In the service of Mars and Klio Stanisław ‘Tymkowicz’ Krynicki

Abstract

The aim of the article is to recall and introduce the figure of Stanisław Krynicki (1889–1914), also known as Tymkowicz, a historian and an activist in the movement of Polish independence socialism as well as the first officer of the Józef Piłsudski 1st Infantry Regiment (1st Brigade of the Polish Legions), who died in combat in September 1914. Krynicki studied history at the Francis I University in Lviv. He was a student of Ludwik Finkel, under whose supervision he prepared a doctoral dissertation entitled “Armia warszawska 1809–1812” [The Warsaw Army (1809–1812)]. Unfortunately, he did not manage to defend it before going to war and his thesis did not enter scientific circulation. Krynicki, however, managed to prepare several valuable publications on the history of the 19th century, including a critical review of the book by the Swiss artilleryman Hans Franz von Erlach, entitled “Die Kriegführung der Polen im Jahr 1863”. He also published the memoirs of Pankracy Wodziński, a participant in the Spring of Nations (1848–1849) and the January Uprising (1863–1864). Moreover, Krynicki contributed to the preparation of a well-known book by his friend Marian Kukiel, entitled “Dzieje oręża polskiego w epoce napoleońskiej” [The History of the Polish Army in the Napoleonic Era], as its author himself attested years later.