Wiktor Józef Strokołowski (1885-1939) - reserve major of the Polish Army, architectural engineer. He was born on December 7, 1885 in Ropica Ruska. He graduated from the Imperial Royal First Real School in Cracow (1903) and from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Lviv Polytechnic.
During World War I, he served in the Legions and the Austro-Hungarian Army, and later in the 5th Siberian Division, fighting against the Bolsheviks. After arriving in France, he served in General Haller's Army and then in the Polish Army, taking part in the Polish-Bolshevik War, among other things. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant (1921), and in 1922 he went into the reserves and obtained a diploma in architectural engineering.
After the war, he settled in Częstochowa, where he ran his own architectural office. He designed, among other things, the edifice of the District Health Fund (today's Bieganski Hospital), several schools, a theater (the A. Mickiewicz Theater), villas and residential buildings. He was involved in historic preservation and the activities of professional and military associations.
He died on March 30, 1939 in Cracow, and was buried in the Zwierzyniecki Cemetery. He was awarded twice the Cross of Valor and the Golden Cross of Merit (1939). You can read more about this figure here.
The cross is preserved along with the original box, in poor condition.
Dimensions of the cross: 44.5 x 39 mm.
Diploma signed by the Prime Minister, Major General of the Polish Army - Felicjan Slawoj Składkowski.
Dimensions of the diploma: ~36.5 x 22 cm.
