Kamil Giżycki

Giżycki studied at the famous Jesuit school Zakład Naukowo-Wychowawczy Ojców Jezuitów w Chyrowie in Khyriv.

After the outbreak of the February Revolution of 1917, Giżycki served in Czechoslovak Legions, but later joined the Polish 5th Division in January 1919, with whom he fought against the Bolsheviks.

Sometime between c. 1920~1921 he moved to north-western Outer Mongolia and he joined baron Roman Ungern von Sternberg's army, the Asiatic Cavalry Division, as an officer and engineer.

He also briefly became Ungern von Sternberg's political advisor and chief of engineer troop, which manufactured land mines, hand grenades, chemical warfare, etc.

Giżycki was a prolific writer of books and articles, and his recollections about his life during the 1920-21 in southern Siberia and Mongolia are important primary sources about the Mongolia and its inhabitants prior to the establishment of the Mongolian People's Republic, the life and last campaign of general Ungern-Sternberg, and flora and fauna of Central Asia.