Władysław Pieńkowski

Władysław Pieńkowski (23 April 1846 – 5 July 1919) was a Polish official who served as Mayor of Radomsko (1874–1878), Zgierz (1878–1882), and Łódź (1882–1914).

Biography Władysław Pieńkowski was born on 23 April 1846 in Piotrków Trybunalski, then part of Congress Poland, to a peasant family, Józefat and Anna née Bledzewska, who owned a farm in Witów, Piotrków Governorate. On 21 May 1846, he was baptized in the Catholic Church at the Church of St. James in Piotrków, receiving the names Władysław Wojciech. Later in life, he converted to Eastern Orthodoxy. His godparents were Seweryn Grabiński, a former Polish army officer, and Antonina Jasińska, assisted by Tomasz Jasiński and Franciszka Grabińska. According to the Pamiatnaja kniżka Pietrokowskoj gubiernii na 1904 god, he graduated from the Higher Craft School in Łódź.

Early career On 24 July 1863, Pieńkowski began working as a clerk in the Łódź Magistrate with an annual salary of 100 rubles.

Mayor of Łódź On 9 November 1882, Pieńkowski substituted for the ailing , assuming the presidency of Łódź on 22 November after Makowiecki's death. He inherited a financially robust city: in 1882, revenues were 113,725 rubles and 31.5 kopecks, expenditures were 80,818 rubles and 1.5 kopecks, with a reserve fund of 232,120 rubles and 87.5 kopecks in the Bank of Poland.

Developments during presidency During Władysław Pieńkowski's presidency, Łódź did experience rapid development; however, this was primarily the result of a global civilizational leap and the significant involvement of private capital and the activity of local entrepreneurs, rather than the initiative or dedication of the mayor.

In December 1883, the first telephone connection was launched in the city. Starting in September 1885, an address reform was carried out, introducing a new numbering system for properties on each street and dividing street buildings into sides with even and odd numbers. In October 1886, the first state-run Russian-language boys' and girls' gymnasiums were opened (they are the predecessors of today's Tadeusz Kościuszko High School No. III and Emilia Sczaniecka High School No. IV), and in 1906, the Polish Boys' Gymnasium of the Uczelnia Society was established (now Nicolaus Copernicus High School No. I). On 6 January 1884, the first issue of Dziennik Łódzki appeared – the first Polish newspaper in Łódź published entirely in the Polish language.

In the last three decades of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century, industry developed rapidly. Among others, the following factories were established: the Schwartz, Birnbaum et Co. wool products factory at 2/6 Tylna Street (1884), the worsted wool products factory of Paul Desurmont at 219/221 , and the cotton spinning mill of Henryk Grohman at Emilia Street – now 22/24 (1889).

Starting in 1884, electric lighting began to be introduced – initially in factories, and later also on city streets: in the private Meyer Passage – now Stanisław Moniuszko Street (1887), and at the New Market – now Liberty Square (1908). In December 1898, the first electric tram service in Congress Poland was launched. At the end of 1902, the Łódź Kaliska railway station was opened for use, and in July 1903, a new post office building was inaugurated at 38 Przejazd Street (now ).

Hospitals were opened: in 1884, at the Karl Wilhelm Scheibler factories (currently the Karol Jonscher Municipal Hospital at 14 Milionowa Street); in 1902, the Hospital for the Mentally and Nervously Ill "Kochanówka" (now the Józef Babiński Specialist Psychiatric Healthcare Facility at 159 Aleksandrowska Street); In 1899, the city ambulance service was established.

Bank buildings were constructed on Spacerowa Street (now ): the Russian State Bank (1905–1908) at number 14 and the Commercial Bank at number 15. Hotels were also established: in 1887, the "Grand" at 72 Piotrkowska Street (following the reconstruction of factory building); between 1909 and 1911, the "Savoy" at Krótka Street (now at 6 );

In 1887, the Great Synagogue was opened at the intersection of Spacerowa and Dzielna streets (now 2 /8 ). Churches were also built, including the Church of the Assumption (1888–1897) and the current Łódź Cathedral (1901–1912); additionally, construction of the Evangelical-Augsburg St. Matthew's Church began in 1909.

