Kazimierz Strzemię-Marszynski (1887-1980) - during World War I, a career officer in the Russian army (cornet/sub-lieutenant), in 1917 he left the Russian army and joined the Polish lancer squadron at Nachpol in Petrograd. In November 1918, he joined the Polish Army. In 1925, he was promoted to the rank of rotamaster. In 1929 he retired to civilian life and became president of the War Invalids Association. Re-enlisted in the army in March 1939, he fought in the defensive war. Under Soviet occupation, he worked as a teacher and was active in the underground. In September 1944, he joined the PKWN, became an army inspector and deputy commander of the 1st Polish Army for line affairs, with a simultaneous promotion to brigadier general. In 1945-47 he was arrested and interrogated by Military Information. In IX 1948 he regained the rank of general, and in December of that year retired to civilian life. He was decorated many times - from the tsarist army to the LWP.
Handwritten dedication in pen(which reads: To the highly esteemed Mr. Gracjan Lepianka. To the doctor of delicate, fragile shells and age-old soul of silent witnesses of our past, scrupulously hiding romanticism and past concerns, I wish to express my great respect and wishes for further work full of pietism and poetry. Warsaw, 16.XI.1969. K. Strzemię-Marszynski brig. gen. retired.) under a photograph measuring 9.2 x 6.1 cm, pasted on a sheet measuring 20 x 15 cm, on the verso of which is a stamp: Gabinet for the Repair of Works of Art and Artistic Objects Gracjan Lepianko Warsaw, Krak.-Przedm. 10.
Condition: sheet with minor creases, soiling, photograph unevenly cut, with minor scratches, rubbing, surface soiling and slightly damaged margins.
Gracjan Lep ianko (1905 - 15 V 1991) - Warsaw restorer who ran the Gabinet for the Repair of Works of Art and Artistic Objects at 10 Krakowskie Przedmieście Street for several decades. He graduated from the Schools of Drawing and Painting at 9 Wierzbowa Street, the School of Applied Art at Chmielna Street and the School of Decorative Arts at Myśliwiecka Street, obtaining the title of master decorative painter and master of artistic metal products. He began studying at the Academy of Fine Arts, but the financial situation forced him to interrupt his studies and take up a job. He became self-employed in 1931 and changed locations several times(before, 1952, he ended up in Krakowskie Przedmieście). He was passionate about sports, training amateur boxing and wrestling. During World War II, a passion for reviving "dead"/destroyed objects awoke in him. He not only repaired but also collected antiques. After the war he became very popular, there were films about him, mentions in the press and guidebooks. Visited by numerous celebrities(of many fields), who sometimes left commemorative entries.
