Adolf Hyła Cultural and Educational Association

Adolf Hyła Adolf Hyła Cultural and Educational Association Dear readers, We wanted to examine the human aspect, based on the cult of the image of Divi- ne Mercy. The painting of Christ from under Adolf Hyła’s brush is now famous all over the world and it is one of the most famous paintings of the Risen Jesus. However, only few people are aware of the history of this painting. The first painting inspired by the revelations of Saint Maria Faustyna Kowalska was done by Euge- niusz Kazimirowski, and is now located in Vilnius. It did not receive wider recognition. Faustyna Kowalska herself was not entirely convinced of the accuracy of the depiction of Christ, furthermore, the tempestuous period of history ultimately determined the location of the painting outside of Poland. The author of the second image of Merciful Jesus was an artist from Lviv, Stanisław Batowski. His painting is currently located in the Church of Divine Mercy at Smolensk street in Krakow. We, on the other hand, want to tell you the story of the author of the most famous depiction of Merciful Christ, which can be found in Krakow’s Łagiewniki Sanctuary. What’s so special about the painting? It’s hard to pinpoint a single thing. It was painted and donated as a votive offering for saving the painter’s family from the horrors of war. Thanks to the help of Adolf Hyła’s family, we were able to collect mementos, documents, and his non-sacral paintings. We want to present this artist as a man of many passions; to show his work and emphasize the fact that the Divine Mercy painting has an author. Adolf Hyła has been commemorated for several years. In 2013, the City Council of Krakow decided to name an alleyway by the Łagiewniki Sanctuary after the author. In 2017, our association was established, and during the same year, the Voivodeship Council of Lesser Poland adopted a resolution of Hyła’s commemoration. The curator of Adolf Hyła’s commemoration is his niece, Doctor Elżbieta Szczepaniec-Cięciak. We also have to mention Fr. prof. Andrzej Witko, expert in the cult of God’s Mercy and the cult of St. Faustina, as well as Fr. dr. Piotr Szwed MS, whose scientific work is dedicated to Adolf Hyła. With sincere regards, Jan Cięciak President of the Adolf Hyła Cultural and Educational Association Adolf Hyła Cultural and Educational Association Adolf Hyła Cultural and Educational Association Family Adolf Kazimierz Hyła was born on May 2, 1897 in Biała near Bielsko, as the firstborn son of Jozef and Salomea, née Szarkiewicz. His father, Józef Hyła, son of Stefan and Rozalia, was born on December 27, 1857 in the village of Hucisko near Żywiec. Adolf’s mother, Salomea, was the daughter of Jan Szarkiewicz and Maria née Słowińska, of Wojnicz in Tarnów County. She was born on August 29, 1875. Adolf’s parents died in 1940; mother on October 11, and father on November 15. The family was moving numerous times. After the birth of Adolf, they settled in Krakow. They changed their addresses many times, from Wielopole St., through Kołłątaja and Św. Łazarza St. and then again to Kołłątaja St., always near the post office where Józef Hyła worked – initially as a postman, and then as a postal clerk. Adolf grew up with his siblings: Stefan, Maria Waleria, Helena, Aniela, Antoni and 5 Adolf Hyła Cultural and Educational Association Michał, Irena and Jerzy. They lived modestly, as all the household earnings were coming from his father, while mother was taking care of the children. Later, this responsibility was shared by their firstborn daughter, Maria Waleria. Loved by all the children, she became the truly-adored auntie Marila for the next generation of the Hyła family. Until the very end, she remained in the apartment at St. Sebastian’s 12, together with her youngest sister Irena, whose children she was also taking care of, and whose family she supported financially. She brought help to everyone in need, both during the Nazi occupation and after the war. Adolf, however, did not stay long with his family. He left home as the first of the siblings. As a fifteen-year-old, he set out to study. Education Adolf Hyła attended the St. Barbara Men’s Common School in Krakow, located on the Small Market 8, in the years 1903-1907. It was a four-year common school that prepared for secondary education in gymnasiums (equivalent to grammar schools). In the years 1907-1912, he attended the St. Jack’s Imperial-Royal Gymnasium in Krakow. The future painter originally studied in the subsidiary of the gymnasium at St. Sebastian’s 12 street, where he graduated classes 1-4 (the so-called lower 6 Adolf Hyła Cultural and Educational Association gymnasium), then he attended 5th class in the school located at Sienna 13. St. Jack’s Gymnasium in Krakow during that period of time was a