Zygmunt Stankiewicz was born in Bialystok in 1914 into an aristocratic family with Polish-Lithuanian roots. His father, Jan Stankiewicz of the Mogiła coat of arms, ran a horse farm and was a member of the Bialystok City Board. His mother was Franciszka of Cudowscy of the Leliwa coat of arms. He had five brothers and four sisters.

After primary school, he continued his education at the Teacher Training College, where, between 1930 and 1936, he studied sculpture and graphics under Józef Blicharski. He received his diploma in 1936. He then attended the School of Reserve Cadets 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 the unit was disbanded, he was captured by the Soviet army. He saved himself from being sent to Siberia by jumping out of a train. He returned to Bialystok, but in the face of danger he began the "Gehenna of the war journey" (he described his wandering in detail in his book The Aristocracy of the Spirit). On 2 January 1940, he reached France, where he joined the 6th Borderland Foot Rifle Regiment (part of the 2nd Foot Rifle Division under the command of Brigadier-General Bronisław Prugar-Ketling; the same division included the artist-sculptor Maciej Piotrowski, who studied sculpture under Stankiewicz). After fighting at, among other places, Verdun, in 1940, he and his division were interned in Switzerland and stayed in the camp at Winterthur.

During the years of internment (1941-1945), he became Professor Gisler's assistant at the Faculty of Architecture at the Zurich University of Technology (ETH Zurich) and taught architecture in the Polish camp. He also created illustrations for the "Gniec Obozowy". Together with Jan Lewiński and Tadeusz Kaden-Fuss, he tried to escape from the camp so that he could join his fighting compatriots. The escape attempt ended in his detention and arrest for 4.5 months.

Despite the traumas and tormenting nightmares of his war experiences, he found peace in sculpture and spiritual pursuits (he practised yoga and also explored the Catholic faith). "I sculpted by drawing and painting, mainly portraits. This work gave me confidence." In 1942, he designed and made the white marble altar and the oak reliefs on the entrance door of the Polish chapel in Zuchwil (the architect of the chapel was Jan Lewiński, and the artists who worked on the interior decoration were those who had been in the Winterthur internment camp: Tadeusz Fuss-Kaden (1914-1985), Zbigniew Bem (1917-2018), Paweł Polachowski (1917-1991), and Tadeusz Tomaszewski (1913-?)). Works such as the stone sculpture "Silence" ("Stille", 1943) and the wooden "Sufferer" ("Leidende", 1943)

also date from this period. After the war, in 1946, he took up the post of director of the Polish Museum in Rapperswil, but resigned after three years in protest at the changes to the institution imposed by the then Polish government.

Shortly before resigning from his post, Stankiewicz married the Swiss Catherine von Ernst (29.05.1924-15.12.2016), daughter of a banking tycoon from a respectable Swiss family and heiress to the castle in Mura bei Bern (Stankiewicz married Catherine in 1947. They had four children: Lucja (b.1949), twins Antoni and Thomas (b.1951) and Anna (1962), who now owns the castle in Muri bei Bern). This was a time when Stankiewicz was able to focus on his artistic work. The sculptures made of stone come from this period: "Selflessness" ("Selbstlosigkeit", 1949), "Honesty" ("Ehrlichkeit", 1949), "Listen" ("Horchen", 1949), "Change" ("Änderung", 1949), and a bust of his wife.

In the following years, 1949-1953 to be exact, Stankiewicz was employed as a worker in a lighting factory, where he pushed his designs for new industrial forms. He also proposed to set up a branch, which he could manage and use his creative potential. However, Staniewicz's ideas and initiative never received recognition. 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 we read in the catalogue of the company's lamps, "Stankiewicz belongs to the circle of artists in William Morris's circle who do not regard designing everyday objects, that is, giving these objects perfection of form, as something beneath their dignity". The company, which was initially based in his room, soon began to enjoy considerable success primarily in France and Germany.

In 1955, Stankiewicz founded the Polish Historical Museum, which was housed in the rooms of the Muri Castle. His idea was to create a bridge between Poland and the countries of the free West and to "highlight the achievements of our nation, following the path of freedom and justice towards true democracy". The museum consisted of the private collections of the artist (these were mainly iconographies, cartographies, numismatics and militaria), who over the years had collected artefacts of Polishness during numerous trips, auctions, visits to antique shops or thanks to donations. One of the most important donations was the Papal Insignia used by John Paul II during his pilgrimage to Cuba in 1998. Unfortunately, the museum closed in 2017 and the collection was sold off at auction.

Stankiewicz was also the initiator and founder of the Institute for the Study of World Issues, founded in 1978. "In order to give the right direction to socio-political activity, I founded the Institute (...) as a forum for the discussion of the analysis of the creative achievements of the Polish Nation against the background of the world situation in the construction of the future community of nations". The Institute regularly organised international scientific symposia (the Institute's College was composed of professors and scholars of many prestigious universities from Poland and Europe, such as Jerzy Giedroyc, Janusz Rakowski, Prof. Edward Szczepaniak, Prof. Jeanne Hersch, Prof. Walter Hofel, Prof. Norman Davis and Willy Linder), which took place in the rooms of the castle inhabited by the Stankiewicz family and dealt with Polish and European issues, with particular emphasis on the promotion of ideas of freedom.

