Skwierczynski - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Skwierczyński of Ślepowron is the surname of a Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

szlachta

Szlachta

The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...

(nobility) family from Podlaskie. The knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

family came to the parish of Paprotnia

Paprotnia

Paprotnia may refer to the following places:*Paprotnia, Brzeziny County in Łódź Voivodeship *Paprotnia, Rawa County in Łódź Voivodeship *Paprotnia, Zduńska Wola County in Łódź Voivodeship...

in the area of Drohiczyn

Drohiczyn

Drohiczyn is a small historic town in Siemiatycze County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland. The town with population 2,110 is situated on a bank of the Bug River.- History :...

most likely from Masovia during the settlement led by Janusz I of Warsaw in the second half of the 14th century, or when PodlaskieUn transferred under the Lithuanian

Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...

rule of Vytautas in 1405, who continued the settlement of Polish knights from areas of Masovia, as well as Łęczyca Voivodeship

Łęczyca Voivodeship

Łęczyca Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland from the 14th century until the partitions of Poland in 1772-1795...

and Kuyavia

Kuyavia

Kujawy , is a historical and ethnographic region in the north-central Poland, situated in the basin of the middle Vistula and upper Noteć Rivers, with its capital in Włocławek.-Etymology:The origin of the name Kujawy was seen differently in history...

in Podlaskie which had been deserted by the invasions of the Teutonic Knights

Teutonic Knights

The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...

s and Yotvingians

Yotvingians

Yotvingians or Sudovians were a Baltic people with close cultural ties to the Lithuanians and Prussians...

s .

The earliest documentation of the surname Skwierczyński is as old as the early 15th century. 15th century judal books make numerous mentions of the family. The oldest one relates to Jakusz of Skwierczyn (currently divided into Skwierczyn Ruski and Skwierczyn Lacki

Skwierczyn Lacki

Skwierczyn Lacki is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Paprotnia, within Siedlce County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately north-east of Siedlce and east of Warsaw.-References:...

, and previously Skwierczyn Duży and Skwierczyn Mały) who donated part of Skwierczyn Mały to the church in Paprotnia in 1429 – brothers Stanisław and Szczepan of Skwierczyn witnessed the deed. Other representatives of the family from Skwierczyn appear in the land registry documents of Drohiczyn mid way through 15th century – they are: Piotr (1452), Stanisław (1454), Wawrzyniec (1456), Mikołaj and Paweł (1458). In 1452 Piotr of Skwierczyn acted in the capacity of a witness to the heirs of Ugoszcz. Furthermore, an historian Władysław Semkowicz writes about Banach of Skwierczyn in 1453. Next, in 1465 Paweł Skwierczyński acted as a witness for Wojciech of Mogilnica

Mogilnica

Mogilnica is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Siedliszcze, within Chełm County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It lies approximately east of Siedliszcze, west of Chełm, and east of the regional capital Lublin.-References:...

and in 1469 a statement was taken from witnesses of Paweł Skwierczyński: Raczek Koza and Andrzej Nasiłowski, who won compensation in court for the death of his nephew. The latter also got in trouble with priest Wojciech, pastor of Wyrozęby, by supporting in 1476 the claims of priest Piotr, the vicar of Kożuchów. The misunderstandings arose most likely from the earlier accession of the village of Skwierczyn to the parish of Wyrozęby by way of decree granted by the bishop Marcin of Łuka. Later in 1481 Paweł Skwierczyński had a court case against Piotr, vicar of Wyrozęby.
According to historian Tomasz Jaszczołt, in the years 1474–1484 mentions can be found of Jan Skwierczyński: Skwierczyński called Bujno, Jan, Wojciech and Paweł – brothers from Skwierczyn. We also know of Mikołaj Skwierczyński (1474).
The judicial book of Drohiczyn for 1474-1484 mentions Mikołaj Skwierczyński as arbitrator for Błoński (1474), Paweł (1474) and Jan Skwierczyński, who had a court case against Andrzej Nasiłowski (1474), Maciej Sawicki (1482), and pledged some of his land in Kobylany

Kobylany

Kobylany may refer to the following places:*Kobylany, Lesser Poland Voivodeship *Kobylany, Lublin Voivodeship *Kobylany, Subcarpathian Voivodeship *Kobylany, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship...

to Jan Smoniewski (1484). In conjunction, nephews of Jan Skwierczyński: Bujno, Jan, Wojciech, Paweł are also mentioned.
The judicial book of Drohiczyn for 1456-1595 includes entries about: Wawrzyniec of Skwierczyn (1456), Paweł of Skwierczyn, who pledged half of his heritage to Wit and Stanisław of Orlice in 1458, and later that year was a witness for the Wąż family. Also in 1458 the widow of Jakub of Kobylany sued Mikołaj of Skwierczyn for killing her husband but failed to bring witnesses and subsequently lost the court case. In 1485 Bartosz of Skwierczyn deferred the hearing with Bartosz and Klemens Wilk upon the request of Mikołaj Kobyleński. In 1485 brothers Bujno, Wojciech, Paweł and Jan Skwierczyński pledged 18 hectares in Kobylany to Jan Smoniewski, when Wilk Skwierczyński and Klemens Olędzki paid Mikołaj Kobyleński for their absence in court hearing . In the same year Jan Skwierczyński pledged a field to Wojciech Skorupka.
‘Księga grodzka drohicka, s.II, nr 1 (1473-1484)’ – a judicial book – also includes numerous entries about the Skwierczyński family of Skwierczyn.

