Six buildings designed or co-designed by him, including structures associated with Ukrainian modernism, have been listed as architectural monuments . St Nicholas’s Church in Kamensk , which he designed, is one of the most interesting examples of ecclesiastical architecture in what is now Left-Bank Ukraine.

Childhood and education

Marian Józef Zdzisław Charmański was born on 15 August 1859 in Vilnius , to the hereditary noble family of Edward Julian and Zofia Charmański . In 1858, his father, having graduated from the School of Civil Engineering in St Petersburg, was appointed as an assistant architect and assigned to work at the Yekaterinoslav Provincial Road and Construction Commission . Edward Charmański began his professional career at the lower levels of technical administration, and in 1875 he was appointed provincial architect.

Zdzisław began his secondary education at a four-year secondary school in Yekaterinoslav, whose curriculum did not qualify graduates for entry to higher education institutions. He therefore continued his education at the six-year Aleksandrovsk Real School, with an additional seventh year, situated in the district town of Krzemieńczuk in the Poltava Governorate. It is worth noting that he learnt to read and write in Polish at home, which proved useful to him later in life.

Between 1879 and 1885, like his father, he studied at the Institute of Civil Engineers. The young Zdzisław Charmański gained his first professional experience in Novocherkassk, the capital of the Don Army District in the south of the Russian Empire. It is interesting to note that he chose this city himself. It is difficult to say what motivated him in making this choice. All that is known is that on 17 September 1885, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire approved his application and appointed him to the post of junior engineer at the Ministry of War . From 2 January 1889, he served as senior engineer of the Construction Department of the Don Military District Administration in Novocherkassk. On 6 December 1887, by virtue of a supreme decree, he was awarded the rank of titular councillor. During his service in Novocherkassk, he oversaw the construction and renovation of various official buildings, prisons, hospitals and Orthodox churches.

Kharkiv: his career as an engineer and the modernisation of the city

On 7 September 1890, he was appointed to the post of junior engineer at the Kharkiv Provincial Administration. Between 1895 and 1917, he worked as a provincial engineer for the Kharkiv Provincial Zemstvo Administration and managed the technical department of the City Council. It is worth noting that in the summer of 1908, the local press referred to him as the “architect of the Provincial Land Administration”.

Zdzisław Charmański contributed his knowledge and experience to the development of Kharkiv, enjoying considerable authority. Between 1906 and 1917, he was repeatedly elected as a councillor to the Kharkiv City Council . Between 1906 and 1912, he served as a councillor on the Kharkiv City Duma .

He was involved in the work of various committees of the Kharkiv Provincial Land Board and the Municipal Council. As chairman or a member of these bodies, he took part in initiatives aimed at raising the standard of living of the city’s inhabitants to levels comparable with those of European capitals at the time. Between 1910 and 1917, he worked on municipal committees of strategic importance for Kharkiv’s development : the water supply, tramway, sewerage and street paving committees. On matters relating to urban development, he was frequently sent abroad or to St Petersburg, where he held discussions with government institutions of the Russian Empire. It can be assumed that he combined technical expertise with the diplomatic skills required for negotiations at a high administrative level.

Between 1910 and 1917, he was involved in the work of the City Duma’s standing committee on water supply systems. From 1911, he chaired the committee on the paving of the city’s streets and oversaw a project that covered all districts of what was then Kharkiv.

Zdzisław Charmański’s work on the committee for the construction of the sewerage network in Kharkiv, to which he was appointed chairman on 5 May 1911, was of great, indeed particular, significance for the city’s development. In order to learn from the experiences of European cities, he undertook several foreign study visits. On 24 April 1911, together with engineer Czerkies, he attended a ‘water supply’ conference in Warsaw. This trip, as reported by the newspaper *Jużnyj kraj* of 22 April 1911, was directly linked to the planned construction of a sewerage system in Kharkiv, as, in addition to taking part in the proceedings, Charmanski had the opportunity to familiarise himself with the “Warsaw sewerage system”. At the turn of April and May 1911, with the consent of the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire, he inspected sewerage systems in Germany, France and Great Britain, including in Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Dresden, Paris and London. In early February 1914, following another five-day visit to Warsaw, undertaken to deepen his knowledge of the operation of the local sewerage system, he gave an extensive interview to the local press. It is reasonable to assume that the contacts he established with his Polish colleagues later enabled him to travel to Warsaw in 1919 and , with their support, to find employment. Towards the end of July 1914, thanks – one might say – to the titanic efforts of Zdzisław Charmański, the complex sewerage system in Kharkiv was completed. Its official opening was due to take place at the beginning of August that year. On 1 August, the First World War broke out and the event was postponed.

