Zygmunt Stankiewicz was born in Białystok in 1914 into an aristocratic family of Polish-Lithuanian descent. His father, Jan Stankiewicz of the Mogiła coat of arms, ran a horse breeding farm and was a member of the Białystok City Council. His mother was Franciszka, née Cudowska, of the Leliwa coat of arms. He had five brothers and four sisters.

After completing primary school, he continued his education at the Teacher Training College, where, between 1930 and 1936, he studied sculpture and printmaking under the guidance of Józef Blicharski. He graduated in 1936. He then attended the Reserve Officer Cadet School in Grodno.

When the Second World War broke out, he took part in the September Campaign, during which he defended Białystok at Wysoki Stoczek. After his unit was disbanded, he was captured by the Soviet army. He escaped deportation to Siberia by jumping off the train. He returned to Białystok, but faced with danger, he embarked on the “ordeal of a wartime journey” (he described his wanderings in detail in the book *Arystokracja ducha*). On 2 January 1940, he reached France, where he joined the 6th Kresy Infantry Regiment (part of the 2nd Infantry Division under the command of Brigadier General Bronisław Prugar-Ketling; the same division included the artist and sculptor Maciej Piotrowski, who had studied sculpture under Stankiewicz’s tutelage). After fighting in places such as Verdun, in 1940 he and his unit were interned in Switzerland and held in a camp in Winterthur.

During his years of internment (1941–1945), he became an assistant to Professor Gisler at the Faculty of Architecture of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) and lectured on architecture at the Polish camp. He also produced illustrations for *Goniec Obozowy*. Together with Jan Lewiński and Tadeusz Kaden-Fuss, he attempted to escape from the camp in order to join his compatriots who were fighting. The escape attempt ended in his capture and imprisonment for 4½ months.

Despite the trauma and tormenting nightmares stemming from his wartime experiences, he found peace in sculpture and spiritual pursuits (he practised yoga and also explored the Catholic faith). “I sculpted, drew and painted, mainly portraits. This work gave me self-confidence.” In 1942, he designed and crafted a white marble altar and oak reliefs on the entrance doors of the Polish chapel in Zuchwil (the chapel was designed by Jan Lewiński; the interior decoration was carried out by artists held in the Winterthur internment camp: Tadeusz Fuss-Kaden (1914–1985), Zbigniew Bem (1917–2018), Paweł Polachowski (1917–1991) and Tadeusz Tomaszewski (1913–?)). Works from this period also include the stone sculpture ‘Silence’ (‘Stille’, 1943) and the wooden sculpture ‘The Suffering One’ (‘Leidende’, 1943)

After the war, in 1946, he took up the post of director of the Polish Museum in Rapperswil; however, after three years, he resigned from his post in protest against changes to the institution imposed by the Polish government of the time.

Shortly before resigning from his post, Stankiewicz married the Swiss national Catherine von Ernst (29 May 1924–15 December 2016), the daughter of a banking magnate from a distinguished Swiss family and heiress to the castle in Mura near Bern (Stankiewicz married Catherine in 1947). They had four children: Lucja (born 1949), the twins Antoni and Tomasz (born 1951) and Anna (1962), who is now the owner of the castle in Muri bei Bern). This was a time when Stankiewicz was able to focus on his artistic work. The stone sculptures from this period include: ‘Selflessness’ (‘Selbstlosigkeit’, 1949), ‘Honesty’ (“Ehrlichkeit”, 1949), “Listening” (“Horchen”, 1949), “Change” (“Änderung”, 1949), and a bust of his wife.

In the following years, specifically from 1949 to 1953, Stankiewicz was employed as a labourer in a lighting factory, where he pushed for his designs for new industrial forms. He also proposed setting up a department which he could manage and where he could utilise his creative potential. However, Stankiewicz’s ideas and initiative were never recognised. Finally, in 1954, the artist and his wife decided to set up their own lighting company, ‘Licht und Form’, which he ran continuously until 1990. As stated in the company’s lamp catalogue, ‘Stankiewicz belongs to the circle of artists associated with William Morris who do not consider the design of everyday objects – that is, the pursuit of formal perfection in these objects – to be beneath their dignity’. The company, which was initially based in his bedroom, soon began to enjoy considerable success, particularly in France and Germany.

In 1955, Stankiewicz founded the Polish Historical Museum, which was housed in the Muri Castle. The artist’s vision was to build a bridge between Poland and the free Western nations and to “highlight the achievements of our nation, which is following the path of freedom and justice towards true democracy”. The museum consisted of the artist’s private collection (primarily iconography, cartography, numismatics and military artefacts), which he had built up over the years by collecting artefacts symbolising Polish identity during his numerous travels, at auctions, in antique shops and through donations. One of the most significant donations was the Papal Insignia, which John Paul II had worn during his pilgrimage to Cuba in 1998. Unfortunately, in 2017 the museum was closed and the collections were sold off at auction.

Stankiewicz was also the initiator and founder of the Institute for the Study of Global Issues, established in 1978. “In order to set the right direction for socio-political activity, I founded the Institute (…) as a forum for discussion and analysis of the creative achievements of the Polish nation against the backdrop of the global situation in the building of a future community of nations.” The Institute regularly organised international academic symposia (the Institute’s academic council comprised professors and scholars from many prestigious universities in Poland and across Europe, such as Jerzy Giedroyc, Janusz Rakowski, Prof. Edward Szczepaniak, Prof. Jeanne Hersch, Prof. Walter Hofel, Prof. Norman Davis and Willy Linder), which were held on the premises of the castle inhabited by the Stankiewicz family and addressed Polish and European issues, with particular emphasis on promoting the ideals of freedom.

