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Wojciech Kętrzyński

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Kętrzyński-Monument in Kętrzyn.

Wojciech Kętrzyński (11 July 1838 – 15 January 1918), born Adalbert von Winkler, was a historian and the director of the Ossolineum Library in Lviv, Austrian Empire. He focused on Polish history in a time when no independent Polish state existed. He was the father of Stanisław Kętrzyński.

Biography

Born to a policeman in Lötzen (Giżycko), Province of Prussia, within the Kingdom of Prussia, he studied at the Königsberg Albertina University and became interested in the history and identity of Masuria. By the 19th century, this region was largely inhabited by the Protestant and mostly Germanized Masurians, who spoke Polish and German.

In 1861 he changed his name to Wojciech Kętrzyński after the Slavic name of his grandfather. His father is identified as a Kashubian and his mother as a German; a number of German Ketrzynski families lived in Brandenburg and Berlin at the time. Prussian authorities imprisoned him during the process of 149 Polish patriots (the so-called Polenprozess), and he spent his jail time in Allenstein (Olsztyn), Berlin, and Glatz (Kłodzko) in Prussia. After being released from prison, Kętrzyński moved to the liberal Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria within Austria-Hungary to pursue his interests. He became the head (1873) and the director (1876) of the Ossolineum Library in Lemberg, then capital of the Austrian Kingdom of Galicia. Kętrzyński died there during World War I.

Legacy

In recognition of his deeds after World War II, the town Rastenburg (Template:Lang-pl) in Masuria was renamed Kętrzyn after Kętrzyński. In Olsztyn a scientific institute was established named after him in 1963, called Ośrodka Badań Naukowych im. Wojciecha Kętrzyńskiego. Its primary mission is to document and research the history of Polish people and their culture in Warmia and Masuria, concentrating on their efforts to oppose Germanization. Another important subject of its research is the structure and administration of Royal Prussia.

Works

  • "Szkice Prus Wschodnich" zamieszczone w "Przewodniku Naukowym i Literackim" Lviv 1876.
  • "Nazwy miejscowe polskie Prus Zachodnich, Wschodnich i Pomorza wraz z ich przezwiskami niemieckimi" Lviv 1879.
  • "Gazeta polska z początku XVIII w.(Poczta Królewiecka 1718-1720) Lviv 1880.
  • "Aus dem Liederbuch eines Germanisierten (1854-1862)" 1883 - confiscated by Prussian and Austrian authorities.
  • "O ludności polskiej w Prusiech niegdyś krzyżackich" Lviv 1882.
  • "O powołaniu Krzyżaków przez księcia Konrada" Petersburg 1903.

External links

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