Boleslaw Szymanski

Bolesław Szymański (1877 - 1940) was a local government politician who served as mayor of Białystok from 1919 to 1928.

Biography He was born in 1877 in Brest Litovsk. At some point he and his family moved to Białystok to a house located at 30 Starobojarska street in the Bojary district of the city. In 1905, he got involved in the organization of the Muza Society and performs in a staging of Pan Tadeusz and in 1908 he worked for one year as a teach at the School of Commerce. After that he left with his wife to Smolensk, and then to Livny, Oryol Governorate, working as an official and banker. In 1915 returned to Białystok, and was mobilized into the Tsarist army and returned to Białystok at the turn of 1918 and 1919. Following the regaining of independence and the establishment of the Second Polish Republic he occupied the prominent position of deputy government commissioner of the eastern territories. A consequence of his activities was his active participation in the run-up to the local elections scheduled for September 1919. He was one of the founders of the Polish Electoral Committee. Despite this, when the Committee's list of 63 candidates was being compiled, Szymański came in only 18th place, gaining 88 votes. He was preceded by Feliks Filipowicz, Władysław Olszyński, Wincenty Hermanowski, Konstanty Kosiński, Michał Motoszko, Bohdan Ostromęcki, Hieronim Liwerski, and Jadwiga Klimkiewiczowa, all well-known from their pre-war activities.

On 15 October 1919, he was elected by the Białystok City Council as the mayor following the first local election to the city council that took place on September 7 that year, in which he ran on Polish Electoral Committee ticket. He held this position for two terms until 1927. He was valued positively as being energetic person, having extensive knowledge of the economy and administration. The most urgent needs were listed as the city's regulatory plan, establishing the boundaries of greater Białystok, a sewage system, repairing the pavements, launching trams, rebuilding the water supply system, creating a school network, building primary, vocational and secondary schools, constructing a whole series of buildings for state, military and municipal offices, building civil servants' colonies, a community center, and a theater. However, the main effort of the mayor and chairman of the city council had to be directed towards supplying the city with basic foodstuffs and fuel. During the winter months of 1919/1920, Szymański and Filipowicz traveled repeatedly, often every few days, to Warsaw, where, thanks to intervention with the central authorities, they secured shipments of coal, flour, eggs, sugar, potatoes and herring. Only thanks to their determination did the inhabitants barely survive the winter.

His later tenure was characterized by a growing criticism of his conduct and he was mocked by the press about his education. He had constant conflicts with members of the city council led by Władysław Olszyński. He was a political ally of Feliks Filipowicz, the chairman of the city council. During Józef Piłsudski's visit to the city in August 1921, he was staying at Szymański's residence in Bojary. After the end of his term he worked at the Białystok power plant until the outbreak of the war, holding the position of chief accountant.

He was married to Maria Dąbrowska (1888-1969) and had a son, Janusz, who died shortly after his birth and a daughter, Halina (1911-1981). His symbolic grave is located at Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw.