Andrzej Kotula (10 February 1822 in Grodziszcz – 10 October 1891 in

Cieszyn Cieszyn ( , ; ; ) is a border town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship. The town has 33,500 inhabitants ( and lies opposite Český Těšín in the Czech Repu ...

) was a Polish lawyer and activist from

Cieszyn Silesia Cieszyn Silesia, Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia ( ; or ; or ) is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered on the towns of Cieszyn and Český Těšín and bisected by the Olza River. Since 1920 it has been divided betwe ...

. He was son of Józef, peasant, and Maria. Kotula graduated from Protestant gymnasium in Cieszyn and philosophical high school in

Pressburg Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

. In 1848 he graduated in law from the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, where he met Paweł Stalmach, with whom he later cooperated closely back in Cieszyn Silesia. In the same year Kotula together with Stalmach participated in Slavic Congress in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, where they were protesting against including Cieszyn Poles in the Czecho-Slovak section. In 1848-1891 he contributed to '' Tygodnik Cieszyński'' and '' Gwiazdka Cieszyńska'' magazines. Since 1853 he worked as an administration clerk in Ipolyság,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. In 1857 he moved to Frysztat, where he worked as notary. In 1867 Kotula came back to Cieszyn, where he ran his notary office until his death. Kotula was very active in public life, always engaging in establishing various Polish associations and institutions. He was also an active member of the Lutheran community. He was secretary of ''Czytelnia Ludowa'' (People's Library), member of several organizations and one of the founders of ''Macierz Szkolna Księstwa Cieszyńskiego'' (School Association of the Duchy of Cieszyn). Kotula wrote poems, fairy tales and ballads. Kotula was interested in

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

- he was collecting and conserving plants, mushrooms, beetles and butterflies. He had three sons - botanist

Bolesław Bolesław or Boleslav may refer to: People * Bolesław (given name) (also ''Boleslav'' or ''Boleslaus''), including a list of people with this name Geography * Bolesław, Dąbrowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland * Bolesław, Olkusz Coun ...

, engineer Andrzej, and bookseller and publisher

Jerzy Jerzy is the Polish version of the masculine given name George. The most common nickname for Jerzy is Jurek (), which may also be used as an official first name. Occasionally the nickname Jerzyk may be used, which means "swift" in Polish. Peop ...

Footnotes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kotula, Andrzej 1822 births 1891 deaths People from Karviná District People from Austrian Silesia People from Cieszyn Silesia Polish Lutherans Polish activists 19th-century Polish lawyers University of Vienna alumni 19th-century Lutherans Participants of the Slavic Congress in Prague 1848 Lawyers from Austria-Hungary