User:Exxess/Żądło-Dąbrowski z Dąbrówki h. Radwan

The Żądło-Dąbrowski z Dąbrówki h. Radwan family belonged to the immemorial Polish nobility. They originated from the Radwan knights' clan. They were connected to Polish-English author Joseph Conrad and the revolutionary fight for national independence.

Żądło-Dąbrowski is pronounced "Zhondwo-Dombrovski."

z Dąbrówki is pronounced "zee Dombroovkee."

Radwan is pronounced "Rodvon."

Notable Members

 * Jarosław Żądło-Dąbrowski z Dąbrówki h. Radwan – Polish revolutionary Nationalist and General of the Paris Commune (1871).


 * Teofil Żądło-Dąbrowski z Dąbrówki h. Radwan – Brother of J. Dąbrowski; Officer in the January Uprising (1863); Chief of Staff of the National Guard, the Paris Commune; Associate of Karl Marx, International Workingmen's Association, London.


 * Stefan Tytus Zygmunt Dąbrowski h. Radwan – Rector: Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (1945 - 1946); Physician, physiologist, biochemist; Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs (1919), Poland.

Origins
From Mazowsze, Poland, the old szlachta (noble) family Żądło-Dąbrowski of Dąbrówka, coat-of-arms (in Polish "herb") Radwan, took their surname from the village/patrimony Dąbrówka of Piaseczno in the lands (ziemia/"province") of Warszawa, where other members of the family settled predominantly in the lands (ziemia) of Różan. They were always nobility, belonging to the szlachta odwieczna or immemorial nobility, and in the armorials of Poland, documentation from the 15th century is used to note them. The original surname/przydomek they used was "Żądło" (the Sting), prior to establishing the fixed surname/cognomen Dąbrowski derived from their patrimony/inheritance Dąbrówki/Dąbrówka.

The family were first and foremost members of the ancient Radwan knights' clan (ród)/gens before they established a fixed surname/cognomen derived from their patrimony/inheritance (Dąbrówki/Dąbrówka):

"'In Poland, the Radwanice were noted relatively early (1274) as the descendants of Radwan, a knight [more properly a 'rycerz' {German 'ritter'}] active a few decades earlier. ...' ."

Their original przydomek (surname) "Żądło" was first used without the topographic name "Dąbrowski" to distinguish the members of this branch of Radwans (sept) from other Radwans, and this continued for centuries. In 1727, a member of the family appears in the records as "Michał Żądło". Appearing in the records are also Adam Żądło and Kazimierz Żądło in the election of King Jan III Sobieski (1674).

Very poor members (Polish: "dość uboga") always existed in this line (Żądło-Dąbrowski) of Radwan noble families, and wealth came to other members (Polish: "Szlachta zamożna") (Latin: "bene natus possessionatus et dominus") only in certain periods (SEE: Estates of the Realm regarding wealth and nobility). The Żądło-Dąbrowskis never obtained very important offices or dignities, but in the years of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's existence (First Rzeczpospolita, or Rzeczpospolita szlachecka - Nobles' Commonwealth/Republic), they served as land bailiffs (komornictwami/princeps nobilitatis - formerly the Judge in boundary disputes), treasurers (skarbnikostwem), seneschal (wojskostwem/tribunus), sword-bearers (miecznikostwem), and pantlers (stolnikostwem). (See: Offices in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - District Offices.) Nor were they absent from the clergy. Mainly due to marriages, the family began expanding to other regions of the Commonwealth. One particular branch of this family at the end of the XVIII-century domiciled/settled in Volhynia/Wołyniu (currently part of Ukraine), where afterward Jarosław Dąbrowski was born.

Offices
Very high offices of the Polish crown were de facto "hereditary" and guarded by the magnateria of Poland, leaving the lower offices below for "middling" nobility ("the baronage" -- SEE: Offices in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for a sense of the hierarchy). The prestige of lower offices depended on the wealth of the region. The Masovia region of Poland had a long-standing reputation of being rather poor due to the condition of the soil.

