Franciszek Mączyński (1874 - 1947)

Polish Art Nouveau architect.

Franciszek's father was said to have fled to Galicia from Congress Poland after he lost his farm for taking part in the January Uprising. He found a new place in Wadowice, where he met and married the daughter of a notary from Rzeszów, Józefa Furgalska.

Franciszek was born on 21 September 1874, one of their thirteen children. He graduated from the CK Gymnasium III in Kraków, and in that city took up studies at the Higher Industrial School under S.Odrzywolski. After school, he worked in his architectural office and then began working alongside Tadeusz Stryjeński. He also studied in Paris and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków under Konstanty Laszczka.

He became famous after winning a competition to design the headquarters of the Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Kraków. Together with Stryjeński, he reconstructed the building of the Old Theatre, built the headquarters of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Basztowa Street, the chapels at the Habsburg castle in Żywiec and the church and monastery of the Discalced Carmelites. He independently completed the construction of the Jesuit church.

Together with T. Stryjeński, K. Korn and J. Taub, they created the design and construction company "Spójnia". Mączyński then took over "Spójnia" and formed the company: 'Spójnia budowlana Mączyński i Ska'. He created residential villas and modernist church designs. He also carried out restoration work in churches in Kraków and designed over a dozen churches in the Małopolska region.

He was a member of the Association of Architects of the Republic of Poland, the Society of Lovers of Beautiful Books, the Society 'Polish Applied Art', the Society of Lovers of the History and Monuments of Kraków and the Kraków Workshops.

Mączyński is regarded as one of the most important artists active in the Kraków architectural community at the turn of the 20th century. He died on 28 April 1947 in Kraków and was buried in the Salwator Cemetery.