Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki of the Sas coat of arms (, ; 1640 – 19 February 1694) was a Polish nobleman, diplomat, and spy during the Great Turkish War of Ruthenian origin. For his actions at the 1683 Battle of Vienna, when he managed to get out of the besieged city to seek help, he was considered a hero by the local people. According to legend, he is often cited as starting the first café in the city in 1683, using

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

beans A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are tradition ...

left behind by the retreating Ottoman Turks. However, more recent sources suggest that the first coffeehouse in Vienna was opened by the Armenian (aka Johannes Diodato or Deodat and Owanes Astouatzatur) in 1685.

Biography

Kulczycki was born in 1640 in Kulczyce, near Sambor, (then part of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

, now western

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

). He was born into an old Orthodox-Ruthenian

noble family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the rea ...

, Kulchytsky-Shelestovych, although his father had converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He was fluent in Polish, Ruthenian (Ukrainian), Serbian, Turkish, German, Hungarian and Romanian languages. Kulczycki started to work as a translator for the

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

branch of the Austrian Oriental Company (''Orientalische Handelskompagnie''). When the Turkish authorities began repressing foreign traders as spies, he avoided arrest by claiming Polish citizenship and moved to Vienna, where through his earlier work he had gathered enough wealth to open up his own trading company in 1678. During the Siege of Vienna (1683), he volunteered to leave the besieged and starving city and contact Duke Charles of Lorraine. Together with his trusty servant, the

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n Đorđe Mihajlović, he left the city in Turkish attire and crossed enemy lines singing Ottoman songs. After contacting the duke, the pair managed to return to the city and reach it with a promise of imminent relief. Because of that information, the city council decided not to surrender to the Turkish forces of Kara Mustafa Pasha and continue the fight instead. After the arrival of Christian forces led by the Polish king

John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( (); (); () 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Eur ...

, on 12 September the siege was broken. Kulczycki was considered a hero by the grateful townspeople of Vienna. The city council awarded him with a considerable sum of money and the burghers gave him a house in the borough of Leopoldstadt. King John III Sobieski himself presented Kulczycki with large amounts of coffee found in the captured camp of Kara Mustafa's army. The story that Kulczycki opened a coffee house in Vienna at Schlossergassl near the cathedral, which was named the ''Hof zur Blauen Flasche'' (' House under the Blue Bottle') and other stories about him related to coffee were invented by Gottfried Uhlich in 1783. This was uncovered for the first time by historian Karl Teply in 1980. Kulczycki's descendant, historian Jerzy Sas Kulczycki, considered Teply's theory "pseudo-scientific", as it "negated all known, documented knowledge about Kulczycki, making him an Armenian on top of that". Until recently, every year in October a special Kolschitzky feast was organized by the café owners of Vienna, who decorated their shop windows with Kulczycki's portrait, as noted by Polish historian and geographer Zygmunt Gloger. Kulczycki is memorialized with a statue on Vienna's ''Kolschitzky'' street, at the corner of the house Favoritenstraße 64.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kulczycki 1640 births 1694 deaths 17th-century Polish nobility Diplomats of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Austrian people of Polish descent Ruthenian nobility of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Polish spies Military personnel of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Businesspeople in coffee

Biography

See also

References

Further reading

External links