In 1896, a new cemetery complex was established in the Doły district. and became chairman of the Łódź Russian Red Cross Society committee in 1889, replacing the outgoing president A. Tumski. On 5 August 1889, he was recognized as a chinovnik, and in November, he was appointed court councillor (equivalent to the rank of lieutenant colonel in military service). He received the Order of Saint Anna, 2nd Class, on 7 July 1890.

In 1895, responding to the Tsarist authorities' intention to restore municipal coats of arms in Congress Poland, Pieńkowski prepared and submitted a report in which he stated that Łódź had never had a coat of arms and that there was no evidence of its existence in the city's records. He attached to the report a proposed coat of arms for Łódź, created according to his own guidelines (with the participation of honorary members of the magistrate) by city architect . Since the proposed coat of arms was entirely unlike those typically found in Polish municipal heraldry, the attempt to officially introduce it met with strong resistance. Particularly vocal was , who in 1903 announced a competition for a new design in his newspaper . It was then that historian discovered impressions of the city seal from 1577 – bearing the Old Polish coat of arms of Łódź – in the Citizenship Land Registers of Łódź from 1775 to 1818. Czajewski immediately sent copies of the seal to Piotrków Governor , which offended Pieńkowski. In response, Pieńkowski submitted a report to the same governor accusing Czajewski and his newspaper of undermining the policies of the Tsarist authorities, the authority of municipal officials, and even that of the Emperor of Russia. Following this denunciation, Miller sent a letter titled On the unlawful actions of the Łódź newspaper "Rozwój" to Namiestnik Mikhail Chertkov, and the tone of this letter led to a decision to suspend the competition for a new coat of arms for Łódź.

At the end of September 1896, the Piotrków-based Tydzień reported on a decision by Pieńkowski regarding the foundlings left on the streets of Łódź – they were placed with poor families who received compensation of 5 rubles per month for their care. It was emphasized that the infants were regularly visited by the city physician, who, along with the mayor, oversaw their needs.

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, dissatisfaction among Łódź workers was growing due to poor working conditions and low wages. Schoolchildren were demanding an end to Russification. In May 1892, a six-day general strike broke out in Łódź, later known as the Łódź rebellion, which ended with a bloody intervention by the Tsarist army and police. In 1905, following a series of strikes, an insurrection erupted in June, which was similarly suppressed with violence by the Tsarist authorities within three days. These events, however, did not undermine Władysław Pieńkowski's presidency. It was only the outbreak of World War I that brought it to an end. His salary rose from 1,000 rubles in 1882 to 4,700 in 1904. which the city council rented from the owner for 1,600 rubles per year. He attained the rank of Active State Councillor (equivalent to the rank of major general in military service) and was a class VI official. In 1909, however, Pieńkowski did not grant approval (justifying his decision with a lack of funds) for the city budget to finance the purchase of land near the former Milsch forester's lodge, which blocked the possibility of extending the tram line along Milsch Street (now Mikołaj Kopernik Street) from the center of Łódź to the Łódź Kaliska railway station, opened six years earlier. Despite the tram network having existed for over 10 years, the station remained cut off from the rest of the city

According to the prevailing opinion of his contemporaries, Pieńkowski served the interests of the military authorities, the gendarmerie, and the Orthodox clergy, and was also unfavorably disposed toward Poles. One source attributed to him the intention, while working in the office of the military commander of the city of Łódź during the January Uprising, to cut down all the forests surrounding the city so that insurgents would have no place to hide. In the opinion of the governor of Piotrków, Pieńkowski was an official "with a good reputation, capable, and fully loyal to the government".

On the day of the imperial train crash in the Kharkov Governorate, 29 October 1888, President Pieńkowski sent the following letter to Viceroy Iosif Gurko, requesting that it be "laid at the feet of their imperial majesties": YOUR IMPERIAL MAJESTY!