Military

 * Józef Wacław Adam Stanisław Żądło-Dąbrowski z Dąbrówki h. Radwan, Army Lieutenant (Polish: poruchik)'' of troops in Gostynin, 1827


 * Tadeusz Jerzy Beniamin Żądło-Dąbrowski z Dąbrówki h. Radwan (1829 -- 1903), Army Major

Crown Officials

 * Mateusz Żądło-Dąbrowski, Land/Boundary Bailiff (Polish: komornik graniczny) of Warsaw, 1609
 * Mikołaj Żądło-Dąbrowski, Tribune (Polish: wojski) of Horodło, 1616
 * Jan Kazimierz Żądło-Dąbrowski, Treasurer (Polish: skarbnik) of Różan, 1688; elector in the election of Augustus II the Strong
 * Jan Żądło-Dąbrowski, Sword-bearer (Polish: miecznik) of Różan, 1674
 * Michał Ządło-Dąbrowski, Cup-bearer (Polish: cześnik) of Bracław, 1727
 * Piotr Żądło-Dąbrowski, Land/Boundary Bailiff (Polish: komornik) of Różan, Pantler (Polish: stolnik) of Wenden, 1767
 * Franciszek Żądło-Dąbrowski, Treasurer (Polish: skarbnik) of Różan, 1776
 * Stefan Żądło-Dąbrowski, Deputy District Judge (Polish: podsędek) of Różan, 1780
 * Jan Żądło-Dąbrowski, Instigator (modern equivalent: "state Prosecutor") -- Commission of National Education, 1784

Rome

 * Antoni Żądło-Dąbrowski, Canon (priest) -- Warsaw, 1792


 * Stefan (Klemens) Żądło-Dąbrowski z Dąbrówki h. Radwan (1869–1953), Benedictine Monk -- Lubiń

Origins of the Name
In Polish "dąb" means "oak." "Dąbrowa" means "oak forest," and "Dąbrowka" means "little oak forest" (or grove). In antiquity, the nobility used topographic surnames to identify themselves. The expression "z" (meaning "to," sometimes "at") plus the name of one's patrimony/estate carried the same prestige as "de" in French names such as "de Châtellerault", and "von" or "zu" in German names such as "von Weizsäcker" or "zu Rhein". In Polish "z Dąbrowka" and "Dąbrowski" mean the same thing: "of, from Dąbrowka.". More precisely than Hoffman, "z Dąbrowka" means owning the feudal patrimony/estate Dąbrowka, not necessarily originating from.

At least since the 17th century the surnames/cognomens of noble families became fixed and were inherited by following generations, remaining in that form until today. Prior to that time, a member of the family would be identified as "Jakób z Dąbrówki, herbu Radwan" (Jacob to/at Dąbrówki of the Clan Radwan Coat-of-Arms), or "Jakób z Dąbrówki, przydomkiem Żądło, herbu Radwan" (Jacob to/at [owning] Dąbrówki with the distinguishing name/surname Żądło of the Clan Radwan Coat-of-Arms), or "Jakób Żądło, herbu Radwan".

Connections to Joseph Conrad and the January 1863 Uprising
Jarosław Dąbrowski's and Teofil Dąbrowski's father was Wiktor Żądło-Dąbrowski of Dąbrówka, coat-of-arms Radwan, a non-land-owning noble living in Żytomierz, presently Ukraine. Their mother was Zofia née Falkenhagen-Zaleska. Their maternal uncle was esteemed economist Piotr Falkenhagen-Zaleski. Through Piotr's wife, Maria née Korzeniowska, the Żądło-Dąbrowskis became related to Polish-born English novelist Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad: Nałęcz Korzeniowski) (1857–1924). Joseph Conrad's father, Apollo Korzeniowski (1820-69), and Jarosław Dąbrowski were two of the leading figures of a secret City Committee in Warsaw, organized in October 1861 by the radical "Reds," whose purpose was to prepare an armed struggle for Polish national independence and social revolution. (See: January 1863 Uprising.)

Mansion/Manor Home (Dwór) in Michałowice, POLAND
The mansion/manor home (dwór) was designed by prominent architect TEODOR TALOWSKI (1857 - 1910) in a picturesque Historicism style for the Żądło-Dąbrowski z Dąbrówki h. Radwan family and built between 1892 and 1897. After being destroyed by fire in 1979, it was rebuilt in the years 1985 - 1990.

Twentieth Century
A contemporary Italian article written by Adriano Sofri and published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore on the web site of their magazine Panorama (Italian magazine), mentions the Radwan Żądło-Dąbrowskis living in Warszawa as "una nobile famiglia di Varsavia" (one noble family of Warsaw).