Narcyz Wojciechowski was born in 1846 in the Lipce manor in Warsaw Province into the family of Józef and Waleria. After completing his education, he accepted a teaching post at a school in Jelonki and served as an organist at the local church. After the outbreak of the January Uprising, he joined the fighting. At the beginning of 1865, he was arrested and imprisoned in the Citadel, where on 11 October 1866 he heard the sentence: “residence in the less distant parts of eastern Siberia, with deprivation of all public rights.” After a journey of several months, he arrived at his place of exile – the village of Sagayskoye in the Minsk district, 500 km from Krasnoyarsk. There, he took on various jobs: he started as a labourer at the construction site of the Mitrofanov gold mine bookkeeper’s house, worked as an assistant to the community scribe, made cigarettes and cigarette tubes, and finally took up the post of manager at the Gusev Factory. He eventually settled in Minusinsk, where he worked in the shop “Warszawski Magazyn”.
In 1877, he married the sister of the shop owner’s wife, Emma Scherzinger. In 1883, a tsarist decree allowed some political exiles to return to their homeland. Wojciechowski, however, decided to stay in Siberia. Together with friends, he started gold prospecting, and although he initially lost a lot in this business, he eventually succeeded. By 1888, he already owned a gold mine and an Abakan salina. A year later, in order to educate their children in grammar schools, the Wojciechowskis moved to Krasnoyarsk.
By that time, Narcyz was already in a serious financial standing and animated the community, supporting activities undertaken by Polish exiles, including the construction of a church in Krasnoyarsk. He also held numerous positions in local associations. He was a member of many honorary and economic committees. In 1907 the Wojciechowskis returned to Minusinsk. There Narcyz held numerous functions in local societies, committees, supported the natural-history museum, and employed other exiles in his enterprises. After 44 years in Siberia, he decided to return to his country with some of his family members.
Photo from Sybir Memorial Museum’s collection