Powązki Cemetery (; pl, Cmentarz Powązkowski), also known as Stare Powązki ( en, Old Powązki), is a historic

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

located in

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 underwent a transformation into an office (co ...

district, in the western part of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

. It is the most famous cemetery in the city and one of the oldest, having been established in 1790. It is the burial place of many illustrious individuals from Polish history. Some are interred along the "Avenue of the Distinguished" - ''Aleja Zasłużonych'', created in 1925. It is estimated that over 1 million people are buried at Powązki. The cemetery is often confused with the newer

Powązki Military Cemetery Powązki Military Cemetery (; pl, Cmentarz Wojskowy na Powązkach) is an old military cemetery located in the Żoliborz district, western part of Warsaw, Poland. The cemetery is often confused with the older Powązki Cemetery, known colloquial ...

, which is located to the north-west of Powązki Cemetery.

History

Powązki Cemetery was established on 4 November 1790 on land donated by nobleman Melchior Szymanowski, and consecrated on 20 May 1792. Initially it covered an area of only about 2.5 ha. In the same year Saint Karol Boromeusz Church, designed by Dominik Merlini, was built on the northern edge of the cemetery. The

catacombs Catacombs are man-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etymology and history The first place to be referred ...

were erected soon thereafter. Several other cemeteries were founded in the area: the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

cemetery, and those of the

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

and

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

communities. The Orthodox cemetery is also located in the vicinity. As in many old European cemeteries, some of the tombstones in Powązki were created by renowned sculptors, both Polish and foreign. Some of the monuments are examples of the then prevailing styles in art and architecture. On ''

All Saints Day All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the church, whether they are kno ...

'' (1 November) and '' Zaduszki'' (2 November) in Warsaw, vigils are held not only in the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

cemeteries, but in the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, Muslim, Jewish and Orthodox cemeteries as well. At Powązki Cemetery, many graves are lit up by Votive candles.

Notable burials

A few of the notables buried here are: * Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska (1834–1861), composer * Izabela Barcińska née Chopin, (1811–1881), younger sister of Fryderyk Chopin * Anna Bilińska (1857–1893), painter * Wojciech Bogusławski (1757–1829), writer, actor, director *

Stefan Bryla Stefan may refer to: * Stefan (given name) * Stefan (surname) * Ștefan, a Romanian given name and a surname * Štefan, a Slavic given name and surname * Stefan (footballer) (born 1988), Brazilian footballer * Stefan Heym, pseudonym of German writ ...

(1886-1943), notable for first welding bridge-Maurzyce Bridge * Jan Gotlib Bloch (1836–1902), banker, railroad entrepreneur, philanthropist, economist, economist and social activist * Emilia Chopin (1812–1827), youngest sister of Fryderyk Chopin * Ludwika Jędrzejewicz née Chopin (1807–1855), oldest sister of Fryderyk Chopin * Mikołaj Chopin (1771–1844), father of Fryderyk Chopin * Tekla Justyna Chopin (1782–1861), mother of Fryderyk Chopin *

Gerard Antoni Ciołek Gerard Ciołek (24 September 1909 – 15 February 1966) was a Polish architect, as well as a leading historian of parks and gardens. Biography Gerard Antoni Ciołek was born in Wyżnica, a small town in the Austro-Hungarian Duchy of ...

(1909–1966), architect and historian of gardens *

Ignacy Dobrzyński Ignacy Dobrzyński (2 February 1779 – 17 August 1841) was a Polish musician (violinist) and composer. He was the father of Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński and Edward Dobrzyński. Life Born in Volynia, at the age of 18 he was already playing the firs ...

(1807–1867), composer *

Jerzy Duszyński Jerzy Duszyński may refer to: * Jerzy Duszyński (actor) Jerzy Duszyński (; May 15, 1917–July 23, 1978) 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.< ...

(1917–1978), actor *

Józef Elsner Józef Antoni Franciszek Elsner (sometimes ''Józef Ksawery Elsner''; baptismal name, ''Joseph Anton Franz Elsner''; 1 June 176918 April 1854) was a composer, music teacher, and music theoretician, active mainly in Warsaw. He was one of the firs ...

(1769–1854), composer and conductor. Piano teacher of Fryderyk Chopin. *

Władysław Filipkowski Władysław Filipkowski ( noms de guerre ''Cis'' and ''Janka''; 1 May 1892 – 17 April 1950) was a Polish military commander and a professional officer of the Polish Army. During World War II he was the commanding officer of the Armia Krajowa un ...

(1892–1950), military commander * Pola Gojawiczyńska (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 Jaracz Stefan Jaracz (24 December 1883 – 11 August 1945) was a Polish actor and theater producer. He served as the artistic director of Ateneum Theatre in Warsaw during the interwar period (1930–32), and within a short period raised its reputation ...

(1883–1945), actor * Jan Kiepura (1902–1966), singer and actor *

Krzysztof Kieślowski Krzysztof Kieślowski (; 27 June 1941 – 13 March 1996) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is known internationally for ''Dekalog'' (1989), ''The Double Life of Veronique'' (1991), and the ''Three Colours'' trilogy (1993 –1994) ...

(1941–1996), film director * Jan Kiliński (1760–1819), freedom fighter * Stefan Kisielewski (1911–1991), art critic and writer * Stanislava Klimashevskaya (1851-1939), photographer and studio owner *

Tomasz Knapik Tomasz Knapik (16 September 1943 – 6 September 2021) was a Polish film, radio and television voice-over translation artist (known as ''lektor'' in Polish), doctor of electrical engineering by education, lecturer at the Faculty of Transport of t ...

(1943–2021), film, radio and television reader *

Krzysztof Komeda Krzysztof Trzciński (27 April 1931 – 23 April 1969), known professionally as Krzysztof 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 f ...

