Jan Kilinski Monument

Jan Kiliński was born in a small town called Trzemeszno in Poland in the family of a mason. In 1780, he moved to Warsaw and works as a shoemaker.

In the years 1792-1793 he was elected councilor of Warsaw. He was a member of the Revolutionary Union.

During a big fight in Warsaw in 1794, called the Warsaw Uprising, Kiliński put together a group of soldiers called the National Militia. They fought against the Russian soldiers who were occupying Warsaw. After the Russians left, Kiliński joined a group called the Provisional Temporary Council that ran the city for a while.

But later, this council stopped working, and Kiliński concentrated on making his soldiers stronger. He had more than 20,000 soldiers, and they went to the front lines to help the regular Polish Army on June 28, 1794. On July 2 of the same year, a leader named Tadeusz Kościuszko made Kiliński a Colonel.

When the uprising didn't work out, Kiliński was arrested by the Prussian authorities and given to the Russians. They put him in a jail in Saint Petersburg called the Peter and Paul Fortress. He was set free in 1796 and lived in Vilna for a little while. But then, he got arrested again for trying to go against the Russian government, and they forced him to move to Russia.

After coming back, he lived in Warsaw and passed away on January 28, 1819. They buried him in a special place at the Powązki Cemetery Church. His writings about his life were published after he died, in 1830 and 1899.

The monument was designed by Stanisław Jackowski and cast in 1935 at the Łopieński Brothers plant. It consisted of a bronze sculpture 4 meters high and a granite plinth 3 meters high. The artist depicted Jan Kiliński setting off to attack, wearing a coat, with a high-raised saber and a gun in his belt.

There is an inscription on the pedestal: "TO JAN KILIŃSKI, THE LEAD OF THE PEOPLE OF THE CAPITAL OF 1794. COMPATMENTS FROM 1934". The plinth was made by Jan Fedorowicz's stonemasonry company from Finnish granite from the demolished Saint Cathedral. Alexander Nevsky on Saski Square. On the pediment of the pedestal there is a relief slab by Walenty Smyczyński, Kiliński leading the insurgents through the Castle square.

The monument was unveiled at Krasińskich Square on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Warsaw Chamber of Crafts, April 19, 1936. After the ceremony, a ceremonial procession of representatives of all Warsaw guilds passed through the streets of Warsaw, each of them carrying the symbol of their profession.

In March 1942, the monument was dismantled on the orders of the Germans in retaliation for Aleksy Dawidowski removing the German-language plaque from the Nicolaus Copernicus monument on February 11, 1942. Originally, the monument was to be destroyed, but thanks to the efforts of Stanisław Lorentz, the German authorities managed to change this decision. The monument was placed in the warehouses of the National Museum, and on its wall there was an inscription painted by Dawidowski: "I am here, people of Warsaw. – Kiliński Jan!". There were also announcements "signed" by Copernicus himself: In retaliation for the destruction of the Kiliński monument, I order the extension of winter by 6 weeks. As it turned out, this year's winter was exceptionally long.

It was one of the few monuments in Warsaw that were not destroyed during World War II. However, it was necessary to replace the missing saber and repair minor damage. These works were made in 1946 by the "Bracia Łopieńscy" studio.

The monument, as one of the first monuments in Warsaw, was erected on Aleja 3 Maja opposite the building of the National Museum, facing Krasińskich Square. In 1959, the monument was once again moved and unveiled in a new place - at ul. Podwale. The location of the monument is justified by the fact that the seat of the Russian ambassador was located nearby during the Kościuszko Uprising. Jan Kiliński led the attack of the inhabitants of the Old Town on this residence on April 17, 1794.

In 1993–1994, the monument underwent a thorough renovation, thanks to which its weakened foundation was strengthened and the plinth, which was deviated from the vertical by 12 degrees, was straightened.

The monument, measuring 3 meters in height, is made of bronze and placed on a pedestal made of Finnish granite, measuring 4 meters in height. It depicts Jan Kiliński wearing a hat and a long coat, fastened decoratively with a wide belt, with a pistol placed behind it. Attached to the belt is the scabbard of a saber, which extends to the base of the pedestal. With his right hand raised high, holding a saber, and his left hand clenched into a fist, he appears as if he is about to charge into battle.