Jerzy Sosnkowski

Jerzy Sosnkowski (23 October 1894 – 10 December 1954) was a Polish modernist architect, interior designer and writer.

Biography Youth Jerzy Sosnkowski was born on 23 October 1894 in Warsaw from Zofia (née Drabińska) (1858–1938) and Józef Bogdan Sosnkowski (1832–1896), a wealthy nobleman and owner of several villages.

Gentry traditions and Polish patriotism were deeply honored in the family. Sosnkowski had three sisters and two brothers, in addition to five other half-siblings from his father's first marriage.

There, he was a member of the local Riflemen's Association .

After Poland regained independence, Sosnkowski joined the 2nd Rokitnian Chevau-léger regiment as a volunteer, taking part in the winter campaign on the Volhynian front. From June to September 1919, he took a course at the Officer Cadet School in Warsaw and was accordingly promoted to second lieutenant; he was sent posted to the Staff of the Ministry of Military Affairs. He eventually ended his military service in September 1921.

In 1934, as an ancient mobilized officer, he was listed in the records of the 3rd Recruitment District Command of Warsaw, a military body responsible in particular for the administration of reserves. As such, Sosnkowski was assigned to the Reserve Officers' District Nr I, with the rank of lieutenant, "intended to be called back in wartime".

Art studies and works In 1917, Sosnkowski co-submitted several stamp designs, in the framework of the competition for the postal marks of the Kingdom of Poland.

Around 1921, together with Franciszek Biske (1895–1938), also a student of the Faculty of Architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology, he founded the company "DECOR", which performed all types of works within the scope of applied artistic graphics and interior decoration.

In Warsaw, Sosnkowski was actively involved in many artistic fields, staying several months for a course at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. At the time, he had been already identified by Józef Gawlikowski, a Warsaw Publishing House editor, as (...) "a successful architect, a theatre painter and interior decorator, an illustrator and a draftsman, appreciated in England."

He graduated on 31 June 1929, obtaining a diploma from the Department of Monumental Design, under the supervision of Czesław Przybylski. Right after (1930), he designed together with Juliusz Żórawski his first project, the Atlantic movie theater in Warsaw.

He became also a member of the Association of Polish Architects. In this period, he also designed theatre sets (operettas) in Warsaw was distinctive with its streamlined shapes, used in both architectural elements and furniture.

Second World War and post-war years

Sosnkowski survived the war in occupied Warsaw. His activity during the conflict was very low: the only known works are illustrations for Józef Krysiński's thriller Mieszkanie przy ul. Wielka, published in Warsaw in 1941. He was arrested by the Gestapo on charges of commanding a combat action in Radom and then released in 1944. on 10 December 1954.

His achievements, architectural, design and artistic projects were presented in a multimedia exhibition organized in the Dom Polski-Casa Polaca , in Buenos Aires in October 2023. Some of his articles on architecture and urban space appeared in the daily Kurier Warszawski. Wnętrze'''s last issue was published in 1936.

Sosnkowski created illustrations, cartoons and articles (more than 180) or Uroda miast portowych in 1929.

Sosnkowski also wrote novels, short stories or illustrated other authors books. This activity mainly happened before his architectural graduation (1929).

In his books, Sosnkowski tackled fantasy themes, writing about still undiscovered territories, or in the case of a series of short stories Żywe powietrze, about monsters, threats from space beings in space and creatures resembling characters from H.P. Lovecraft novels. In addition, his works ridiculed satirically Janusz Meissner's style. Auto, ty i ja – short stories (1925) Bosman Finta – dedicated to his brother Kazimierz; short stories (1926) Żywe powietrze – novel (1926) Radjomiłość – novel (1927) Żywy sen , Latający dywan , Na ognistym wozie , W kuchni wieloryba , Białe Orlę and Krew ziemi ('') (1928) – didactic patriotic readings included in an anthology for school youth, commissioned by the Książnica-Atlas publishing house

Personal life Sosnkowski was issued from the Godziemba noble family, whose origin goes back to the 11th century. He was the younger brother of General Kazimierz Sosnkowski (1885–1969), a Polish independence fighter, general and diplomat. Kazimierz was a major political figure and an accomplished commander, notable in particular for his contributions during the Polish–Soviet War and World War II. After the death of General Władysław Sikorski in July 1943, Sosnkowski became commander-in-chief of the Polish Armed Forces. His wife, Zofia Janicka, remained in Paris after 1945, where she worked as a milliner. In 1951, she received a visa for permanent residence in Rio de Janeiro and lived there unil the beginning of the 1960s. She then moved to New York City, where died in 1965. She regularly collaborated with the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America in New York City. The couple had a son, Wacław.