Kazimierz Jelski
Kazimierz Jelski (Lithuanian: Kazimieras Jelskis) was a Polish-Lithuanian classicist architect and sculptor who worked mainly in Lithuania. He was born on 4 March 1782 in Ejsymonty near Grodno, now in Belarus. His father, Karol Jelski, was a sculptor, painter and stucco artist, and Kazimierz learned the craft from him.
From 1800 to 1808 he studied painting and architecture at Vilnius University. He learned painting from Laurynas Gucevičius and Franciszek Smuglewicz, architecture from Michała Szulca, and sculpture from Andrzej Le Brun. In 1809 he studied sculpture at the Imperial Academy of Arts.
From 1811 to 1826 he was a professor at the University of Vilnius, teaching many students who became notable sculptors. In 1833 he unsuccessfully sought a professorship in sculpture at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, and in 1843 he tried to start his own sculpture school in Vilnius. He also worked in evaluating and maintaining sculptures and collaborated with other famous sculptors.
Jelski created classical sculptures, bas-reliefs, religious monuments, busts and medallions portraying Polish cultural figures and historical people. Some of his notable works include plaster figures in Vilnius Cathedral, statues and bas-reliefs at the Evangelical Reformed Church, four sculptures at St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church, and many monuments in Vilnius and Trakai. He also wrote a book titled The Union of Architecture, Sculpture and Painting (1832).
Kazimierz Jelski died in March 1867 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 16:31 (CET).