The old Christian cemetery in Chernivtsi fortunately survived without major damage the difficult post-war years, when Bukovina was part of the USSR. From the point of view of the history of the city and the whole region, one of the most important places in this necropolis is the tomb of the Kochanowski family. The long-time mayor of the city and "father of modern Chernivtsi"- Antoni Kochanowski- rests here.

Old Christian Cemetery in Chernivtsi
The cemetery complex of Chernivtsi was established in the 1860s at the eastern end of the city, between the then suburbs of Kalichanka and Horecha. On one side of the Green Street (in Austrian and Romanian times - Cmentarna Street) there is the old Jewish cemetery, above which a magnificent pre-burial house from the beginning of the 20th century towers. On the other side of the street is the Christian cemetery, where for more than 150 years inhabitants of Chernivtsi of different nationalities (mainly Ukrainians, Poles, Romanians and Germans) and denominations (Roman, Armenian and Greek rite Catholics, Orthodox and Evangelicals) have been buried.

In its oldest part, which includes burials from before the Second World War, gravestones with inscriptions in German, Polish, Romanian and Ukrainian predominate. Inscriptions in several languages on one tomb are a frequent phenomenon, reflecting mixed marriages and the adoption of different national identities within one family. Thus, the cemetery is an extremely interesting testimony to the history of Chernivtsi, a city where, until the 1940s, no ethnic group had an absolute majority and almost every inhabitant could communicate in the above-mentioned four languages.

The Kochanowski family tomb and the oldest part of the cemetery
The oldest and most interesting tombstones from an artistic point of view are located in the southern part of the cemetery, between Zielona, Kishinevska and Sichovskaya (until recently Moscow Olympia) Streets. A number of meritorious scientists, writers, politicians or social activists of various nationalities are buried here, such as the prominent Ukrainian novelist Olga Kobylanska. Also notable in these quarters is the presence of many impressive tombstones of Polish Armenians, such as those of the Abrahamowicz, Roska Bogdanowicz, Romaszkan or Szymonowicz families. This small but very influential group played an important role in the history of 19th and 20th century Bukovina. The Chernivtsi necropolis is one of the three most important for Polish Armenians, next to the cemeteries in Kuty and Lychakivsky in Lviv.

This area is also home to one of the most important buildings in the entire cemetery - the Kochanowski family tomb, which is the resting place of the city's long-time mayor Antoni Kochanowski. The tomb has the original form of a bell, about 4 metres high, crowned with a stone baron's crown and a metal cross.

"Father of Modern Chernivtsi "
Antoni Kochanowski was born in 1817 in Ternopil. He came from a Polish noble family, sealing with the Korwin coat of arms. After studying law in Lvov, he settled in Chernivtsi, where he initially practised law and later became involved in local politics. He became associated with the German Liberal Party (Deutschliberale Partei), a grouping that dominated the Austrian political scene in the 1870s. Holding the highest office in the Bukowina, he stood for complete loyalty to Vienna, while trying to arrange harmonious coexistence between the five main nationalities living in Chernivtsi.

Kochanowski was the longest serving mayor of Chernivtsi ever, as long as 28 years (between 1866-1874 and 1887-1905). It is noteworthy that he started his last period in charge of the city at the age of 70 and finished it at 88. He is remembered as the "father of modern Chernivtsi", because it was under his leadership that the city's buildings were regulated, the sewerage and water supply systems were distributed, and the school, sanitation and transport infrastructure was expanded. Kochanowski was respected by the inhabitants of Chernivtsi of different nationalities and religions, which was reflected in the fact that in the early 20th century, the street near the market square, linking the most prestigious street in town, Panska Street, with Ratuszowa Street, was named after him.

Antoni Kochanowski, being an Austrian politician and concerned with respecting the primacy of the official language of Bukovina, i.e. German, never denied his Polish origin. The best evidence of this is the inscription in Polish on the family tomb. His son, Antoni Kochanowski junior, on the other hand, also became involved in politics at the regional level, but, unlike his father, he had already become involved with the Polish representation in the Bukovina National Sejm (Polish Circle).

It is worth mentioning that the Kochanowskis were related to the Polish-Armenian Kaprich family. Before the First World War, they owned several landed estates in the Chernivtsi area and did large-scale business in the borderlands of Austrian Bukovina, Romania and Russian Bessarabia. Several representatives of this wealthy and influential family in the 19th century rest in the Kochanowski family tomb in Chernivtsi.