Karol Podczaszyński (; 7 November 1790 – 19 April 1860) was a Polish- Lithuanian leading Vilnius

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, a representative of the

neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy, France and Germany. It became one of t ...

and a professor of the

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...

, as well as one of the pioneers of

industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in adva ...

. He was born on 7 November 1790 in the village of Žyrmuny near

Lida Lida is a city in Grodno Region, western Belarus, located west of Minsk. It serves as the administrative center of Lida District. As of 2025, it has a population of 103,262. Etymology The name ''Lida'' arises from its Lithuanian name ''Ly ...

, in what is now the Grodno Region of

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. He graduated from the prestigious Polish Krzemieniec Lyceum and the

. Between 1814 and 1816 he continued his studies on architecture in St. Petersburg, where he became the first Pole on the Imperial Academy of Arts. Between 1817 and 1819 Podczaszyński also travelled around European countries, visiting

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

, Danzig,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

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 ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

before returning to Cracow. Upon his return to Vilnius in 1819, he was offered a chair of architecture, which he accepted. Among his most notable architectural works are the refurbishment of the interior of the Vilna University (1802-1804), including the Aula's interior, Evangelical Reformers' Church (1829-1835) and the neoclassical Jan Śniadecki's manor in Jašiūnai (reconstructed between 1824 and 1828). Yet another of Podczaszyński's major works was the neo-

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

'' Tusculanum manor'' (in modern Žirmūnai,

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

), completed in 1825. The entire Žirmūnai microdistrict in Vilnius was named after his native village, a part of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

at the time of his birth. As a noted architect, Podczaszyński also supervised a number of other projects, among them the reconstruction of the Palace of Governors in Vilnius, carried out by

Vasily Stasov Duke Vasily Petrovich Stasov (Russian: Васи́лий Петро́вич Ста́сов; 4 August 1769 – 5 September 1848) was a famous Russian architect, born into a wealthy noble family: his father, Pyotr Fyodorovich Stasov, came from ...

. In modern times the palace serves as the seat of the

President of Lithuania The president of the Republic of Lithuania () is the head of state of the Republic of Lithuania. The president directs and appoints the executive branch of the Government of Lithuania, represents the nation internationally and is the commande ...

. Podczaszyński has also reconstructed the Orthodox Cathedral of the Theotokos into the Anatomicum of his ''

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

'' (1822). Finally, between 1836 and 1838 he designed the interior of three chapels of the St. Władysław and Stanisław Cathedral of Vilnius and reconstructed the

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

. In 1839, Podczaszyński took the first known

daguerreotype Daguerreotype was the first publicly available photography, photographic process, widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre and introduced worldwid ...

in present-day Lithuania. As a theoretician, he authored works on architecture and

. Podczaszyński died in Vilnius on 19 April 1860 at age 70 and was interred in Rasos Cemetery. His son, Paweł Bolesław Podczaszyński also became a noted architect.

Publications

Among the best-known Podczaszyński's publications are monographs on industrial design: *''On the beauty of works of industry'' (; 1821) *''Application of general principles of excellence of industrial designs in paintings, sculptures and garden design'' (; 1838) He also prepared dictionary of Polish

carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. C ...

terms ( 1843). Podczaszyński was also the author of two handbooks of architecture for universities: one for professors (1822) and one for the students (published in three volumes between 1828 and 1856).

External links

Karol Podczaszyński - publications (in Polish)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Podczaszynski, Karol 1790 births 1860 deaths People from Voranava district People from Vilnius Voivodeship Architects from Vilnius Neoclassical architects Vilnius University alumni Academic staff of Vilnius University Burials at Rasos Cemetery