(1931–1969),

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

composer * Alfred Kowalski (1849–1915), painter * Henryk Kuna (1885–1945), sculptor *

Witold Lutosławski Witold Roman Lutosławski (; 25 January 1913 – 7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of 20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer since Szyma ...

(1913–1994), composer * Józefat Ignacy Łukasiewicz (1789 - 1850), painter-artist * Maciej Masłowski (1901-1976), art historian * Stanisław Masłowski (1853–1926), painter-artist *

Witold Małcużyński Witold Małcużyński (August 10, 1914July 17, 1977) was a distinguished Polish pianist who specialized in the works of Frédéric Chopin. His playing was marked by great passion and poetry. Biography Małcużyński was born in 1914. He was the ...

(1914–1977), classical pianist * Stefan Mazurkiewicz (1888–1945), co-founder of the Warsaw school of mathematics * Jerzy Mierzejewski (1917–2012), artist and pedagogue * Stanisław Moniuszko (1819–1872), composer *

Janusz Nasfeter Janusz Nasfeter (15 August 1920 in Warsaw – 1 April 1998 in Warsaw) was a Polish film director, screenwriter and writer. A graduate of the National Film School in Łódź National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality ...

(1920–1998) – film director and screenwriter; moved in 2018 from the Służew Old Cemetery *

Ola Obarska Olimpia Obarska-Forkasiewicz (1 June 1910 — 1 January 1994), better known by her stage name Ola Obarska, was a Polish actress, operetta singer, librettist, theatre director, journalist and songwriter. Biography Olimpia Obarska was born and g ...

(1910–1992), singer and actress *

Antoni Osuchowski Antoni Osuchowski (13 June 1849 in Paris – 9 January 1928 in Warsaw) was a Polish lawyer, publicist, philanthropist and national activist in Silesia, Warmia and Mazury. His father Hieronim emigrated to France after the November Uprising. ...

(1849–1928), philanthropist and national activist * Piotr Pawlukiewicz (1960–2020), Roman Catholic priest, doctor of pastoral theology * Lech Pijanowski (1928–1974), film-maker and game designer * Bolesław Prus (1847–1912), journalist and novelist * Grzegorz Przemyk (1964–1983), poet murdered by

Milicja Obywatelska Milicja Obywatelska (), in English known as the Citizens' Militia and commonly abbreviated to MO, was the national police organization of the Polish People's Republic. It was established on 7 October 1944 by the Polish Committee of National Libera ...

* Kazimierz Pużak (1883–1950), died in the

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

, secretly buried in Powązki * Władysław Reymont (1867–1925),

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfre ...

-winning novelist *

Edward Rydz-Śmigły Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły (11 March 1886 – 2 December 1941; nom de guerre ''Śmigły, Tarłowski, Adam Zawisza''), also called Edward Śmigły-Rydz, was a Polish politician, statesman, Marshal of Poland and Commander-in-Chief of Poland ...

(1886-1941), politician, statesman, Marshal of Poland and Commander-in-Chief of Poland's armed forces * Ireneusz Roszkowski (1910-1996), gynaecologist * Irena Sendlerowa (1910–2008), head of Children's Section of the Żegota * Wacław Sierpiński (1882–1969), mathematician *

Andrzej Sołtan Andrzej Sołtan (25 October 1897 – 10 December 1959) was a Polish nuclear physicist. He also worked on spectroscopy in the band between far ultraviolet and X-rays. During his visit to Caltech in 1932–33, together with H. Richard Crane and C ...

(1897–1959), physicist * Zbigniew Ścibor-Rylski (1917-2018), military commander, participant of the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski Michał () is a Polish and Sorbian form of Michael and may refer to: * Michał Bajor (born 1957), Polish actor and musician * Michał Chylinski (born 1986), Polish basketball player * Michał Drzymała (1857–1937), Polish rebel * Michał Hell ...

(1893–1964), general * Jerzy Waldorff (1910–1999), art critic and one of the benefactors of the Cemetery *

Melchior Wańkowicz Melchior Wańkowicz (10 January 1892 – 10 September 1974) was a Polish army officer, popular writer, political journalist and publisher. He is most famous for his reporting for the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II and writing ...

(1892–1974), writer *

Henryk Wieniawski Henryk Wieniawski (; 10 July 183531 March 1880) was a Polish virtuoso violinist, composer and pedagogue who is regarded amongst the greatest violinists in history. His younger brother Józef Wieniawski and nephew Adam Tadeusz Wieniawski were al ...

(1835–1870), composer * Kazimierz Wierzyński (1894–1969), poet and writer * Stanisław Wigura (1901–1932), aircraft designer and aviator * Stanisław Wojciechowski (1869–1953), president of Poland * Aleksander Zelwerowicz (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.

Gallery

File:PL Warsaw Stare Powązki aleja zasluzonych.jpg, Avenue of Notables File:Kosciol sw Boromeusza w Warszawie.jpg, Saint Karol Boromeusz Church File:PL Warsaw Stare Powązki alejka cmentarza 1.jpg, Old Powązki File:Grob Edwarda Rydza Smiglego.JPG,

grave File:Warsaw Powazki 2007 11 02 20a.JPG, Old Powązki File:Warszawa, Cmentarz Powązkowski SDC11678.JPG, Old Powązki File:Warszawa, Cmentarz Powązkowski SDC11660.JPG, Old Powązki File:Warszawa, Cmentarz Powązkowski SDC11653.JPG, Old Powązki File:Warszawa, Cmentarz Powązkowski SDC11651.JPG, Old Powązki

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powazki Cemetery Wola * Cemeteries in Warsaw National cemeteries Roman Catholic cemeteries in Poland 1790 establishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

History

Notable burials

Gallery

See also

References