Kamil Giżycki
Encyclopedia
Kamil Giżycki was a Polish writer and traveler.
Giżycki studied at the famous Jesuit school Zakład Naukowo-Wychowawczy Ojców Jezuitów w Chyrowie
in Khyriv
. He graduated from Technical University of Munich
. During the First World War he served in Austro-Hungarian army and he was injured and captured by Russian soldiers. As a prisoner of war Giżycki was sent in Siberia. After the outbreak of the February Revolution
of 1917, Giżycki served in Czechoslovak Legions
and in Polish 5th Division (since January 1919) and fought with Bolsheviks. After surrender of the 5th Division (January 1920) Giżycki escaped from Bolsheviks and joined in White Russian
guerillas in Uriankhai
. In 1920/1921 he moved to north-western Mongolia
and he joined baron Roman Ungern von Sternberg
's army known as [Asian Cavalry Division] as an officer and engineer. He also briefly became Ungern von Sternberg's political advisor and chief of engineer troop, which manufactured land mines, hand grenades, chemical warfare
etc. Giżycki took part in Ungern's last campaign to liberate Transbaikalia from Bolsheviks, in their epic march across the mountains separating Mongolia from Russia and all the battles against the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Bolshevik foe, the final heroic retreat from near Ulan-Ude
in Buryatia across the mountains, steppe and swamps back to Mongolia, where near the Egiin Gol
River exhausted baron's army collapsed on 17-18 August 1921, and baron was betrayed by two Russian officers who handed him over to the Bolsheviks. Giżycki together with part of the 2nd Brigade of Ungern's army, pursued by the bolshevik's Red Army units, retreated fighting the enemy and the elements from North-Central Mongolia, south of Urga
and then through northern Gobi to Chinese Manchuria
. There like the rest of the officer corps of the 2nd Ungern's Brigade he joined the Chinese forces and served as a military instructor in army of Zhang Zuolin
and next he was employment as an engineer of the Chinese Eastern Railway
. In summer 1922, Giżycki joined the army of White general Anatoly Pepelyayev
. In 1923 Kamil Giżycki returned to Poland and settled near Lviv
. He was a member of the expedition headed by Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski
to western Africa
in 1926. In 1934 Giżycki settled in Liberia
where he bought a plantation. Just before Polish Defensive War
in 1939 Giżycki returned to Poland and took part in fight against Germany. He was officer of Armia Krajowa
. After the war, Giżycki lived at Wrocław and published numerous novels about Africa.
He was a prolific writer of books and articles, and his recollections about his life during the 1920-21 in southern Siberia and Mongolia are one of the most important primary sources about the Mongolia and her inhabitants prior to the Communist rule, the life and last campaign of general Ungern-Sternberg, Bolshevik rule in southern Siberia, and flora and fauna of Central Asia.
Giżycki studied at the famous Jesuit school Zakład Naukowo-Wychowawczy Ojców Jezuitów w Chyrowie
Zakład Naukowo-Wychowawczy Ojców Jezuitów w Chyrowie
Zakład Naukowo-Wychowawczy Ojców Jezuitów w Chyrowie was a Jesuit academic institution, with the status of high school, founded and run by the Jesuits in Khyriv, near Przemyśl, southeast Poland between 1883 - 1939...
in Khyriv
Khyriv
Khyriv is a small town in Lviv Oblast of Ukraine.It housed a Jesuit college, Zakład Naukowo-Wychowawczy Ojców Jezuitów w Chyrowie, then in Poland.Population is 4,590 ....
. He graduated from Technical University of Munich
Technical University of Munich
The Technische Universität München is a research university with campuses in Munich, Garching, and Weihenstephan...
. During the First World War he served in Austro-Hungarian army and he was injured and captured by Russian soldiers. As a prisoner of war Giżycki was sent in Siberia. After the outbreak of the February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
of 1917, Giżycki served in Czechoslovak Legions
Czechoslovak Legions
The Czechoslovak Legions were volunteer armed forces composed predominantly of Czechs and Slovaks fighting together with the Entente powers during World War I...
and in Polish 5th Division (since January 1919) and fought with Bolsheviks. After surrender of the 5th Division (January 1920) Giżycki escaped from Bolsheviks and joined in White Russian
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
guerillas in Uriankhai
Tannu Uriankhai
Tannu Uriankhai is a historic region of the Mongol Empire and, later, the Qing Dynasty. The realms of Tannu Uriankhai largely correspond to the Tuva Republic of the Russian Federation, neighboring areas in Russia, and a part of the modern state of Mongolia....
. In 1920/1921 he moved to north-western Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
and he joined baron Roman Ungern von Sternberg
Roman Ungern von Sternberg
Baron Roman Nikolai Maximilian von Ungern-Sternberg was a Russian Yesaul , Lieutenant-general, and a hero of World War I...
's army known as [Asian Cavalry Division] as an officer and engineer. He also briefly became Ungern von Sternberg's political advisor and chief of engineer troop, which manufactured land mines, hand grenades, chemical warfare
Chemical warfare
Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from Nuclear warfare and Biological warfare, which together make up NBC, the military acronym for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical...
etc. Giżycki took part in Ungern's last campaign to liberate Transbaikalia from Bolsheviks, in their epic march across the mountains separating Mongolia from Russia and all the battles against the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Bolshevik foe, the final heroic retreat from near Ulan-Ude
Ulan-Ude
Ulan-Ude is the capital city of the Republic of Buryatia, Russia, located about southeast of Lake Baikal on the Uda River at its confluence with the Selenga...
in Buryatia across the mountains, steppe and swamps back to Mongolia, where near the Egiin Gol
Egiin Gol
The Eg River is a river in the Khövsgöl and Bulgan aimags in northern Mongolia. It is the only outflow of Lake Khövsgöl and a tributary of the Selenge river. Wooden bridges exist near Khatgal and in Tünel sum, and a concrete bridge has been built in Erdenebulgan...