In addition, he held numerous cultural and diplomatic posts: in 1986-1989 he was a delegate for special assignments on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Polish Government in Exile in London, a member of the Patronage of the Polish Cultural Foundation "Libertas" in Rapperswil, a member of the Kosciuszko Society in Solura, and a member of the Board of the Kosciuszko Museum.

Stankiewicz's artistic activity
Stankiewicz, who at the beginning of his artistic work made his sculptures in stone and wood, began to explore the potential of this material after learning about the metals used in the production of lighting. The sculptor was particularly interested in technical solutions that allowed the metal to be shaped without losing its strength. Contours, curves, sinuosities as well as spatial effects, the creation of form (or better, anti-form), became the core of Stankiewicz's sculptures. As the artist himself admits, "for my sculptures I usually use spatial compositions: circles, ellipses, cuboids in various opposing arrangements". An example of this is, realised between 1963 and 1965, the monument to General Langiewicz in Grenchen, depicting a Polish eagle engulfed in fire. Other frequently recurring elements in Stankiewicz's work were geometric forms: circles, squares, shapes that he called archetypes. ('Ring-cube' 'Ring-cubus', 1973).

Worth noting were the urban design projects of the 1970s, which were intended to explore the concept of the 'city above the city'. One such project is an aluminium triangular-shaped 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, while at the same time enabling 'the coexistence of people with each other in dense human communities'.

The artist also created his own principle of proportion based on sine, cosine, tangent, 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 are reminiscent of human communities that want to grow, to develop, to introduce a positive attitude, a state in which each member can no longer exist without the other. They are reminiscent of the structure of the family, in which there is room for young and old. In this community, a sense of responsibility can also grow and, as in a family, it is painful when someone is taken from it." Examples of such compositions include: "Family" ("Familie", 1964), "Unity" ("Einigkeit"), "Growth" ("Wachstum"), "Society" (Gesellschaft), "Development" (Entwicklung"), "Cain und Abel, 1964", "Fire of Freedom" ("Freiheitsfeuer", 1964), "Man and Woman" ("Mann und Frau", 1964).

Stankiewicz also believed that the role of the artist in society is to change intellectual attitudes. The artist has a responsibility to society at large because the artistic medium he or she uses serves as a means of conveying and interpreting ideas. Art, Stankiewicz notes, has been used as a tool of ideology and politics, so it is in the interest of all people who value freedom to understand the role of art and the artist.

"I believe that the task of the artist is to stimulate confrontational and creative thinking in order to give birth to a new, future, continually reborn community, intended to include all peoples and races." And in another place he adds:

"The artist thus becomes a staunch freedom fighter. Every form of power stands in his way; he dreams of a society without borders".

During his life, Stankiewicz took part in numerous exhibitions both in Switzerland and abroad. Some of the more important ones include:
4th Schweizer Plastikausstellung (Biel, 11.06.-25.07.1966), Kunsthalle (Bern, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976), XXIII Salon de la Jeune Sculpture (Paris, 1971, 1972), 27eme Salon des Realites Nouvelles (Paris, 1973, 1974), Foire Internationale d'art. Cologne (Cologne, 1975), ART Kunstmesse Basel (Basel, 1975, 1976, 1978).

In addition, from 1968 Stankiewicz was a member of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers and of the Swiss Association of Painters, Sculptors and Architects (GSMBA), while from 1970 to 1974 he sat on its board of directors. He was also a member of the Kunstgesellschaft Museum in Bern, as well as a full member of the International Association for Aesthetics in New York and the Federation Internationale des Societes de Philosophie in Montreal.

Zygmunt Stankiewicz died in 2010 at the age of 96. He was called a tireless ambassador of Polishness. His activities were closely linked to political-artistic-philosophical issues. This is evidenced by his numerous symposia, manuscripts, lectures, essays and publications.

He was awarded, among others, the Knight's Cross, the Golden Cross of Merit, the Polish Army Medal and many others. On 10 November 1995, Lech Wałęsa awarded the couple the Commander's Cross of the Order of Rebirth of Poland.

News about the artist can be found in the books: Weg, Wandlung, Licht, Form (Bern, 1973), 'Stankiewicz: Schöpfung 1000 Creation' (Warsaw, 1999), 'Aristocracy of the Spirit. From Family Community to World Community. Conversations with the sculptor and philosopher Zygmunt Stankiewicz" (Białystok, 2003). In 2006, a documentary film was made about him, "Ambasador polskości", directed by Beata Hyży-Czołpińska.

Most of the materials on Stankiewicz's life and activities are held in the Burgerbibliothek in Bern. They were donated by the artist's wife in 2011.