Piotr Stachiewicz

Piotr Stachiewicz (born October 29, 1858, in Nowosiółki Gościnne in the Sambor region; died April 14, 1938, in Kraków) – Polish painter and illustrator.

Between 1877 and 1883, he studied at the Kraków School of Fine Arts under Jan Matejko, Władysław Łuszczkiewicz, and Florian Cynk. From 1882 to 1885, he continued his studies in Munich at the Academy of Fine Arts (Technical Painting Class starting October 21, 1882).

From 1885, he resided in Kraków, creating religious, historical, and genre paintings as well as portraits. Particularly well-known are his portraits of women in Kraków folk attire, modeled by "Beautiful Zośka" – Zofia Paluchowa. Stachiewicz was also the creator of the mosaic decoration of the Jesuit Church in Kraków. His popularity was significantly boosted by his 1893 series of paintings, Queen of Heaven: Legends of the Virgin Mary, from which he also produced prints that were widely sold. Starting in 1889, he was a member of the Society of Friends of Fine Arts, serving as its vice-president between 1900 and 1913. From 1912 to 1918, he taught at the Higher Courses for Women of Adrian Baraniecki, simultaneously serving as the head and supervisor of the artistic department.

Stachiewicz’s favorite themes included the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus, scenes from the life of Kraków’s folk community, and the persecution of early Christians. He illustrated Henryk Sienkiewicz’s novel Quo Vadis, as well as works by Adam Mickiewicz, Maria Konopnicka, and various advertisements. In 1892, he painted The Death of a Miner, a work honored with the Probus Barczewski Prize of the Academy of Learning. Between 1893 and 1895, he created a now-lost series of twelve paintings illustrating the Wieliczka salt mine and the labor of its miners.

He initiated the creation of the Kraków bi-weekly Świat and, together with Włodzimierz Tetmajer, published the Album of Colored Reproductions: Wieliczka in 1931. Before 1923, he served as the honorary president of the Union of Polish Visual Artists in Kraków.

On May 2, 1923, he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.

Stachiewicz was buried in the family tomb at Rakowicki Cemetery (section RA, eastern row). A commemorative plaque was installed on the building at 1 Wenecja Street, where he lived.

A street in the Azory district of Kraków is named after him.

Personal Life:
Piotr Stachiewicz was married twice. With his first wife, Bronisława Heggenberger (1867–1910), he had four children:

Roman (1887–1956), an agricultural engineer,
Anna (1888–1942), who married Michał Siedlecki,
Piotr Zdzisław (1897–1940), a Polish Army captain and engineer, murdered in Kharkiv,
and Bronisława (ca. 1900–ca. 1903).