Jan Wincenty Bandtkie

He was born on 14 July 1783 in Lublin and died in 1846 in Warsaw. He came from an established German family from Szlichtyngowa near Wschowa. His mother was a Lubliner, and it was in her hometown that Jan Wincenty began his primary education in a Polish-German junior high school. However, he moved to St. Elizabeth’s junior high school in Wrocław with his older brother, Jerzy Samuel. He studied law in Halle, Germany.  For two years he served as private tutor of the Polish language.

In 1806 he settled in Warsaw, where he became a referendary to the Warsaw regency. For a number of years, from 1815 to 1843, he served as an assessor at the court of Appeal. In 1819, thanks to the efforts of representatives of the University of Warsaw, he was awarded a knighthood, which was later inherited, and the nickname he chose was Stężyński. 

From 1811 he was a representative of the Warsaw Society of Friends of Science, and then joined the Cracow scientific society as a correspondent. He was also an honorary member of Vilnius University. 

His career was at its best, as he was appointed a state councillor and a member of a Government Commission on Justice. He also developed in the field of academic and scientific activity.

From 1808 he became a lecturer in Roman law and Polish law-initially at the School of Law and Administration, but then moved to the University of Warsaw. Until 1831 he was the dean of the Faculty of law. 

In 1824 he published a Polish translation of Gallus Anonymous’ „Kroniki (Chronicles)”, and in 1831 – Ostrogog’s” Momentum”. Most of the works  written by him concerned law, in particular Polish law. In 1831 he also published Ius Polonicum, as well as,  posthumously published: Historia prawa polskiego (History of Polish law) i Polskie prawo prywatne (Polish private law).

In addition, together with his brother, he compiled a pocket versions of Polish to French and Polish to German dictionaries. 

He died in Warsaw on 7 February 1846.