Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 2:29 pm
Post subject: KUCZYNSKI / SIENKEWICZ
Are these names Polish or Russian? My mother-in-law's grandparents were Frank (perhaps Francis) KUCZYNSKI and Anne SIENKEWICZ. We know nothing about their origins. Frank was born about 1874 and the only info we have says he was born in Russia. Their son Frank was born September 9, 1902 in Greater Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom. We have no info on Anna's beginnings.
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dnowickiPO Top Contributor
Joined: 28 Dec 2011
Replies: 2950
Location: Michigan City, IndianaBack to top |
Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 9:27 am
Post subject:
Both surnames are Polish. Anne Sienkiewicz shares a surname with Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846-1916) who was a renowned Polish writer of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Probably his best known work to the English speaking world is his novel "Quo Vadis?" set in Rome in the first century. His trilogy covering an especially difficult period in the history of the Polish Commonwealth, the mid 1600s, is probably his most popular work in Polish.
The information stating that Frank Kuczynski was born in Russia almost certainly means that he was born in Russian controlled Polish territory. Poland ceased to exist as a political entity with the Third Partition of Poland in 1795 and did not reappear as an independent entity until after World War I. In the Partitions, Poles were ruled by Russia, Prussia (Germany) and Austria. Individuals who were ethnically Polish were politically citizens of one of those three empires. The territory controlled by Russia was known as the Congress Kingdom of Poland and for all practical purposes was part of the Russian Empire. It is most likely that Frank lived in the Congress Kingdom and in political terms would have been considered a Russian subject. The attached map shows the location of the Congress Kingdom of Poland which was also often referred to as Russian Poland. Since you have no more detailed information regarding his and Anne's origins, it will probably require quite a bit of hit or miss attempts to narrow down the specific area where they lived.
Frank's name in Polish would have been Franciszek which is formally translated as Francis. Frank is simply a familiar or diminutive form of Francis. Possible Polish diminutives for Franciszek would be Franek or Franusz.
Best of success in your research.
Dave
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Elzbieta PorteneuvePO Top Contributor
Joined: 09 Nov 2012
Replies: 3098
Location: Paris, FranceBack to top |
Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 10:42 am
Post subject:
Hi,
Let me add that Henryk Sienkiewicz got a Nobel price
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1905/sienkiewicz-bio.html
When searching "kucza" I found a village named Kuczyna mentionning one of etymological origin of the name ("kucza" - namiot, szalas in Polish, tent, hut in English), and quoting a couple of Kuczynski http://www.kuczyna.powiatgostyn.pl/Troche_historii,1159.html
I found also a text in French, an OCR result of an old book, title "DICTIONNAIRE D'ÉTYMOLOGIE DACO-ROMANE, ÉLÉMENTS SLAVES, MAGYARS, TURCS, GRECS-MODERNE et ALBANAIS" from 1879.
- i.e. DICTIONARY OF DACO-ROMAN ETYMOLOGY, ELEMENTS SLAVE, MAGYAR, TURKISH, MODERN GREEK and ALBANIAN
http://archive.org/stream/dictionnairedty02cihagoog/dictionnairedty02cihagoog_djvu.txt
It is all about hut, but also tabernacle.
==
Cufcà, s., cuçtc, pi., cage, tabernacle des Juifs; - cuçchtyà,
s. dim.; cfr. vsl. kijsta tentorium, nidus, tngurium, ki^stica ten-
torium; bulg. kftstû maison; russ. kusta, kustica cabane, tente,
tabernacle des Juifs; pol. kucza, kuszka cabinet de verdure, kuczki,
pi. fête des tabernacles; nsl. koea cabane; cr. serb. kiu'a, kucîca
maison; magy. kiitya cabane; cfr. cech. kut£ baraque, boutique*
vsl. h\t ci, kotïcï mansiuncnla; v. cotet.
==
In Polish "kucać" or "przykucać" means to crouch.
Best,
Elzbieta
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