Bishop Antoni Melchior FIJAŁKOWSKI’s handwritten LETTER to Klaudyna Fijałkowska [his niece], dated Warsaw, November 5, 1852.

Bishop Antoni Melchior FIJAŁKOWSKI’s handwritten LETTER to Klaudyna Fijałkowska [his niece], dated Warsaw, November 5, 1852, size 14x21.5 cm,

with the bishop’s autograph at the end of the letter

Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski (1778–1861) —Polish Roman Catholic clergyman, Metropolitan Archbishop of Warsaw, theologian, and patriotic activist. He came from the noble Fijałkowski family of the Ślepowron coat of arms. He was ordained a priest in 1801. Among other positions, he served as a canon in Włocławek and custodian of the Płock chapter; during the November Uprising of 1830–1831, he served as chaplain to the insurgent army. In 1842, he became auxiliary bishop of Płock, and from 1844 he administered the Archdiocese of Warsaw as capitular vicar. In 1856, Pope Pius IX appointed him Metropolitan Archbishop of Warsaw; his solemn entry into St. John’s Archcathedral took place on January 11, 1857. He played a particularly significant role during the period of growing Polish independence sentiment leading up to the January Uprising. He did not oppose the patriotic services and demonstrations taking place in Warsaw’s churches. After Russian troops bloodily suppressed a demonstration in Castle Square on February 27, 1861, he issued a protest to the tsarist authorities and participated in the funeral ceremonies for the five who had been killed. He enjoyed immense authority among the public and was regarded as one of the nation’s spiritual leaders. He died on October 5, 1861. His funeral on October 10 turned into a massive patriotic demonstration, one of the most significant in Warsaw before the outbreak of the January Uprising. He was buried in the archbishops’ crypt at St. John the Baptist Archcathedral in Warsaw.