Biography:
Stefan Pajączkowski - painter, graphic artist and an outstanding expert in Poland on the uniforms and weapons of Polish soldiers over the centuries.
He was born on January 29, 1900 in Lviv. His father was a famous doctor, and later for many years the director of the General Hospital in Sanok, Włodzimierz Pajączkowski.
Stefan Pajączkowski passed his final exams at the Sanok Junior High School in 1918 and already then, during World War I, he helped wounded soldiers withdrawn from the front. For this he received an Austrian silver medal (Red Cross) with war decoration. During the war, while staying in Vienna, he visited numerous galleries and museums in the city, which initiated his passion for fine arts. The end of the war and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy found him at the Military Academy in Wiener-Neustadt. Already in free Poland, he joined the Reserve Squadron of the 6th Uhlan Regiment of the Lviv Cavalry in Rzeszów (later the Kaniowski Uhlans). The following year he was admitted to the Officers' Riding School in Stara and in 1920 he was hospitalized. Then he studied and graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lviv. However, he gave up his profession as a lawyer and began learning drawing and easel painting in the studio of the battle painter Zygmunt Rodakowski.
After completing Agricultural Landowners' Courses in Lviv, in 1926 he settled in Wańkowice and ran a farm. At that time, he was appointed second lieutenant of the Polish Army, retaining the colors of the 6th Uhlan Regiment. In 1927, he got married and continued to manage the estate in Wańkowice. At the same time, he drew and painted a lot. The outbreak of World War II forced Pajączkowski to accept the position of manager of the estate in Kostarowce near Sanok. The end of the war found him in military units in Przemyśl, and then he followed the combat trail of this army with the Second Polish Army. He was demobilized in 1946 with the rank of captain.
After the war, Pajączkowski settled with his family in Poznań, where he first worked for the State Land Estates until 1950, and later started working for the National Association of Cooperatives of the Folk and Artistic Industry. In 1951 he became a member of the Association of Polish Artists. In the 1950s, his best painting works were created, including numerous battle compositions and uniform watercolors. In 1956, he initiated the reactivation of the Greater Poland Military Museum, which existed in Poznań in the years 1919—1939. These efforts were culminated in the restoration of this museum as a department of the National Museum. In 1950, Narodoski took up the position of curator. The museum collections he looked after were placed in a pavilion in the Old Market Square in Poznań, and on February 22, 1963, the museum exhibition was officially opened. A little later, in 1965, on the initiative of curator Pajączkowski, the Circle of the Association of Old Weapon and Color Enthusiasts was established in Poznań.
In addition to his museum work, Pajączkowski was active in the artistic field. His works on military themes were organized, among others, great exhibition titled "1000 Years of the Polish Arms", which visited many Polish cities. Throughout his mature life, Stefan Pajączkowski was interested in the history of Polish cavalry, its uniforms and armament, hence this topic was the leading topic at the above-mentioned exhibition, and its author was among the ranks of outstanding uniform experts military: B. Gębarzewski. W. Gepner, Z. Bocheński and W. Dziewanowski. Pajączkowski's drawings were included in a book published in 1980 by KAW in Warsaw entitled "Jazda Polska". Its author was also a graphic designer. He made a number of exlibris6vv (book signs) with delicate drawings, the main element of which are military motifs. Stefan Pajączkowski died suddenly during his stay in Great Britain on June 2, 1978 in Edinburgh. His ashes were brought back to Poland and buried at the Junikowski Cemetery in Poznań.