Towards end of 15th century Marcin Wąsowski took ownership of the majority of Skwierczyn Ruski.
In 1528 the Skwierczyński family of Skwierczyn provided two knights with horses for the pospolite ruszenie

Pospolite ruszenie

Pospolite ruszenie , is an anachronistic term describing the mobilisation of armed forces, especially during the period of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The tradition of wartime mobilisation of part of the population existed from before the 13th century to the 19th century...

(common movement) in Drohiczyn. Almost complete registers of the Skwierczyn Lacki village dating back to the Pospolite ruszenie register of 1567 have been preserved as well as in the register of the pledge of allegiance to the Kingdom of Poland (1569), in which we can find numerous representatives of the Skwierczyński family of the 16th century.
The Union of Lublin

Union of Lublin

The Union of Lublin replaced the personal union of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with a real union and an elective monarchy, since Sigismund II Augustus, the last of the Jagiellons, remained childless after three marriages. In addition, the autonomy of Royal Prussia was...

joined Podlaskie to the Kingdom of Poland

Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)

The Kingdom of Poland of the Jagiellons was the Polish state created by the accession of Jogaila , Grand Duke of Lithuania, to the Polish throne in 1386. The Union of Krewo or Krėva Act, united Poland and Lithuania under the rule of a single monarch...

, whereas the szlachta (nobles) (who until then served the Grand Duchy of Lithuania despite being of mostly Polish-Masovian roots) pledged their allegiance to the Kingdom of Poland.
The szlachta (nobles) of Drohiczyn were pledging their allegiance on 14 May 1569. Skwierczyn was represented by szlachta (nobles): Stanisław son of Wojciech, Jan son of Tomasz, Mikołaj, Jan, Maciej sons of Szczęsny, as well as 2 others whose names are unknown. Skwirczyn Lacki was represented by szlachta/heirs: Malcher son of Mikołaj, Maciej, Mikołaj sons of Wojciech, Maciej, Bartłomiej sons of Paweł, Florian son of Walenty, Maciej, Paweł, Wojciech sons of Jan, Stanisław son of Andrzej, Stanisław son of Piotr, Aleksy son of Paweł, Antoni son of Jan, Andrzej, Piotr, Wojciech, Szczęsny sons of Stanisław, Stanisław, Antoni sons of Wojciech.

Later on, Jan Skwierczyński was mentioned as an elector of king Władysław IV Vasa

Władysław IV Vasa

Władysław IV Vasa was a Polish and Swedish prince from the House of Vasa. He reigned as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 8 November 1632 to his death in 1648....

. In 1791 numerous Skwierczyński of Skwierczyn were mentioned as heirs of Skwierczyn Lacki when contributing to collections for the army.
Roll of arms

Roll of arms

A roll of arms is a collection of coats of arms, usually consisting of rows of painted pictures of shields, each shield accompanied by the name of the person bearing the arms...

‘Herbarz Polski’ by Adam Boniecki only includes surnames beginning with A-M, but the Skwierczyński family is mentioned alongside the families: Cielemęcki of Rogala

Rogala coat of arms

Rogala - is a Polish Coat of Arms. It was used by several szlachta families in the times of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.-History:-See also:* Polish heraldry* Heraldry* Coat of Arms* List of Polish nobility coats of arms...

, Czapski of Leliwa, Czarnocki of Lis, Kalicki of Jastrzębiec, Zawisza-Kamieński of Przerowa

Przerowa coat of arms

Przerowa - is a Polish Coat of Arms. It was used by several szlachta families in the times of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.-History:-See also:* Polish heraldry* Heraldry* Coat of Arms* List of Polish nobility coats of arms - Sources :* *...

, Kulczycki of Sas, Ługowski of Lubicz, Berens of Berens, Łęczycka of Niesobia. The alternative spellings of he surnames are mentioned alongside surnames: Lisiecki of Lis (Skwirczyński) and Koryciński of Topór (Śkwirczyński).

The Skwierczyński family spread from Podlasie relatively late and primarily towards the South. In 1699 we can find a mention of Johannes Skwierczyński, a notary to the council of the Bishop of Przemyśl

Przemysl

Przemyśl is a city in south-eastern Poland with 66,756 inhabitants, as of June 2009. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it was previously the capital of Przemyśl Voivodeship....

