Edward Pawłowicz

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Portrait of Edward Pawłowicz
Edward Pawłowicz

Edward Pawłowicz h. Przyjaciel was a teacher, a high school director, a social activist and a philanthropist.  He was born on March 30th 1837 on the Łabgiry estate in Lower Lithuania (Samogitia –Żmudź) and died in the Powyrwicie manor (Pavirvytės dvaras) on July 16th 1894.

Family Background

His parents were Józef Bernard Pawłowicz (1818- d. 1881?), the administrator of some of the Zubov estates in Lithuania, and Maria Dokalska (born around 1820). He had two sisters: Stephania (1826-1868), married to Izydor Lipski, and Ema Emilia (1839-1856)

Around 1860, Edward married Maria Szaniawska h. Junosza (1842-1905), whose father was an archivist, a lawyer and a regional historian in Kalisz. His family was large even by the standards of the time: 4 sons and 5 daughters:  Jan (1867-1942 ), Kazimierz (1871-1927), Maria (1871-1898), Józef Marian (1872-1941), Jadwiga (1874-1912), Aniela (1875-1959), Zofia (1878-1936), Wanda (1880-1956) and Edward (1881-1961).

All the sons had the opportunity to pursue their education. Jan studied in Riga, Kazimierz studied at the Jagiellonian University of Krakow, which may be the reason why he quickly broke away from his family and stayed in Poland,  Józef studied horticulture (pomology) in Germany and after his father died in 1894, he inherited Pavirvytė. Only the youngest, also Edward, was not successful in his studies, even though he was privately tutored by the youngest of the Biržiškas brothers, the mathematician Viktor in Šiauliai. The daughters were educated at home.

Early Years

In 1856 Edward Pawłowicz graduated from high school in Šiauliai and began medical studies at the University of Moscow. He then moved to the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Dorpat, from where he graduated with the degree of Candidate of Sciences in 1861. A year later he became the teacher of natural sciences and geography at the State Secondary School for Boys in Kalisz, Poland (today in Belarus), where he also taught Mathematics and Physics.  As from 1866, he started teaching at the high school for Girls, also in Kalisz.

Pawłowicz was a member of the Charitable Society and the Music Society in Kalisz and the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw. He belonged to a group of Kalisz intellectuals, who met at the Hotel Berlin (at Marian Street) to organise and refine the socio cultural life in Kalisz. He organized social evenings at his home, promoting poetry recitals and concerts.

In 1873, he resigned from his job and founded a 4-class private secondary school (Gimnazjum). In its first year, already 86 students enrolled.  After two years, the school was transformed into a 6-class Royal School (Szkoła Realną) , one of the best in that Polish province and known as the Pawłowicz School.

Pawłowicz School

As the director and manager of the school, he cared about the qualifications of the staff and tried to ensure a high level of teaching by recruiting former Polish high school teachers from government schools. In spite of the Russification in the 1880’s, Pawłowicz openly supported the Polish culture and the school became a center of resistance against the Tzar. He funded the school and struggled with financial problems but managed to get support from the local community and surrounding areas. The local newspaper Kaliszanin regularly published news and reports about the condition of the school. In 1883 Edward left the school he founded to establish himself on the Powyrwicie manor, which he inherited from his father. The school continued to run under Konstanty Jerzykowicz until 1893, when it was taken over by  the government.

Powyrwicie

As a gift from the school, he received the wonderful Polish school library, which he brought to Powyrwicie (Pavirvytės).

Around 1880, Edward Pawłowicz established a mobile Polish reading room at his manor in Powyrwicie Lithuania. This initiative, sometimes referred to as the “Polish Flying Library,” was inspired by similar educational movements like the Flying University in Warsaw. The reading room served 12 members, including landowners from neighboring estates and intellectuals from Viekšniai. Each member annually purchased Polish books worth 5 rubles, which were exchanged monthly according to an agreed schedule. Initially, Antanas Moras managed the library, followed by Edward’s son, Jan. The library also attracted notable cultural figures, such as Povilas Višinskis, a prominent activist during the Lithuanian National Revival. Edward Pawłowicz was instrumental in the construction of the Viekšniai Church and was associated with the Šiauliai Gymnasium.

Edward Pawłowicz was a talented pianist, fluent in Polish, and known for his meticulous attention to language accuracy. He also sang Lithuanian songs. Described as tall and well-groomed, he was a cultured landowner but had limited success in farming.

For more information about the family read: The Pawłowicz in Lithuania

Sources

Primary

Family documents and photographs

Secondary