Stefan Giller

Stefan Giller (1833-1918) was born in Opatowek, Congress Poland, Russian Empire. Along with his elder brother, Agaton Giller, Stefan Giller played an active role in the Polish independence movement and the January Uprising of 1863.

Stefan was a poet, an epigone of the Polish Romanticism, a teacher of Polish literature and language at schools in Kalisz when the Russian government tried to eradicate the Polish language from the public life. He was highly valued and respected by his students, who were, among others, the president of the Polish Republic, Stanisław Wojciechowski, the chancellor of the University of Vilnius, Alfons Parczewski and many outstanding doctors and lawyers.

In 1997 librarians from Opatówek found many documents, letters, manuscripts, books and objects owned by the Gillers' family in their house attic. The letters, the most valuable part of this finding, were published as "The Unknown Letters of Giller the family".