Władysław Biegański Bench in Częstochowa

On a bronze bench on the Avenue of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Aleja NMP) sits a bearded doctor, a book and a stethoscope beside him. This is Dr Władysław Biegański (1857–1917), voted "Częstochowa's Citizen of the Century" by local residents – a physician, philosopher and social activist once known as "the professor without a chair".

Who was Dr Biegański?

Born in 1857 in Grabów nad Prosną, he settled in Częstochowa in 1883 and opened a practice. He worked as a hospital and municipal doctor, a railway doctor and a factory doctor, and until 1907 ran the city hospital, which he reorganised into a respected centre of treatment and research for the region. He wrote textbooks on diagnostics and infectious diseases, and as a philosopher published works such as "The Logic of Medicine" (1894) and "A Treatise on Knowledge and Truth" (1910). Because he did his research far from any university, people called him "the professor without a chair". He co-founded the Częstochowa Medical Society, started the local branch of the Polish Sightseeing Society and laid the foundations of the city library that now bears his name.

A bench outside the library

The monument was unveiled on 23 June 2008, closing the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of his birth and the 90th anniversary of his death. It stands in front of the Dr Władysław Biegański Public Library, close to the site of the old city hospital – according to the city council, in the building later used by the "Merkury" department store. The sculpture is by Kraków artist Wojciech Pondel. The casting cost PLN 54,000: PLN 36,000 from the city and PLN 18,000 raised by members and sponsors of the Medical Society. It was the second bench on the avenue; a year earlier, in October 2007, a bench honouring the poet Halina Poświatowska had been unveiled here.

Tripto tip

The bench is in a public space, open around the clock and free of charge; 10–15 minutes is enough for a photo and a look at the plaque. It works best as a stop on a stroll along Aleja NMP, the city's grand avenue leading up to Jasna Góra – keep an eye out for the Poświatowska bench on the way. If you want to know more about the doctor himself, the library named after him is right next door.