Józef Weyssenhoff

In 1960, a red granite commemorative plaque has been unveiled at the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth; it was placed on the front wall of the building he lived in at 1 Weyssenhoff Square. The text mentions "Between 1924 and 1928, has lived here the Polish writer Józef Weyssenhoff (1860–1932), eulogist of nature and hunting."

He died on July 6, 1932, in Warsaw. He was buried at the Powązki Cemetery of Warsaw.

Józef's niece was Teresa Weyssenhoff [pl] (1930-1984). She was a Polish writer, author of books related to the figures of the Catholic Church and an economist. During World War II, she lived in Warsaw and participated in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.

Amateur of hunting, he was one of the founders of the Bydgoszcz Hunting Society. As far as literary work is concerned, he devoted his stay to writing "Jan bez ziemi" (Jean sans terre) published in 1929 and "Mój pamiętnik literacki" (My Literary Diary) in 1925. The latter, according to Grzymała-Siedlecki, was supposed to be an introduction to a larger work.

In 1928, Weyssenhoff left Bydgoszcz and moved to Witold Ploter's estate near Włocławek before settling in Warsaw definitively. In 1929, he received the Poznań literary award. In 1932, just before his demise, an academic ceremony was held in Bydgoszcz, celebrating the 40th anniversary of his artistic career. He was an esthete, collector of old prints, manuscripts, but also numismatics and engravings.

In April 1924, probably on an advice of his nephew Władysław August Kościelski, Weyssenhoff moved to Bydgoszcz: Kościelski was the main shareholder of the "Biblioteka Polska" Publishing Institute in the city (Polish: Zakłady Graficzne "Biblioteka Polska" w Bydgoszczy), at the time one of the largest in Poland.

Initially, Weyssenhoff lived at 29 Gdańska Street. At that time, he was already a writer with a definite prestige. In particular, he had already published renowned novels: "Soból i panna", a romance story in 1912, and "Puszcza" (Wilderness) in 1915.

After 1905, he published a series of political novels:

Weyssenhoff traveled extensively in Europe. He published a book related to his journey to Greece in 1895 ("Z Grecyi"). In 1908, he settled for three years in Steglitz, then a suburban borough of Berlin. When World War I broke out, he was in Russia where he stayed during the conflict. In 1918, he returned to the re-created Polish state and settled in Warsaw.

After leaving university, he administered his inherited estates in Samoklęski in Lublin region. In 1891, he moved to Warsaw. There, he edited and published his first monthly magazine in 1896, the "Warsaw Library", subtitled Journal dedicated to science, arts and industry (Polish: Biblioteka Warszawska. Pismo poświęcone naukom, sztukom i przemysłowi). Known as living a flourishing life, Polish literay critic Adam Grzymała-Siedlecki reported that Weyssenhoff lost his estate of Samoklęski at cards with the brother of the Tsar Alexander III, during a stay at the St. Petersburg River Yacht Club.

Józef's nephew was Władysław August Kościelski [pl] (1886-1933), a Polish poet, publisher and main shareholder of the "Biblioteka Polska" Publishing Institute in Bydgoszcz and Warsaw.

He followed law studies between 1879 and 1884 at the University of Tartu in Kreis Dorpat, Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire. During this period, he became a member of the Polish student corporation Konwent Polonia (Polish: Korporacja Akademicka Konwent Polonia), established in 1828 in the very presmises.

Józef Weyssenhoff (1860-1932) was a Polish novelist, poet, literary critic, publisher. Close to the National Democracy political movement after 1905, he paid tribute to the tradition of the Polish landed gentry in the Eastern Borderlands. He lived several years in Bydgoszcz in the 1920s.

Józef's cousin was the painter Henryk Weyssenhoff (1859-1922). Henryk illustrated two of Józef's books, "Erotyki" (1911) and "Soból i Panna" (1913).

Among Weyssenhoff's ancestors was Jan Weyssenhoff (pl) (1774-1848), a Major General, who took part in the Polish–Russian War of 1792, the Kościuszko Uprising (1794), the Napoleonic Wars and the November Uprising of 1830–1831.