Stefan Filipkiewicz 1879 - 1944

Born 28.7.1879 in Tarnów
Died 23.8.1944 in Mauthausen

Biography

Stefan Filipkiewicz (born on 28 July 1879 in Tarnów, died on 23 August 1944 in Mauthausen) a painter and graphic, notable for his landscapes inspired by the Young Polish movement. He was a leading representative of the Polish Art Nouveau style of painting. 

In the years 1900–1908 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow under Professor Jan Stanisławski who had great influence on his creativity. He made his debut in 1899 with a series of landscapes of Tatra Mountains and the region of Podhale shown at the Palace of Art in Krakow. He exhibited there and at Lvov. From 1903 being its member, he exhibited at the Varsavian Society of Fine Arts. From 1905 he was a member of Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs-Wiener Secession and from 1908 a member of Sztuka the Association of Polish Artists. He took part in Art Nouveau exhibitions in Berlin (1904), Munich (1903, 1907, 1909) Vienna (1905, 1911, 1913) and in international exhibitions among others in Dresden (1912), Rome (1911) and in Venice (1905, 1907, 1910, 1914, 1920, 1926). He took part in collective exhibitions of Polish art in USA (1906), London (1906), Vienna (1908, 1915) and in Paris (1921). From 1913 taught painting courses in Industrial School in Krakow [1].

In the years 1914–1917 he served in the Polish Legions. That is when he designed a model of a legionary uniform and the legion’s shields. After having returned to his pedagogical work, he painted in his free time. In 1929 he was awarded a Golden Medal at the Universal Exhibition in Poznań. From 1930 he lectured at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. In 1933 he was awarded by the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences for his lifetime achievement. In 1936 he was appointed an extraordinary professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. In 1939 during the invasion of Poland he fled to Hungary with his family. In that period he was a Secretary of the Citizens’ Committee for the Care of Polish Refugees in Budapest – the agenda of the Polish government of General Władysław Sikorski. The Citizens’ Committee (under the leadership of Henryk Sławik) organized assistance to the interned military and civilian refugees and also sent troops to the West to the Polish army. It also helped Poles of Jewish descent. They were saved from the extermination by displaying false documents among others new evidence of identity with Polish names and baptismal testimony. The Committee rescued 30.000 Polish refugees and 5.000 Jews.

His personality was best described by the situation witnessed by Joseph Antall Sr. [3], a Hungarian politician. Filipkiewicz was visited by a German representative who said that the „Führer” loved artists and proposed him art studio in Vienna. He firmly refused this proposition.

In 1944 the Managment of the Citizens’ Committee were arrested and sent to Mauthausen-Gusen Concentration Camp. On 27 April 1944 Filipkiewicz was arrested in Budapest by the Gestapo with his daughter Anna for their activity in the Committee.
His daughter Anna was was arrested from 27 April 1944 to 15 June 1944. After that she was five days in Stutzendorf nearby Wien. Then she was sent to Wöllersdorf-Trutzdorf where she was forced to work for the Maschinen- und Gerätebau GmbH from 21 June 1944 to April 1945.
Stefan Filipkiewicz was sent to Mauthausen Concentration Camp where he was murdered in a collective execution of the Managment of the Committee (Henryk Sławik, Andrzej Pysz, Edmund Fietz and Kazimierz Gurgul) on 23 August 1944 on the order of Heinrich Himmler, the Reichsführer SS [4].

Stefan Filipkiewicz was decorated with the Independence Medal for his service in the Polish Legions. He was a noble, honest, courageous, hard-working person and caring husband and father. He was a great patriot for whom the fate of Poland was of great importance.

 

Roxana Gołębiowska

 

[1] Irena Kossowska, Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences, November 2002

[2] Information from the ITS Archives in Bad Arolsen

[3] Joseph Antall Senior (28.03.1896 Oroszi – 24.07.1974) – Hungarian politician. The Director of IX Department of the Ministry of the Social Affairs. In 1939 he was the Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Kingdom of Hungary for War Refugees.

[4] Information from the ITS Archives in Bad Arolsen

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