Aleksander Okińczyc | |
Birth Date: | 28 January 1839 |
Birth Place: | Sielec, Grodno Governorate, Russian Empire (now Belarus) |
Death Date: | 18 March 1886 |
Death Place: | Villepreux, France |
Profession: | "Médecin des pauvres" |
Aleksander Okińczyc (Belarusian: Аляксандар Акінчыц, Aliaksandr Akinchyts, 1839–1886)[1] was a Polish and French 19th century physician and memoirist of Belarusian ethnicity.
He was sent to Siberia by Tsar Alexander II's troops after participating in the January Uprising in Belarus, Poland and Lithuania. From there he succeeded in escaping to the West together with Zygmunt Mineyko and other prisoners.[2] He re-established himself in France and became a doctor.
There he wrote in Polish the story of his adventure, which was later translated to French by Joséphine Bohdan. The original Polish written version of the memoirs seems to be owned by Jean and Madeleine Okinczyc.[3] The doctor died in Villepreux. There, the "Association des amis du vieux Villepreux" offers a museum about the "Docteur Alexandre" and there is a street named "rue du Docteur Alexandre".[4]
He was the son in law of Polish romantic poet, Józef Bohdan Zaleski (1802-1886), who also died in Villepreux.