This presentation is a part of the final product DVD “Portfolio about famous people from the region, virtual gallery” made by students from Szkola Podstawowa nr.1 im. Wojska Polskiego w Gniewkowie, Gniewkowo, Poland. Responsible of final product: Escola Básica de Alvor, Portugal.

1. POLAND
Famous people of our region and
country
JAN KASPROWICZ

2. FRYDERYK CHOPIN
• Fryderyk Chopin was born on 22 February 1810 in Żelazowa Wola.
He was the greatest Polish composer. His father, Mikołaj Chopin was
French and his mother, Justyna Krzyżanowska, came from Kuyavian
region. Chopin took over his musical talents after his mother who
played the piano and sang. She was little Chopen’s first teacher of
music.
• Together with his older sister he played music at home . Soon he tried
to write his own pieces of music. His first work, Polonaise B-dur was
written down by his father.
The Żelazowa Wola
where Fryderyk
Chopin was born.
The house in
Żelazowa Wola where
Fryderyk Chopin was
born.

3. Chopin was a sociable person. Such
outstanding composers as Franciszek List,
Gioacchino Rossini and Felix Mendelson
were his friends.
Chopin gave his last concert for the
Warsaw audience in October 1830. On 2nd
November he left Warsaw forever and
went first to Dresden and then to Viena,
Munich and Stuttgart.
In September 1831 he settled in Paris
where he gained European fame.
Soon he gave lots of concerts. Performing
his own music, he strengthened his
position as a composer and a pianist. Yet,
teaching was the main source of his
income. He had lots of students both
amateurs and professionals who studied to
be pianists.
Chopin suffered from
tuberculosis. He died on 17
October 1849 and was burried
in Perre-Lachaise cemetery in
Paris, but his heart is in St.
Cross Church in Warsaw in
Krakowskie Przedmieście
Street.
A famous sentence can summarize
his life – „He was a Polish man by
heart and the World Citizen by his
talent”.
Chopin is particularly close not
only to us, the students but also to
all inhabitants of Gniewkowo in the
Cuyavian region because his
Polonez A-dur op. 40 nr1 is in
Kuyaviak , our regional dance,
style.

4. NICOLAS
COPERNICUS –
stopped the Sun and
moved the Earth
Copernicus house
in Toruń
Copernicus
monument in Toruń

5. Nicolas Copernicus was
born in Toruń on 19th
February 1473. He studied
at the University of Crakow,
Bologna and Padwa. He was
a priest but also a
mathematician, a doctor
and an economist. He was
interested in astronomy,
astrology, maths, law,
economics, medicine and
military strategy.
He wrote the book in Latin ‘’De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium” in
which he presents his idea of heliocentric theory. It says that the Sun
is in the centre of the Solar System and the Earth goes round it.
Besides this great book he also published his work on the monetary
reform.
He died on 24th May 1543 in Frombork, Poland.
The tomb of Copernicus in Frombork
Cathedral
The tomb of Nicolaus Copernicus has been looked for
several times. The positive identification of his remains
was possible only in 2008 thanks to DNA tests.

6. A poet, a playwright, a
writer, a translator
JAN KASPROWICZ
His family house in Szymborze,
near Inowrocław – a museum
now.

7. Jan Kasprowicz was born on 12th December 1860, in a village
near Inowrocław, in Cuyavian region.
The theme of his poetry was the result of his hard life experiences of
poverty and loneliness.
His poetic work is appreciated for originality of style and
independence.
In his poems Kasprowicz admired the natural beauty of the Cuyavian
region and also the beauty of the mountains where he spent time in
his later life. Walking in the mountains, he was looking for the
inspiration for his poems.
A part of his poetry was
created under the
influence of the far East
culture and Greek
mythology.
The poet died in
Harenda, near Zakopane
in the Tatra Mountains on
1st August 1926.
The monument of Jan Kasprowicz in
Inowrocław

8. JAN MATEJKO – a painter
of Polish history
The Battle of
Grunvald

9. Jan Matejko was born in 1838. He was the
most famous historical painter. He learned
to paint in Cracow, Poland and also in
Munich and Viena. He travelled to many
foreign places, for example to Paris, Viena,
Turkey, Hungary, Italy.
He was a very talented person and from
his early age he copied pictures from
historical books which he read with a big
interest because he lived in the times
when Poland was under the rules of the
three invaders.
His works of art show that he was a great lover of
his country, Poland. His paintings contain famous
events from Polish history but the most famous
and outstanding one is „The Battle of Grunvald”
which was created from 1872-1878.

10. ŁUKASZ PAWŁOWSKI
– a sportsman

11. Łukasz Pawłowski was born in 1983
in Toruń.
He has been training rowing since
1995.
His achievements:
- A dozen times champion of Poland.
- A double World Champion under 23 (
in 2003 and 2004).
- A brown medallist of the World
Championships in 2006 and 2009.
- A vice- Champion of Europe in 2010.
- A vice – Champion of Olympics in
Beijing in 2008, where together with
other three participants he won a silver
medal in men’s lightweight coxless
four.
The Olympian has visited our
school, SP1 Gniewkowo.