, after the turbulent elections he was declared the

President of Kraków President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...

in 1874. He was subsequently instrumental in the foundation of

Bank Krajowy The Bank Krajowy, full name Bank Krajowy dla Królestwa Galicji i Lodomerii wraz z Wielkim Księstwem Krakowskim (german: Landesbank für Koenigreich Gazlizien und Lodomerien mit Grossherzogtum Krakau, ), was a government-owned financial institu ...

Political influence

During his presidency, Zyblikiewicz reorganized and greatly improved municipal operations. He cut through

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

bureaucratic red-tape, and introduced an increase in his employees' salaries. He contributed to the revival of construction, helped erect new schools, fire station and municipal

slaughterhouse A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...

. He monitored the construction of a railway viaduct over the Lubicz Street for the Kraków Central station modernized in 1871.History and modernisation of Kraków Główny
, at PKP S.A. ''Robi się''. Accessed July 23, 2011. He filled-in the northern arm of the

Vistula River The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

, which used to separate the district of

Kazimierz Kazimierz (; la, Casimiria; yi, קוזמיר, Kuzimyr) is a historical district of Kraków and Kraków Old Town, Poland. From its inception in the 14th century to the early 19th century, Kazimierz was an independent city, a royal city of the ...

from the Old Town. His contribution to housing development fundamentally changed the appearance of the city's outer limits. Zyblikiewicz initiated the construction of new apartment buildings at both ends of

Planty Park Planty may refer to: * Planty Park Planty may refer to: * Planty Park, a city park in Kraków, Poland * Planty, Podlaskie Voivodeship (north-east Poland) * Planty, Aube, France {{geodis