. In 1782 Antoni, Wincenty and Wojciech Skwirczyński provided evidence of their nobility to the sejm

Sejm

The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....

in Terebovlia

Terebovlia

Terebovlia is a small city in the Ternopil Oblast of western Ukraine, and the administrative center of the Terebovlya Raion . In modern medieval English history texts it is usually written Terebovl....

as part of the legitimization of szlachta in the Austrian partition

Austrian partition

The Austrian partition refers to the former territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth acquired by the Austrian Empire during the partitions of Poland in late 18th century.-History:...

also known as Galicja. It is hard to establish when the first Skwierczyński came to the future Austrian partition, however a genealogical study conducted in 2009 on representatives of the Skwirczyński and Skwierczyński (still residing in Skwierczyn) families suggest that they should have a common ancestor ca. 12 generations ago. Most family members connected with the Austrian partition, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria

Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria

The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria was a crownland of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire, and Austria–Hungary from 1772 to 1918 .This historical region in eastern Central Europe is currently divided between Poland and Ukraine...

, descend from Andrzej de Skuba Skwirczyński and his son Franciszek (born 1773) married to Józefa Tarszyńska (daughter of Józef and Tekla Fredro). Franciszek had issue of eight children, amongst whom: Franciszek Ksawery (born 1834 in Mielec

Mielec

Mielec is a city in south-eastern Poland with a population of 60,979 inhabitants, as of June 2009. It is located in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship ; previously it was in Rzeszów Voivodeship...

died 1883 in Przemyśl) started the family branch that lived in and around Lwów, whereas Konstanty Jan (1815–1891) founded the Kraków

Kraków

Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

branch of the family. Both family branches had a few officials in the 19th century Galicja, specifically – Kraków branch: Konstanty was an official at the Criminal Court of Rzeszów

Rzeszów

Rzeszów is a city in southeastern Poland with a population of 179,455 in 2010. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River, in the heartland of the Sandomierska Valley...

in 1838, and so was his brother Kazimierz, who later was promoted to the position of director in Kraków and acted on numerous occasions as witness in cases relating to the Galician slaughter

Galician slaughter

"The Galician Slaughter" also "The Peasant Uprising of 1846" or Szela uprising was a two month uprising of Polish peasants resulting inter alia in suppression of other - szlachta uprising and massacre of szlachta in Galicia in the Austrian partition in early 1846. The peasant uprising lasted from...

(massacre of Polish nobles by peasants of Galicja) led by Jakub Szela

Jakub Szela

Jakub Szela was a Polish leader of a peasant uprising against the gentry in Galicia in 1846; directed against manorial property and rising against serfdom; scores of manors were attacked and their inhabitants murdered...

in 1846. Konstanty's sons: Mieczysław (1849–1933) and Kazimierz (1846–1914) both were also officials. A famous Polish mountaineer

Mountaineer

-Sports:*Mountaineering, the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains, also known as alpinism-University athletic teams and mascots:*Appalachian State Mountaineers, the athletic teams of Appalachian State University...

Andrzej Skwirczyński (1943–2009) was Mieczysław's grandson.
Emil (born 1871 in Tarnów

Tarnów

Tarnów is a city in southeastern Poland with 115,341 inhabitants as of June 2009. The city has been situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999, but from 1975 to 1998 it was the capital of the Tarnów Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east-west connection...

), son of Franciszek Ksawery (of the Lwów branch of the family) and Stanisława Miszewska (daughter of Emilian Miszewski, the judge of ‘forum nobilium’ (nobles’ court of law) born 1844 in Gruszów) was a railway official in Lwów and had issue of two children with Maria Albinowska (daughter of Wincenty and Wiktoria Albinowski, born 1876 in Sokal

Sokal

Sokal is a town located on the banks of the Bug River in the Lviv Oblast of western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Sokal Raion , the city itself also ranks as a separate raion within the oblast.- History :...

). His son Stanisław (born 1898 in Sokal, died in Lublin

Lublin

Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...

) was First Lieutenant

First Lieutenant

First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...

in the Polish Legions in World War I

Polish Legions in World War I

Polish Legions was the name of Polish armed forces created in August 1914 in Galicia. Thanks to the efforts of KSSN and the Polish members of the Austrian parliament, the unit became an independent formation of the Austro-Hungarian Army...

, and subsequently in the Polish army. Stanisław's grandson, Przemysław (born 1952 in Lublin] is a Polish cinematographer

Cinematographer

A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...

.

Currently, around 800 people in Poland, as well as substantial numbers abroad bear the surname Skwierczyński. Surname Skwirczyński is born by only around 30 people in Poland and even fewer abroad. The surname Śkwirczyński is by now most likely extinct.

Notable family members

Grzegorz Skwierczyński
Grzegorz Skwierczynski
Grzegorz Skwierczyński is a Polish politician. He was elected to Sejm on September 25, 2005 getting 6963 votes in 18 Siedlce district, candidating from Samoobrona Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej list.-See also:...

, member of Sejm 2005-2009 (member of the Polish Parliament 2005-2009)
Przemysław Skwirczyński, Polish cinematographer