Today would have been my paternal grandmother’s 128th birthday. She died in 1978, so quite a while ago, but I remember her well. I have written about her before, but this morning I remembered that I had a copy of a certificate somewhere, and thought I would look at it more carefully. It’s a copy of what I think is her birth/baptismal certificate. But some of the dates are difficult to work out.

I know she was born on 8th January 1896. I say I know that because she told me so – and on various other documents that I have it says so. But during the war and just after she was quite prone to changing her date of birth according to whether it was more convenient for her to be younger or older! Apparently a lot of people made these adjustments – sometimes a year or two, sometimes just a matter of months. I wonder how she remembered what she had said to whom.

But this is a copy that was requested in 1920. I wonder why. She was already married by then so she would not have needed it for her wedding. My father was already a year old, so presumably she did not need it to have him christened. Maybe to prove that she had been born in Poland. This was also a copy of a copy made in 1902. She was 6. Was it her first communion? Maybe. Though it does mention the word baptism. Sometimes baptism and confirmation took place on the same day. Alexander Zubrzycki was the canon of the Cathedral. (In Przemyśl?) Her religion is stated as Graeco-Catholic. Her grandfather was a pastor, but in which church?

She was born in Przemyśl to Sophia, daughter of the Reverend Stephan Kozenka and Aniela Rozycka, and to Alfred Antony Kirschinger, military … .

Her godfathers were Basil Stefanyszyn, civil servant of Lwów, and Theofil Herloss ??? of Przemyśl, and her godmothers were Agrippina Batka, widow, and her daughter Josepha.

It is the first time I have ever considered any of these names, and so of course I would like to know more about them. I have just found out that Teofil Herloss was the publisher/editor of a Przemyśl newspaper. Here is a link to a copy,

https://jbc.bj.uj.edu.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=75486

I have also found an address for Zofia Kirschinger in Przemyśl: 58 Piotra Skargi. There aren’t 58 houses on the street now.

But who knows? I have written to the cathedral in Przemyśl via Facebook. The computer wont let me otherwise.

Any ideas?

When I last wrote about my grandmother a few years ago, a very nice man in Poland happened to remember that he had seen her name in an autograph book he had acquired some years before. This serendipitous purchase, and the noticing of my blog, inspired him to write to me and then to send me the book, which I treasure.

I wonder who will notice this post?

Anyway, have a very Happy New Year everyone.