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

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

– in the then Austrian sector of

Partitioned Poland Partition may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Partition'' (1987 film), directed by Ken McMullen * ''Partition'' (2007 film), directed by Vic Sarin * '' Partition: 1947'', or ''Viceroy's House'', a 2017 film Music * Par ...

. 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. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

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 (, ), is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, Paris, Latin Quarter (Quartier latin), atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was built between 1758 ...

" at

Skałka Basilica of Saints Michael the Archangel and Stanislaus the Bishop, also known as Skałka, which means "a small rock" in Polish, is a church situated on a small outcrop in Kraków atop of which a Pauline monastery is also located. The crypt ...

, 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 o ...

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

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, he enrolled at the

Lviv University The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (named after Ivan Franko, ) is a state-sponsored university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since 1940 the university is named after Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko. The university is the oldest institution of highe ...

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 revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

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. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east– ...

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 (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

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 language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

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 (, , or simply , ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic subgroup, within the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is written in the Latin script. It is primarily spo ...

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 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 (, ), was a government-owned financial institution, established in 1881 by the Diet of Galicia and Lodomeria in Lemberg, now Lviv. I ...

Political influence

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

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

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 In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a mea ...

. 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 (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra ...

, which used to separate the district of

Kazimierz Kazimierz (; ; ) 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 Crown of the Polish Kingdom, located sou ...

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