Charmański also took part in the work of the committee responsible for the expansion of the city’s tram network, which frequently addressed issues relating to the laying of tram tracks at meetings of the Technical City Council.

In February and March 1912–1913, Zdzisław Charmański, a ‘member of the City Council’, just as Bolesław Michałowski had done previously, chaired the temporary municipal flood prevention committee . He was also very active and involved in a wide range of activities within special committees, including: the committee for the construction of the Red Cross outpatient clinic (1906), on the construction of the Kharkiv Municipal Merchants’ Bank (1908), on the construction of the municipal pawnbroker’s (1908), on the construction of barracks for sappers on Sumska Street in Kharkiv (1910), on sanitation (1910), on the construction of the secondary school building, the so-called ‘složne učilishče’ (1911), as well as on the competition committee assessing designs for transformer boxes to be installed on the city’s streets and squares.

He served as chairman of several special committees. One of these was the committee established in 1913–1914 to investigate underground passages beneath the city’s Old Town. He also supervised the construction of bridges, assessed their technical condition and dealt with other issues relating to road and water infrastructure.

Zdzisław Charmański was involved in a number of projects aimed at the development of the town . For example, on 22 January 1904, he took part in a meeting devoted to the pressing issue of the construction of a market in the city’s central trading square, namely Blagoveshchensk Market. The meeting was chaired by Mayor Aleksander Pogorielko and attended by councillors of the City Duma and invited experts.

Alongside his professional and design work , Charmański was also involved in teaching . From 1911, he lectured at the Emperor Alexander III Kharkiv Institute of Technology. Initially, he taught a course in architectural drawing to first-year students in two academic groups, and from 1914 he also taught architectural design to second-year students.

During his time in Kharkiv, Zdzisław Charmański was an active participant in the city’s social life . He was elected an honorary member of the Kharkiv Provincial Board of Trustees for Children’s Homes under the Patronage of Empress Maria, and a member of the city council of the Red Cross Society. It is worth noting that by May 1911 he was already a member of the Society’s welfare committee. He was also a member of the Kharkiv Branch of the Imperial Russian Technical Society. Towards the end of February 1914, together with other councillors, he submitted a report to the City Duma assembly supporting the initiative of the Kharkiv Agricultural Society to establish a Higher Agricultural School, securing funding for its establishment and obtaining assistance from the local authorities. However, the First World War prevented the realisation of this and other projects.

Charmański was also involved in the establishment of the School of Fine Arts, which, with his support, was built in Kharkiv to a design by the architect Konstantin Zhukov, in the Ukrainian folk style. In early May 1911, as a representative of the City Council, he was elected a member of the School of Fine Arts’ Board of Trustees. He found himself among a group of well-known activists, artists and university professors. Among them were, amongst others, Professors Dmytro Bagalij and Mykola Sumtsov, the artists Mykola Uvarov and Serhiy Vasylykivsky, the social activist Serhiy Rajesky, the Marshal of the Provincial Nobility Aleksander Golitsyn, and another Polish architect – Wiktor Wieliczko.

He served as the churchwarden of the local Roman Catholic church . From 1907, he was a candidate for the position of parish warden, and was also among the founders and members of the social organisation Polski Dom , which served as the centre of Polish social and cultural life in the town. He built its headquarters, which were funded by donors. Some of them made very generous donations. ‘Polski Dom’ was officially opened on 30 October 1908. On 27 December 1909, a meeting was held for those interested in membership of Polski Dom. Jan Wilga was elected chairman, and the board included, amongst others, Zdzisław Charmański and Robert Kunicki, a lecturer at the Veterinary Institute.

