ROMUALDAS ŠVIEDRYS
New York University (retired), New York (USA)
A Study of Individuals Associated with the 17th-Century Military Engineer Casimir Siemienowicz
Abstract
Until now, Casimir Siemienowicz has been an enigmatic individual. We do not know when and where he was born, or where and when he died. We do know that he lived in the first half of the 17th century. He provided some information about himself in his notable book Artis Magnae Artilleriae Pars Prima [Great Art of Artillery, the First Part], which he published in Amsterdam in 1650. In this presentation, I will examine relevant biographical information about eighteen individuals from the time of Siemienowicz ir order to cull some new, probable and significant details about an individual who deserves to be known better.
The eighteen individuals are all associated with the military engineering arts and science. Some of these individuals Siemienowicz knew personally and mentioned in his book. Others were his co-workers in Warsaw from November 1646 through the spring of 1649, when he returned to the Dutch Netherlands to finish and publish his book. A third group of engineers came from abroad.
This comparative analysis can provide some important and startling new biographical information. I will examine three parameters of this group biography – university education, religious affiliation, and marital status – to determine if they may provide new biographical information about Casimir Siemienowicz.