prestigious, eight-grade school, also called a classical school, where he was learning Latin and Greek, as his sixth-form subjects. Young Hyła inherited the talent for drawing from his father, who often painted in spare time, decorating the furniture of the apartment at Kołłątaja St. with beautiful floral patterns. On July 11, 1912, Adolf entered a Boarding School of Jesuits in Stara Wieś near Brzozów, where they ran a junior gymnasium for young friars. Adolf Hyła graduated the fourth grade of junior gymnasium in Velehrad, Moravia. During World War I, the novitiate and the gymnasium of the Galician Province for clerics and young people from Stara Wieś and Chyrowo were established there. On July 17, 1914, Adolf Hyła received his lower ordination and tonsure from Bishop Józef Sebastian Pelczar (document dated August 2, 1915). In the years 1915 - 1917, he studied at the Jesuitian Private Secondary School in Bąkowice near Chyrow, which then was a province of Lviv. The Chyrow gymnasium was considered the best equipped school in Poland during the second Polish Republic. It was where Hyła graduated seventh and eighth grade of the gymnasium and passed the matriculation exam on May 28-30, 1917. He studied philosophy at the Philosophical College of Jesuits in Nowy Sącz for the next year. However, he left the order before finishing the studies, on December 2, 1918. From February 5, 1919 to November 24, 1920, he intermittently served in the Polish army. From May 1 to December 31, 1919, he worked in the Kilimkami Drawing Office of the National Industrial Union in Krakow. 7 Adolf Hyła Cultural and Educational Association In the academic year 1919/1920, he enrolled at the Faculty of Law of the Jagiellonian University. He didn’t finish those studies either, this time because of the military service. He enrolled at the Jagiellonian University again in the academic year 1922/1923, at the Faculty of Philosophy. During the first year of his studies, he took classes in inorganic and analytical chemistry, mineralogy, petrography, philosophy, ethics, and art history. He quit again after three trimesters of the first year. The several months spent working in the Kilimkami Drawing Office of the National Industrial Union in Krakow significantly influenced the life of Adolf Hyła. At the time, count Leonard Mieroszewski recognized the young man’s great painting abilities thanks to the portrait of Marshal Józef Piłsudski and ordered his own portrait from Hyła. The count surrounded Hyła with cordial care and sent him to the studio of the famous Young Poland painter - Jacek Malczewski. Adolf became his private student – the talent and artistic personality of the young painter matured and developed under the guidance of the great artist. Teacher and mentor For more than twenty years, Adolf Hyła was working as a teacher of drawing, handwork and other subjects of secondary education. He first was teaching drawing and mathematics, physics and geography at the private Jadwiga Krzymowska 8 Adolf Hyła Cultural and Educational Association Women’s Gymnasium in Będzin (from December 2, 1920 to April 30, 1928), then drawing and mathematics at the Men’s Gymnasium and the Merchants’ Assembly Commercial Lyceum in Będzin (from September 1 to July 31, 1936; in 1934 the school was renamed to Nicolaus Copernicus Coeducational Gymnasium in Będzin). 32-year-old Adolf married Maria Katarzyna Zalipska, daughter of Tomasz and Klementyna, née Rozmanit. The ceremony took place in the Church of St. Nicholas in Krakow. Maria, Adolf’s wife, worked as a bank clerk. They didn’t have any children. The wife’s family was very religious. During this hard period for the entire Polish society, they found help and support in the Catholic Church. In 1936, Hyła finished work in Będzin and began teaching practical classes at the A. Witkowski 8th State Lyceum and Gymnasium in Krakow, in addition, he started working at the 9th Gymnasium of Mathematics and Natural Sciences named after J. M. Hoene-Wronski. After a hiatus caused by the Nazi occupation, he returned to the Witkowski Lyceum and Gymnasium teaching practical classes (1945-1948, with gaps for sick leaves). Due to ill health confirmed by a medical commission report, on April 30, 1948 Adolf Hyła ended his career as a teacher. Since then, he was completely devoted to painting. Work in the teaching profession always required continuous self-education and improvement. As early as 1921, Adolf Hyła already took part in a National Summer Course for Secondary and Higher Education Teachers in Kielce, organized by the 9 Adolf Hyła Cultural and Educational Association municipal branch of the Society of Secondary and Higher Education Teachers (from 4 July to 13 August). He enhanced his knowledge in chemistry, physics and mineralogy.

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