10 January 1911 marked the 15th anniversary of Zdzisław Charmański taking up the post of provincial agricultural engineer. To mark the occasion, his colleagues sent a congratulatory telegram to Italy, where he was on holiday at the time: “We extend our warmest greetings to the highly esteemed Zdzisław Julianowicz on the occasion of this momentous fifteenth anniversary of his service. We sincerely hope that your warm regard for us will continue for many, many years to come.”

For his service , he was honoured with numerous awards, including the Order of St Stanislaus, 3rd class, the Order of St Anne, 3rd class, and a silver medal commemorating the reign of Emperor Alexander III. He also held the titles of collegiate assessor and court councillor.

In his private life, he experienced a series of tragedies linked to the deaths of loved ones, and his flight to Warsaw in 1919, following the entry of Bolshevik troops into the city, also took its toll on Charmański’s health and peace of mind. During his time in Kharkiv, he was married twice . Both wives died: the first in 1913, the second in 1918, leaving him three children . With his first wife, Varvara Yevgenyevna, the daughter of a Roman Catholic collegiate counsellor, he had a son, Viktor, born on 14 February 1894. The godfather of Charmanski’s first-born son was his ‘close friend’ Bolesław Michałowski.

From his marriage to his second wife, Maria Frolowa, he had two daughters: Zofia ( 1914–2001) and Ewa ( 1916–1942). The Charmański family lived in a single-storey house at No. 70 – which no longer stands today – built by the head of the family on the corner of Puszkińska and Jumowska Streets.

Warsaw and Vilnius: a return and the final stage of his career

In early 1919, the world as the 60-year-old Zdzisław Charmański had known it fell apart. Kharkiv, following yet another change of regime – the third since 1917 – was occupied by Bolshevik troops. Charmański left behind in the city everything that had made up his life up to that point: his job, the career he had built, social recognition, friends, his family home and his parents’ graves. With his children , he set out on a journey of exile to Warsaw, towards his historical homeland. Born far from it, amidst the Bolshevik aggression against the Ukrainian People’s Republic, he could not come to terms with the political and social system imposed by the new authorities. At that time, many Poles were leaving Ukrainian towns under the control of the Red Army. An important question remains as to how Charmański managed to organise a new life after severing all ties with his former reality.

His time in Warsaw proved to be much easier in terms of adaptation than for many other Poles returning to their homeland during those difficult times. How Zdzisław Charmański secured employment as an engineer in various institutions remains an unanswered question. It is possible that he made use of the contacts he had established during business trips to Warsaw whilst living in Kharkiv. He worked as a road engineer for the Warsaw County. He was a member of the Association of Road Engineers of the Ministry of Public Works. It is known that on 29 September 1922 he submitted an application for recognition of Polish citizenship. In the same year, his professional career reached a new stage – he took up the post of director of a technical college in Vilnius. It is not known for certain whether he was involved in architectural practice during his brief stay in Warsaw. It can be assumed that he focused his energy primarily on technical and administrative work .

In November 1922, he was appointed the first director of the State Technical School in Vilnius . He contributed to the organisation and development of the school, which during the Second Polish Republic became a leading technical university in Vilnius and one of the largest institutions of its kind in the country. One of his first tasks was to find a building for the college, which initially had no permanent premises. Another important area of his work was organising the school’s academic and teaching activities , ensuring suitable working conditions for lecturers and creating appropriate learning conditions for students. Between 1922 and 1924, he simultaneously served as head of two departments: Mechanical Engineering and Civil Engineering. He was also a well-known and respected figure amongst Vilnius’s intellectual circles.

In his personal life, the 63-year-old Charmański found new love . She was the 42-year-old Maria Downarowicz . On 13 March 1923, they were married at the parish office of St Alexander’s in Warsaw. In Vilnius, the Charmański family lived at 11a–15 Rzeczna Street.

On 6 August 1925, Zdzisław Charmański died suddenly. He was buried at the Rossa Cemetery in Vilnius. He is remembered by his colleagues and pupils as an “energetic headteacher devoted to the cause of vocational education”, as well as the “first headteacher and founder of the State Technical School”.

