Seweryn Nowakowski

Seweryn Nowakowski (January 8, 1894 in Piotrków Trybunalski - died probably in 1940) was a Polish politician who served as the last mayor of Białystok prior to the outbreak of the World War II.

Seweryn Nowakowski
Mayor of Białystok
In office 12 September 1934 – September 1939
Preceded by	Wincenty Hermanowski
Succeeded by	Position abolished Soviet occupation
Personal details
Born	(1875-04-03)April 3, 1875 Piotrków Trybunalski, Congress Poland
Died	Unknown
Political party	Polish Socialist Party
Alma mater	University of Warsaw
Profession	Lawyer, politician

Biography

He studied at the Faculty of Law of the University of Warsaw, and after the outbreak of World War I he stayed in Kiev. Then he continued his studies at the Faculty of Law of the University of Moscow. He returned to Poland probably in 1919 with a Red Cross transport and settled in Piotrków Trybunalski. He joined the Polish Socialist Party. He was elected to the position of juror, or a full-time employee in the Municipal Board in Piotrków Trybunalski, which he held until 30 December 1928. From 1927 to November 1930 he was the head of the financial and administrative department.^[1]

In the spring of 1931 he was designated by the Prime Minister for the position of government commissioner in Białystok, arriving to the city in August 1932. He remained in this position until 1934, when he became the temporary President of the city of Białystok. In 1935, after winning the local government elections, he took over the position of the city's President (mayor). Before the 1935 parliamentary elections to the Sejm, he was appointed election commissioner in constituency no. 40.^[2][3]

On 1 September 1939, the German invasion of Poland began starting World War II. German bomber squadrons flew over the areas of the then Białystok Voivodeship, the first bombs fell in the area of Białystok railway station and military barracks in the city. From September 4, the Citizen Guard (Polish: Straż Obywatelska), established by Nowakowski, was operating in the city, tasked with supporting and replacement functions for the state police and the army which were evacuated.^[4] In night of the 28th to 29th of October 1939, he was arrested by the NKVD^[5][6] and shortly imprisoned at the Białystok Prison, from where he was deported to the Soviet Union.^[7] Since then, there has been no news about him. His symbolic grave is located at the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw.^[8] He was awarded golden Cross of Merit (November 11, 1934).^[9]

Commemoration

A monument to Nowakowski erected in Planty Park in 2024

On February 19, 2004, a commemorative plaque dedicated to Seweryn Nowakowski was placed on the Presidential Villa in Białystok at Akademicka 26 street.

A street in Wygoda district and roundabout in Piaski district in Białystok is named after Seweryn Nowakowski.

Seweryn Nowakowski was the patron of Public Junior High School No. 6 in Bacieczki district of Białystok before it was liquidated.

As part of the celebrations of the centenary of Poland's independence and in connection with the celebrations of the Year of Seweryn Nowakowski, Ryszard Kaczorowski and Feliks Filipowicz established by the Białystok City Council, from November 22, 2019 to February 16, 2020, the BOK–Centrum im. Ludwik Zamenhofa in Białystok hosted an exhibition dedicated to Seweryn Nowakowski.^[10]

On September 16, 2021, the Nowakowski Research Institute was established at the Sybir Museum of Memory in Białystok.^[11] The founding act was signed by the Mayor of Białystok Tadeusz Truskolaski, the director of the Museum of Memory of Sybir prof. Wojciech Śleszyński and Krystyna Nowakowska, Nowakowski's daughter-in-law. On September 16, 2024, a monument was unveiled in Białystok in Planty Park, near the villa where Nowakowski once lived.^[12]