File:Horodynski-Grodynski Lineage.pdf

At the time of posting the author had no legal or DNA confirmation that the change of surname to Grodynski by numerous (fifteen or more) members of the Kusionowicz family was due to his great-great-grandfather Sylwester Kusionowicz (1828-1877) being the son, born out of wedlock, of Bogusław Horodyński (pl) (1802-1866). But, there are compelling arguments as to why the author has come to this conclusion. All of Sylwester’s surviving sons, their spouses and their children, changed their surnames at times when they were well established in their careers and changed their surnames to a name that while spelled differently was close in pronunciation to Horodyński, yet the surname Grodyński does not seem to appear before that time in published Polish records. Unlikely to be by coincidence, another family from the same region of Poland (Myslenice is 100 kilometers from Czchów where Sylwester was raised), with forbear born (~1825) during the same bachelor period of Bogusław’s life (and the life of his 'distant cousin' Franciszek Xawery Horodyński (pl)), also changed their surnames to the apparently unknown surname of Grodyński. Both sets of families were represented by descendants who attained the prominent but relatively exclusive positions of Polish Appeal Court Judges who would certainly have understood the legalities surrounding the change of surname to that of a noble family. It appears that the first grandson of Sylwester to be born (1892) after his sons had presumably gained the legal dispensation to change their surnames to Grodyński, was Andrzej’s first son, Bogusław, a common Polish name but a name not borne by ancestors of Kusion\Kusionowicz families at the time.
Boguslaw Horodyński (born in 1802) graduated from school in Galicia and the University of Warsaw (pl). In the years 1821-1824 he served in the Polish Army. In the period preceding the November Uprising (1830-31) he was based at the family estate in Zbydniów but traveled throughout the region working secretly with others in the cause of Polish independence. In 1833 this work continued in the so-called ‘Nameless Union’ of Vincent Tyszkiewicz (pl) and also involved Adam Jerzy Lubomirski as well as Emil Korytko with whom he was exiled to Ljubljana in 1837. In 1844 Bogusław received a complete pardon and after a short period held for suspected involvement in the Kraków Uprising of 1846 he married Miss Tekla Zofia Wierzbicka (aged 22) with whom he had eight children born in the years 1848-1860. According to reports of the time prior to his exile, Boguslaw was a "handsome man, tall, slim, very attractive to women” so one could conclude that it is perhaps unlikely given the prevailing circumstances that he did not father any children in the thirteen years before his exile.
The Horodyński Family were of Korczak Nobility. Bogusław Horodyński was born on the family estate to Kunegunda (née Brochowska) and Dominic Horodyński (1768-1823), who had been a captain in the ‘National Guard’ and an aide on the staff of Tadeusz Kosciuszko during the Kosciuszko Uprising of 1794. Bogusław himself took part in the November Uprising of 1830 and was arrested and imprisoned before being exiled to Ljubljana in 1837 along with the famous Polish political activist Emil Korytko (1813-1839). In 1846 Bogusław was again arrested, this time briefly, for alleged involvement in the preparation of the Kraków Uprising. Also in 1846, Father Ludwik Kusionowicz (1816-1888), the parish priest in Gdów chronicled the Battle of Gdów (the only battle of the Kraków Uprising) and also provided refuge for supporters of the fleeing Polish nationalists. Ludwik’s "nephew" Sylwester was at that time living in Chochołów and training as a teacher under Jan Kanty Andrusikiewicz (pl) who was one of the leaders of the Chochołów Uprising (pl) which took place on 21 February 1846, five days before the Battle of Gdów. In 1863 Bogusław supported the ‘Polish Insurgents’ in the January Uprising.
According to Andrzej’s grandson’s account in ‘The Grodynski Brigade’, Count and Countess Tyszkiewicz were friends of Stanisław (1898-1971), Andrzej’s son, and wife Helena when Stanisław was assigned as the ‘District Governor’ in Sarny (Eastern Poland now in Ukraine) from 1925. Prince Jerzy Lubomirski (1799-1865) also participated in the November and January Uprisings and the Lubomirski family were close friends of Stanisław and Helena in London following the end of WWII. Stefan Tyszkiewicz (1894-1796), who had married Princess Krystyna Lubomirska, also moved to London after WWII and was close to his ‘cousin’, Eugeniusz Lubomirski (1895-1982). All three men served under General Anders in the Polish Second Corps at Monte Cassino.
Is it mere coincidence that descendants of Sylwester and Adolphus were named after 'national heroes' Bogusław and Franciszek Xawery Horodyński and that descendants of these two apparently separate familes changed their surnames to the 'uncommon' name of Grodyński? It is interesting to note that both Tadeusz Remigiusz Sylwester Grodyński (1886-1920) and Tadeusz Franciszek Xawery Grodyński (1888-1958) studied at the University of Jagiellonia, Kraków, through the same period (see 'WP II 251 UJ registry extract') and both were subsequently awarded Doctorates of Law.