It has pleased the Most Beneficent Providence to preserve the precious life of YOUR IMPERIAL MAJESTY, YOUR MOST SERENE CONSORT, and the entire IMPERIAL FAMILY, and to save Russia from an inexpressible tragedy and disaster. Horrified by the dreadful calamity that has passed, we, the loyal subjects and residents of the city of Łódź, raising our grateful prayers to the Almighty, hasten to lay at the feet of YOUR IMPERIAL MAJESTY, our adored MONARCH, the sentiments of boundless love and the most sincere loyal devotion.

Firmly believing that Almighty God will continue to protect His ANOINTED from all misfortunes, our hearts join those of all loyal subjects in prayer to God, and our lips repeat the single cry shared by all of Russia: long live the RUSSIAN EMPEROR and HIS MOST NOBLE FAMILY, and may God preserve THEM for many long years.

President of the city of Łódź

(signed) PieńkowskiWładysław Pieńkowski was well acquainted with Tsar Nicholas II and was received several times in imperial audiences in Tsarskoye Selo and Saint Petersburg. On 7 October 1901, during a formal dinner held at the Romanov residence in Spała on the occasion of the consecration of the Church of St. Nicholas in nearby Tomaszów Mazowiecki, the tsar greeted him with the question: "Is this not the nth time we've met already?".

In 1902, Nikodem Justyn Sobocki – then an employee of the city magistrate – believed that Pieńkowski and Secretary Yegorov were pulling all the strings in the city, including controlling the officials, and that the mayor was largely acting under the influence of Vasily Yegorov. These figures speak for themselves and clearly show my attitude toward the composition of officials of Russian origin. My entire long-standing and impeccable public service is known to all; everyone is aware of my consistently active attitude toward everything that is called Russian – I consider this a particular great honour and sacred duty.The figure of Władysław Pieńkowski was remembered by his contemporary, the Łódź writer, journalist, and publicist , whose childhood and early youth coincided with the last 14 years of Pieńkowski's presidency: [...] A man without any education, a Pole by birth, servant and footstool of the Russian authorities, a man who did very little for the development of the city, failing to understand the needs which, amid the frenzied growth of Łódź, grew every year as they went unmet – this man fled in panic just at the moment when self-government was spontaneously forming. [...]According to modern historians, Władysław Pieńkowski's presidency was marked by the progressive Russification of the city magistrate and significant budgetary savings for the benefit of the state (then the Russian Empire), at the expense of addressing the urgent needs of the city and its several hundred thousand inhabitants. or only on 9 August 1914. His first absence, lasting a few days, began on 3 August 1914, and shortly before that the president handed over the amount of 200,000 rubles from the city treasury to the Citizens' Committee of Łódź.

One source states that on 4 August at 8:00 PM, Pieńkowski, as honorary chairman, opened the general organisational meeting of the Citizens' Committee of the City of Łódź, which took place in the hall of the People's House of the Christian Workers' Association at 34 Przejazd Street (now Julian Tuwim Street).

Pieńkowski's next departure from the city took place on 9 August 1914, at which time councillor Józef Mirecki was appointed his deputy. The State Archive in Łódź holds a telegram dated 13 September 1914, which reads: Soon afterward, Pieńkowski left the city again together with the Russian police upon hearing of the Russian defeat at the Battle of Tannenberg. He returned once more on 31 August 1914 to formally hand over the administration of the city to the Main Citizens' Committee and his deputy, Józef Mirecki. His final departure from Łódź during the war occurred on 29 September 1914, when he officially delegated his duties to councillor Jan Andrzejewski.

His later fate is not fully known. It is confirmed that he travelled from Warsaw to Moscow.

Family Pieńkowski married a Lutheran woman, and they had one daughter,

Awards

Medal for the Suppression of the Polish Rebellion (1864) Order of Saint Stanislaus, 2nd Class (1886) Order of Saint Anna, 2nd Class (1890) Order of Saint Vladimir, 4th Class (1896) Medal in Commemoration of the Reign of Alexander III (silver) Medal for the Coronation of Their Imperial Majesties (silver) Medal for the First General Census of 1897 (bronze) Russian Red Cross Badge (twice) Two golden signet rings (one with ruby and diamonds, one with a diamond) and a gold cigarette case with diamonds and the Russian state emblem.