Władysław Horodecki (born Leszek Dezydery Horodecki; ; ; – January 3, 1930) was a Polish architect active in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and later in the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

. He is best known for his contributions in the urban development of

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, with buildings such as the

House with Chimaeras House with Chimaeras (, ) or Horodetsky House (named for Władysław Horodecki) is an Art Nouveau building located in the Subdivisions of Kyiv#Historical neighborhoods, historic Lypky neighborhood of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Situated across ...

, the St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral, the Karaite Kenesa, and the

National Art Museum of Ukraine The National Art Museum of Ukraine ( ) is a museum dedicated to Ukrainian art in Kyiv, Ukraine. History The National Art Museum of Ukraine, which was the first museum in Kyiv to be freely open to the public, was founded at the end of the 19th c ...

. In Kyiv, Horodecki often worked along with a sculptor from

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Emilio Sala, who was an instructor at the Kyiv City College.

Life and career

Russian Empire

Horodecki was born into a noble

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

family of the Kornic coat of arms in the village of Szołudki (Sholudky, now Mukhivtsi Rural Council,

Nemyriv Raion Nemyriv Raion () (transliteration from Ukrainian Nemyrivskyi Raion) was a raion (district) in Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine. The administrative center of Nemyriv Raion was the town of Nemyriv. The area of the raion was 1293 square km. There were 94 ...

Vinnytsia Oblast Vinnytsia Oblast (, ), also referred to as Vinnychchyna (), is an oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in central Ukraine. Its capital city, administrative center is Vinnytsia. The oblast has a population of History Vinnytsia Oblast, first established on ...

, Ukraine). His ancestors were big landowners in the

Podillia Podolia or Podillia is a historic region in Eastern Europe located in the west-central and southwestern parts of Ukraine and northeastern Moldova (i.e. northern Transnistria). Podolia is bordered by the Dniester River and Boh River. It features ...

region. Horodecki graduated from the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Imperial Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov, the founder of the Imperial Moscow University, under the name ''Academy of th ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

in 1890, while prior to that he finished a

realschule Real school (, ) is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), F ...

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

. After 1890, Horodecki moved to Kyiv, where he lived for almost 30 years.

Poland

As Poland regained its independence after the Polish-Soviet War in 1920, and Russia, including Kyiv, fell under

Bolshevism Bolshevism (derived from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Leninist and later Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined p ...

, he emigrated to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. In Poland, Horodecki headed an American Project Bureau, "Henry Ulan & Co." Some of his designs were built including a water tower and trade rows in

Piotrków Trybunalski Piotrków Trybunalski (; also known by #Etymology, alternative names), often simplified to Piotrków, is a city in central Poland with 71,252 inhabitants (2021). It is the capital of Piotrków County and the second-largest city in the Łódź Voi ...

(today in Lodz Voivodeship), a meat factory in

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

, a bath house in

Zgierz Zgierz is a city in central Poland, located just to the north of Łódź, and part of the metropolitan area centered on that city. As of 2021, it had a population of 54,974. Located within the historic Łęczyca Land, it is the capital of Zgie ...

, and a casino building in

Otwock Otwock (Yiddish: אָטוואָצק) is a city in the Masovian Voivodeship in east-central Poland, some south-east of Warsaw, with 43,895 inhabitants (2024). Otwock is part of the Warsaw metropolitan area. It is situated on the right bank of the ...

Persia

In 1928, on the invitation of the same company, Horodecki moved to Tehran, becoming a chief architect of the Syndicate on the Design of Persian Railways. He designed in particular the building of the

Tehran railway station Tehran Railway Station () is located in Rah Ahan Square, at the foot of Valiasr Street in the southern part of Tehran, the capital of Iran. The railway station was originally designed in 1928-29 by Polish architect Władysław Horodecki, who ...

. In 1930 he died and was buried at Doulab Catholic Cemetery in Tehran. His epitaph is inscribed in

with only the phrase ''Profesor architektury. Niech mu obca ziemia będzie lekka.'', which translates into English as "Professor of architecture. Let the foreign earth be light for him."

Remembrance

One of Kyiv's streets, designed by Horodecki, (between

Maidan Nezalezhnosti Maidan Nezalezhnosti (, ) or Independence Square is the central town square of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the city's main squares, it is located on Khreshchatyk Street in the Shevchenko Raion. The square contains the iconic Ind ...

and

) was named after him in 1996 as ''vulytsia Arkhitektora Horodetskoho''. The street had been called ''ulitsa Nikolayevskaya'', and in Soviet times it was known as ''vulytsia Karla Marksa'', after

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

. In 2004, a statue honouring Horodecki was unveiled in

at 15

Khreshchatyk Khreshchatyk (, ) is the main street of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. The street is long, and runs in a northeast-southwest direction from European Square (Kyiv), European Square through the Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Maidan to Bessarabska Sq ...

. In 2011, Horodecki's bust made of white marble was unveiled in the town of

Nemyriv Nemyriv ( ; ) is a historic city in Vinnytsia Oblast (province) in Ukraine, located in the historical region of Podolia. It was the administrative center of former Nemyriv Raion (district). Population: Nemyriv is one of the oldest cities in Vin ...

, close to the architect's birthplace in Szołudki. The monument features Horodecki's name as well as his years of birth and death. In 2013, a 5-

hryvnia The ( ; , ''hrn''; sign: ₴; code: UAH) has been the national currency of Ukraine since 2 September 1996. The hryvnia is divided into 100 kopiykas (). It is named after a measure of weight used in Kievan Rus'. Etymology The currency of Kie ...

commemorative coin depicting Horodecki was issued in Ukraine on the 150 anniversary of the architect's birth.

Works

File:Банкова вул., 10 02.JPG,

File:Кенаса караїмська P1460234 вул. Ярославів Вал, 7.jpg, Karaite Kenesa, Kyiv File:St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral, Kyiv 8.jpg, St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral, Kyiv File:Київ Національний художній музей України 4.jpg,

File:61-224-9002 Vyshnivets Palace RB.jpg,

Vyshnivets Palace The Vyshnivets Palace () or the Wiśniowiecki Palace () is located in the Populated places in Ukraine#Rural settlements, rural settlement of Vyshnivets (near the city of Zbarazh) in Ternopil Oblast of western Ukraine. Historically, it was the main ...

(reconstructed by Horodecki) File:Otwock kasyno.jpg,

casino File:Tehran Railway Station in 2018.jpg,

Tehran Railway Station Tehran Railway Station () is located in Rah Ahan Square, at the foot of Valiasr Street in the southern part of Tehran, the capital of Iran. The railway station was originally designed in 1928-29 by Polish architect Władysław Horodecki, who ...

References

External links

* Essay about Horodecki * Biography of Horodecki {{DEFAULTSORT:Horodecki, Wladyslaw 1863 births 1930 deaths People from Vinnytsia Oblast Ruthenian nobility Architects from Kyiv Hunters Art Nouveau architects Burials at Doulab Cemetery