One of our readers, Debbie, had a question about a town, which she thought might have been in Galicja (“Galicia” in English). And because this is a blog about all things Polish, we’re talking here about the Polish Galicia, not the one in Spain.
Debbie wasn’t sure of the spelling, but luckily, I knew exactly what town she had in mind. Now, what are the odds of that? Huh?
You see, I am a huge fan of Feliks Falk (a well-known Polish movie director) and it just so happens that I read somewhere he was born in a place called Stanisławów (Stanislau). Which just so happens is exactly the place Debbie was looking for.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that now the town is known as Ivano-Frankivsk (or Iwano-Frankowsk in Polish). But until 1962, it had a different name – Stanislau in German, or Stanisławów in Polish. And it’s no longer in Austria. Between 1919 and 1939 it was in Poland, then in the USSR, and these days it’s in western Ukraine. So if someone had been born, let’s say in 1915, and lived all his life in Stanislau/ Stanisławów/ Ivano-Frankivsk, he would have lived in four different countries without ever leaving the town. That’s central Europe for you.
So what’s up with the name? The original one was given the place by a Polish nobleman – Andrzej Potocki to honor his father – Stanisław “Rewera” Potocki, who had something to do with fighting the Swedes during the “deluge” back in the 17th century. The guy liked to fight, apparently. He also defeated the Cossacks once upon a time and battled Russian armies. Now wonder his son named a town after him.
Then in 1962, the Soviets decided to change the name to honor a famous Ukrainian poet – Ivan Franko, who also happened to be born somewhere in the vicinity. At least they had the good sense to rename it after a poet, and not a revolutionary, because then in the 1990s it would have to be changed again. And as such, the name stuck. Ivano-Frankivsk, formerly known as Stanislau.
It actually looks like a very agreeable town, and I wouldn’t mind visiting it when I’m in Ukraine.
As an aside, I’ve already mentioned that Feliks Falk was born there, now I see that the little town was quite productive when it comes to performing arts. Zbigniew Cybulski (Polish James Dean) and Anna Seniuk (better known as Magda Karwowska from “Czterdziestolatek” – a famous Polish TV series) were also born in Stanisławów.
Image courtesy of Jewishgen Shtetlinks
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). And young people often use it's shortened form "nara" (just like you said) 
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Z góry przepraszam za komentarz niezwiązany z tematem.
Niedawno informowaliśmy, że Pani blog znalazł się na naszej liście 100 najlepszych blogów o języku i to na 6. pozycji!(www.lexiophiles.com/top100-language-blogs), dziś chcielibyśmy krótko tylko dać znać, że nasz portal-matka bab.la od czwartku oficjalnie istnieje również w polskiej wersji językowej, może zainteresuje to Panią lub Pani czytelników, to w końcu portal dla miłośników języków obcych, podobnie jak ten blog.
Oto link: bab.la
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Pozdrawiam serdecznie,
Asia
Hi Asia!
Thank you for your comment. Unfortunately, I suspect that most of my readers here can’t understand your message. So here it is in English:
“Your blog has been included in the top 100 of the best language blogs (and at number 6 no less!):
http://www.lexiophiles.com/top100-language-blogs
and today I’d like to let you know that our parent site bab.la is now also available in Polish. I hope this will be of interest to you and your readers, as it’s a site for language lovers, much like this blog. Here’s the link:
bab.la
I’d be grateful for all comments and suggestions. thanks!”
OK guys, so now go over to bab.la and spread some love. I already checked it out and I like it.
Hi Anna!
Thank you so much for your translation and nice words about bab.la (http://bab.la). I really hope your readers will enjoy our website.
Your blog is really impressive, good luck for the future!
All the best,
Asia
thanks so much for all the information!!
Hi Debbie!
You’re welcome! Glad I could help!
I have been searching for weeks (months) and I am still so confused about Stanislaw. Imagine my excitement reading your site and hoping all the mix up would be clear. Wrong again. I am beginning to think it is just my ‘mind’ but determined to one day find exactly where my grandmother lived as a young girl.
What I have is - Stanislaw, Austria, (Ellis Island records of three family members at different arrival dates - all said the same)
I know there is a Stanislaw Dolny and a Stanislaw Gorny and a Sw. Stanislaw. How will I ever determine which is the correct one?
Thank you
Very interesting article about Stanislawow; my dad was born there and I would love to find out more about him. Is there any way to find brith certificates from that area. He was born in 1912. Bit of a challenge to find anything about him as I dont have any family contacts.