River exhausted baron's army collapsed on 17-18 August 1921, and baron was betrayed by two Russian officers who handed him over to the Bolsheviks. Giżycki together with part of the 2nd Brigade of Ungern's army, pursued by the bolshevik's Red Army units, retreated fighting the enemy and the elements from North-Central Mongolia, south of Urga
Urga
Urga may refer to:* Ulan Bator, the capital of the republic of Mongolia* Ürgə, a municipality in Azerbaijan* Urga aka Close to Eden, a film by Nikita Mikhalkov, 1992...
and then through northern Gobi to Chinese Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
. There like the rest of the officer corps of the 2nd Ungern's Brigade he joined the Chinese forces and served as a military instructor in army of Zhang Zuolin
Zhang Zuolin
Zhang Zuolin was the warlord of Manchuria from 1916 to 1928 . He successfully invaded China proper in October 1924 in the Second Zhili-Fengtian War. He gained control of Peking, including China's internationally recognized government, in April 1926...
and next he was employment as an engineer of the Chinese Eastern Railway
Chinese Eastern Railway
The Chinese Eastern Railway or was a railway in northeastern China . It connected Chita and the Russian Far East. English-speakers have sometimes referred to this line as the Manchurian Railway...
. In summer 1922, Giżycki joined the army of White general Anatoly Pepelyayev
Anatoly Pepelyayev
Anatoly Nikolayevich Pepelyayev was a White Russian general who led the Siberian armies of Admiral Kolchak during the Russian Civil War. His elder brother Viktor Pepelyayev served as Prime Minister in Kolchak's government.-Trans-Siberian march:...
. In 1923 Kamil Giżycki returned to Poland and settled near Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
. He was a member of the expedition headed by Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski
Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski
Antoni Ferdynand Ossendowski was a Polish writer, journalist, traveler, globetrotter, explorer and university professor...
to western Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
in 1926. In 1934 Giżycki settled in Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
where he bought a plantation. Just before Polish Defensive War
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
in 1939 Giżycki returned to Poland and took part in fight against Germany. He was officer of Armia Krajowa
Armia Krajowa
The Armia Krajowa , or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
. After the war, Giżycki lived at Wrocław and published numerous novels about Africa.
He was a prolific writer of books and articles, and his recollections about his life during the 1920-21 in southern Siberia and Mongolia are one of the most important primary sources about the Mongolia and her inhabitants prior to the Communist rule, the life and last campaign of general Ungern-Sternberg, Bolshevik rule in southern Siberia, and flora and fauna of Central Asia.
Published books
- Polowania egzotyczne, 1927, Wyd. Zakł. Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, Lwów.
- Przez Urianchaj i Mongolię. Wspomnienia z lat 1920-21 (through Urianchai and Mongolia. Recollection of 1920-21 years), (1929 Dom Książki Polskiej, Lwów: Zakł. Narodowy im. Ossolińskich; 2007 Wyd. LTW)
- Ze Wschodu na Zachód. Listy z podróży, 1930 „Księg. Polska" Tow. Polskiej Macierzy Szkolnej, Warszawa
- Przez knieje i stepy, 1930 and 1938, Księg. św. Wojciecha Poznań.
- Wielkie czyny szympansa Bajbuna Mądrego 1947 - Wydaw. Polskie R. Wegner, Toruń : Toruńskie Zakłady Graficzne; 1960 Warszawa : "Nasza Księgarnia"; 2007 - Warszawa : Polityka. Spółdzielnia Pracy; also German version: Die grossen Taten des Schimpansen Beybun Hofberater seiner Majestät des Königs Simba : Negermärchen. 1957, Berlin, A. Holz)
- Wężowa Góra, opowieści z puszczy liberyjskiej, 1958; 1975 Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich
- Na Samotnym Atolu, 1958 (German version: Berlin, 1960, 1964, 1966 Das einsame Atoll A. Holz; 1962 Verlag Kultur und Fortschritt)
- Nil, rzeka wielkiej przygody, 1959, 1972, 1983 (Nasza Księgarnia, Warszawa)
- Listy z archipelagu Salomona "Ossolineum", Wrocław; also Russian version (Pisma s Solomonovyh ostrovov, Nauka, Moscow, 1974) and Latvia version (Vēstules no Zālamana salām Riga : "Zinātne", 1979)
- Hebanowa miłość, 1960 Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, Wrocław,
- Hevea płacze kauczukiem, 1962 Wyd. Śląsk.
- Lwica Uanga 1969 and 1980 (Nasza Księgarnia, Warszawa); also in Lituanian Liūtė Uanga : apsakymai (Vilnius, Vaga 1966)
- W pogoni za Mwe, 1966, 1973, 1983 (Nasza Księgarnia, Warszawa)
- W puszczach i sawannach Kamerunu , Nasza Księgarnia, 1966, 1970, 1975, 1986