Henryk Poddębski (21 November 1890 – 4 March 1945) was a Polish photographer, local historian. Member of the Polish Local History Union (1911). Secretary of the Photographic Commission of the Polish Local History Union.

Biography

Born 21 November 1890 in Chrząstów (now part of

Koniecpol Koniecpol is a town in Częstochowa County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland, with 5,910 inhabitants (2019). It is situated on the Pilica River, in the historic Sieradz Land. History It was granted town rights by King Władysław II ...

, Poland) to Jan and Maria from Bąbczyński,Stanisław Łoza (red.)
Czy wiesz kto to jest?
Uzupełnienia i sprostowania. Warszawa: 1939, s. 240. he lived in

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 ...

from 1900. He graduated from the Warsaw Trade School of the Merchants' Association. He started taking photographs in 1911. He was fond of documentary, landscape, local history and landscape photography. In 1914–1939, he took part in more than 10 local history expeditions, excursion photo trips (including with ), during which he photographed the landscapes and life of Galicia, the

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains ...

Kuyavia Kuyavia (; ), also referred to as Cuyavia, is a historical region in north-central Poland, situated on the left bank of Vistula, as well as east from Noteć River and Lake Gopło. It is divided into three traditional parts: north-western (with th ...

Masuria Masuria ( ; ; ) is an ethnographic and geographic region in northern and northeastern Poland, known for its 2,000 lakes. Masuria occupies much of the Masurian Lake District. Administratively, it is part of the Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship (ad ...

, Subcarpathia,

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

Great Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland. The bound ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

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 ...

, and

Volyn Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in Ukraine it is roughly ...

. He was one of the Polish innovators of

color photography Color photography (also spelled as colour photography in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is photography that uses media capable of capturing and reproducing colors. By contrast, black-and-white or gray-monochrome ...

before the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

.Поддембський Генрик
/ Ю. О. Бірюльов // Енциклопедія Сучасної України �лектронний ресурс/ Редкол. : І. М. Дзюба, А. І. Жуковський, М. Г. Железняк �а ін.; НАН України, НТШ. — К. : Інститут енциклопедичних досліджень НАН України, 2023. From 1917, Poddębski worked as the secretary of the Photographic Commission of the Polish Local History Union. In 1920, he served as a volunteer in the

Polish army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

. From 1925, he worked in his own photo studio on Marszałkowska Street in Warsaw, specializing in local history photography. Poddębski's works were presented at many photo exhibitions: personal and collective, in Poland and abroad (including

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

). His photographs have been repeatedly honored with prizes and awards at post-competition exhibitions at the national and international levels. Poddębski's photo archive consists of more than 22,000 photos. Henryk Poddębski was deported by the Germans from Warsaw on 12 September 1944 (during the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

) and died in the Nazi camp in

Vaihingen an der Enz Vaihingen an der Enz (, ) is a town located between Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, in southern Germany, on the western periphery of the Stuttgart Region. Vaihingen is situated on the river Enz, and has a population of around 30,000. The former distric ...

(cf. Vaihingen an der Enz concentration camp). His grave (symbolic) is located in the

Powązki Cemetery Powązki Cemetery (; ), also known as Stare Powązki (), is a historic necropolis located in Wola district, in the western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city and one of the oldest, having been established in 179 ...

in Warsaw (quarters 70–3–3,4). Photographs of Henryk Poddębski are in the collections of (among others) the

Museum of Warsaw Museum of Warsaw () (in 1948–2014 ''Historical Museum of Warsaw'', ) is a museum in the Old Town Market Place in Warsaw, Poland. It was established in 1936. History of the museum The facility was established in 1936 as the Museum of Old War ...

, the

National Digital Archives National Digital Archives (, ) are the national archives of Poland, collecting and digitising audiovisual materials. National Digital Archives are one of three central State Archives (), other two being Central Archives of Historical Records an ...

, the

National Library of Poland The National Library (, ''BN'') is the national library of Poland, subject directly to the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The main seat of the National Library is located in the Ochota district of Warsaw, adjacent to the Mo ...

, the Museum of the City of Gdynia and the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Awards

* Officer's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

(posthumously, 2019). * Bronze Cross of Merit (1938).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poddębski, Henryk 1890 births 1945 deaths People from Silesian Voivodeship 20th-century Polish photographers Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Bronze Cross of Merit (Poland)