Architectural legacy: from historicism to Ukrainian modernism

The most significant phase of Zdzisław Charmański’s architectural career was his time in Kharkiv, during which he produced the majority of his works. Towards the end of the 19th century, he undertook numerous private commissions , although not all of these projects have survived to the present day. He designed both independently and in collaboration with other Kharkiv architects. With his involvement , nearly twenty buildings of various purposes were erected in the city , six of which are now listed as architectural monuments. His buildings stood out against the backdrop of the city’s built environment at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and are now scattered throughout the urban landscape of Kharkiv.

Two distinct periods can be identified in Zdzisław Charmański’s architectural work . Towards the end of the 19th century, he undertook many private commissions , though not all of the buildings have survived to this day. Initially, he employed the styles of Neoclassicism, Neo-Baroque and Neo-Renaissance . In his works from the early 20th century , however , the Art Nouveau style became evident , characterised by a relatively restrained use of detail, as well as early modernist elements and motifs associated with the national movement known as ‘Ukrainian Art Nouveau’ .

Among the first administrative buildings he designed in Kharkiv were: the hospital and isolation cells at Kharkiv Prison (1890–1892), the conversion of the orphanage building at 24 Pushkinska Street, and the construction of Moisey Fabrykant’s private hospital at 5 Teatralny Lane.

From the late 19th century, Charmański undertook numerous private commissions, although not all of the buildings have survived to the present day. The construction of the stone grandstands at the trotting racecourse, built using brick and concrete, was completed in June 1914. It was a multi-storey structure, housing a spacious hall with betting counters inside. The stands at the Kharkiv racecourse, built in the Neo-Romantic style, were considered a jewel of Kharkiv and one of the finest structures of its kind. Today, the site is a monument of local significance (1 May Square 2).

Among the public buildings, it is worth noting the building of the Russian-American Rubber Manufactory ‘Triangle’ Trading Society , erected in 1910 at 35 Poltavskyi Shlach Street. Among the residential buildings, the Nieroslev House with its shop at 55 Poltavskyi Shlach Street, completed in 1914, is particularly noteworthy.

Between 1909 and 1911, Charmański turned for the first time to the Ukrainian Art Nouveau movement, designing – also for the first time in his career – a complex of buildings for scientific and experimental purposes, namely the Kharkiv Agricultural Selection Station at 142 Bohaterów Charkowa Avenue . The design of this complex was a joint venture with the Ukrainian architect Eugeniusz Serdiuk ( 1876–1921), regarded as one of the founders of Ukrainian architectural modernism. According to the Kharkiv architectural historian Denys Vitchenko, it was Serdiuk who proposed the stylistic design of the complex, whilst Charmański took charge of the structural aspects of the project and handled the formalities with the city council.

Zdzisław Charmański designed St Nicholas’ Church in Kamensk , which is now regarded as one of the most beautiful examples of sacred architecture in the Neo-Gothic style in Left-Bank Ukraine. The architect received an invitation from Ignacy Jasiukowicz, director of the South Russian Dnieper Metallurgical Society in Kamensk, known as the “Ukrainian Henry Ford”. The church was built thanks to the generosity of its patron, Jasiukowicz, and local Poles, employees of the South Russian Dnieper Metallurgical Society, in a very short space of time – between 1895 and 1897. It was built from yellow brick imported from Kyiv, modelled on a Gothic fortress cathedral, with buttresses along the side façades and pointed-arch windows.

Zdzisław Charmański lived in Kharkiv for 29 years, gaining a reputation there as a talented architect, a responsible civil servant and an active participant in the life of the city and the local Polish community. He was a hard-working civil servant and an efficient organiser of technical education, but it was precisely his time in Kharkiv that allowed him to fully reveal his talent as an architect. His buildings represent an interesting chapter in the history of urban construction of that era. They were constructed in accordance with the principles of a new philosophy emerging in Europe at the time – modernism incorporating national characteristics, in this case Ukrainian architectural modernism.