Furthermore, he held numerous cultural and diplomatic posts: between 1986 and 1989, he served as a delegate for special assignments on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Polish Government-in-Exile in London; he was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Polish Cultural Foundation ‘Libertas’ in Rapperswil, a member of the Kościuszko Society in Solothurn, and a member of the board of the Kościuszko Museum.

Stankiewicz’s artistic work
Stankiewicz, who in the early stages of his artistic career created his sculptures in stone and wood, began to explore the potential of metal after becoming familiar with the metals used in the production of lighting. The sculptor was particularly interested in technical solutions that allowed metal to be shaped without losing its strength. Roundedness, curves, sinusoids, as well as spatial effects and the creation of form (or rather anti-form) became the core of Stankiewicz’s sculptures. As the artist himself admitted, “in my sculptures I most often use spatial compositions: circles, ellipses and cubes in various contrasting arrangements”. One example is the monument to General Langiewicz in Grenchen, created between 1963 and 1965, depicting the Polish eagle engulfed in flames. Another frequently recurring element in Stankiewicz’s work was geometric forms: circles, squares – shapes which he referred to as archetypes. (‘Ring-cube’, 1973).

Also worth noting were the urban planning projects from the 1970s, which sought to explore the concept of a ‘city above the city’. One such project is a triangular aluminium structure suspended 460 metres above Bern. This new city was intended to offer residential platforms without interfering with the existing urban fabric of the Swiss capital, whilst at the same time enabling ‘people to coexist in densely populated communities’.

The artist also devised his own principle of proportion based on the sine, cosine and tangent functions, which was more organic and harmonious than the ‘golden ratio’. In his book *Weg, Wandlung, Licht, Form*, he wrote the following about his concept:

‘For me, my proportions resemble human communities that wish to grow, develop and foster a positive attitude – a state in which no member can exist without the other. They resemble the structure of a family, in which there is room for both the young and the old. In this community, a sense of responsibility can also grow, and, just as in a family, it is painfully felt when someone is taken away from it.” Examples of such compositions include: ‘Family’ (“Familie”, 1964), “Unity” (“Einigkeit”), “Growth” (“Wachstum”), “Society” (“Gesellschaft”), “Development” (Entwicklung), ‘Cain and Abel, 1964’, ‘Fire of Freedom’ (‘Freiheitsfeuer’, 1964), ‘Man and Woman’ (‘Mann und Frau’, 1964).

Stankiewicz also believed that the artist’s role in society is to change intellectual attitudes. The artist has a responsibility towards society as a whole, because the artistic medium they employ serves as a means of communicating and interpreting ideas. Art, as Stankiewicz observes, has been used as a tool of ideology and politics; therefore, it is in the interests of all people who value freedom to understand the role of art and the artist.

“I believe that the artist’s task is to stimulate confrontational and creative thinking with a view to the birth of a new, future, constantly reborn community, intended to encompass all nations and races.” And elsewhere he adds:

“The artist thus becomes a staunch fighter for freedom. Every form of authority stands in his way; he dreams of a society without borders.”

Throughout his life, Stankiewicz took part in numerous exhibitions both in Switzerland and abroad. Among the most significant were:
4th Swiss Sculpture Exhibition (Biel, 11 June–25 July 1966), Kunsthalle (Bern, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976), XXIII Salon de la Jeune Sculpture (Paris, 1971, 1972), 27th Salon des Réalités Nouvelles (Paris, 1973, 1974), Foire Internationale d’art. Cologne (Cologne, 1975), ART Kunstmesse Basel (Basel, 1975, 1976, 1978).

Furthermore, from 1968, Stankiewicz was a member of the Association of Polish Fine Artists and the Swiss Association of Painters, Sculptors and Architects (GSMBA), and served on its executive committee from 1970 to 1974. He was also a member of the Kunstgesellschaft Museum in Bern, as well as an ordinary member of the International Association for Aesthetics in New York and the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie in Montreal.

Zygmunt Stankiewicz died in 2010 at the age of 96. He was known as a tireless ambassador of Polish culture. His work was closely linked to political, artistic and philosophical issues. This is evidenced by his numerous symposia, manuscripts, lectures, essays and publications.

He was awarded, amongst other honours, the Knight’s Cross, the Gold Cross of Merit, the Polish Army Medal and many others. On 10 November 1995, Lech Wałęsa presented the couple with the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.

Information about the artist can be found in the books: *Weg, Wandlung, Licht, Form* (Bern, 1973), ‘Stankiewicz: Schöpfung 1000 Tworzenie’ (Warsaw, 1999), “The Aristocracy of the Spirit. From the Family Community to the Global Community. Conversations with the sculptor and philosopher Zygmunt Stankiewicz” (Białystok, 2003). In 2006, a documentary film about him, “Ambasador polskości”, was directed by Beata Hyży-Czołpińska.

Most of the material concerning Stankiewicz’s life and work is held at the Burgerbibliothek in Bern. It was donated by the artist’s wife in 2011.