Jan Paweł Lelewel

Jan Paweł Lelewel (26 June 1796 in Warsaw – 9 April 1847 in Bern) was a Polish military and civil engineer, builder, and painter.

He was the brother of Joachim Lelewel, Polish historian and politician, and of Adam Prot Lelewel. They were all sons of Karol Maurycy Lelewel, secretary treasurer of the Commission of National Education and of Ewa Szeluta-Małynicka (1763-1837). His paternal grandfather had been the court doctor of August III, Henryk Loelhoeffel von Lowensprung.

From 1809, he attended the School for Cadets in Warsaw, after which he took part as a sergeant major in the 1812 invasion of Russia. In 1815, he became an officer in the Engineer Corp of the army of The Duchy of Warsaw. In 1823, he was responsible for the rebuilding works at Zamość Fortress. Subsequently, he took part in the building of Augustow Canal. He was given the Order of St. Vladimir, Fourth Class.

He took part in Polish November Uprising, in which he was in charge of maintaining fortifications in Praga, then a suburb of Warsaw. He began his military duty as a captain and ended it as a lieutenant colonel. After the defeat of the insurrection, he left the country for France.