Karta z historiografii Krakowa – Marian Karol Dubiecki

Abstract

A PAGE FROM THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF KRAKÓW  – MARIAN KAROL DUBIECKI

The protagonist of the article is Marian Karol Dubiecki (1838–1926) – a very vivid and interesting figure, by all means deserving the presentation to a wider audience. He entered my circle of interests primarily due to the fact that he wrote the first monograph of the Fowler Brotherhood – Cracovian Rifle Association. A Historical Monograph. Dubiecki was born in Zasław on Horyń as the third son of Ludwik Dubiecki and Anna née Sławek, daughter of Celestyna and Aleksander. He was educated in a gymnasium in Żytomierz; he studied at the universities in Harkov and Kiev. Since his student times he was engaged in patriotic and conspiratorial activity, for which he was arrested already in 1861. When in 1863 the January Uprising broke out, he arrived in Warsaw and entered the National Government, and when the head of it became Romuald Traugutt – he was his closest collaborator. In 1864 he was arrested and sentenced to exile, from which he returned in 1883. A year later he settled in Kraków, where he lived for nearly 50 years. Dubiecki left a rich output of publications. He summarised his memories and research of the Borderlands in numerous publications: In the Borderlands and Beyond; From the Past; Kudak, a Borderlands Fortress and its Environs; Battlefield at Żółte Wody. For the Kudak monograph Dubiecki received the prize from the Academy of Abilities in Kraków. In his work he devoted a lot of attention to the January Uprising in publications: Echoes of the January Uprising; The January Uprising in the Light of Sources, and a series of biographies of figures connected with the uprising i.e. Apolin Hofmajster, Edmund Różycki, Teresa née Wierzbicka Bułhak, Karol Prozor. The most significant position on these themes is the biography of the dictator Romuald Traugutt, which ran into five editions. Throughout his life Dubiecki was involved in youth education; for 30 years in Kraków he lectured in the Baraniecki Courses. He was also the author of handbooks: Sketch of Contemporary History from 1815 to 1875; History of Polish Literature against Historical Background. Whereas numerous historical studies were collected in three series of Images and Historical Studies. Marian Dubiecki died in 1926 and was interred at the Rakowicki cemetery with military honours at the expense of the state.