Surnames Gall and Figura

Hi there-

I just stumbled upon this site this morning. My mother is 100% Polish and was born in Chicago. Both of her parents were also born in Chicago (I believe), but their parents came here from Poland, surnames being Gall and Figura. Unfortunately, both of them passed away quite some time ago before I really had a chance to find out much about my Polish ancestry. One of my uncles believes that one of the families could have lived in what was once considered Austria??? I have no ideas but am very curious about my Polish roots. Any thoughts?

Do you mean Poland under partition ?

Have a quick look at Polish history for the period in question. It will help you to understand the Austrian connection.

Check the Genealogy threads for links and then get back to us if you would like more help.

5528 people in Poland.



268 people in Poland.



During the partitions late 18th century-1918 the south eastern part was a part of Austria-Hungary.

Thanks so much- will do! I'm a history lover as it is so I'll find some books on it.

Ironically, as I was taking a look around here at some of the other threads- I think I may 'know' someone here- to that person- odd isn't it that we meet again & yes, I know that Figura is the name of an actress in Poland. ;)

So you're saying I have a better chance of finding out about the Gall side since there are fewer?

Thread attached on merging:
Surnames Petin, Zmuda, Cepil, Gall, Figura, & Stafiera

I have the least Polish sounding surnames in my family! Here's what I do know, I have a Zofia Zmuda marrying a Jan Stafiera and a Anastazje Cepil marrying a Wincenty Figura.

Bronislawa Stafiera was born in 1887 in Odrowaz, Poland and Jozef Figura was born in 1882 also in Odrowaz. They were married in 1905 in Chicago and had my grandfather.

The Petin and Gall sides come from my grandmother- my grandmother's maiden name was Gall. Her mother, we believe was named Mary and she was married to an Alexander Gall but it was her second marriage. My own mother says that she was told growing up that the first husband's name was Gall as well.

If anyone has any information to share or suggest, please send it my way!
Thanks!

I wrote to a relative who has info on my Zmuda branch of the family. She doesn't want information from the Zmudas to appear in online inquiries, so it would be done over the email.

I'm Andrew Figura 29 yrs old... My Dad was born in Zakopane, Poland and from a stong line of Figura's in the southern Poland/German/Austro-Hungarian areas. That region of Europe has been claimed by many counrties over the last 200 years but the native mountain dwelling people (Figura's) have stuck to thier roots. Please feel free to contact me.

Excellent, will do!
Wow! Zakopane is really south- a friend told me that there are 2 places considered Odrowaz- soooo confusing!

There are more than 5,500 Figuras in Poland, the major stronghold beiong in southern Poland's contiguous Bielsko-Biała. Katowice and Nowy Sącz areas. Figura is obviously of Latin origin and in Poland meant a religious statue or a bigshot /celebrity).
Gall is used by only 268 Poles. It means Gaul, ancient forerunner of the Frenchman. The first chroncler of Poland was called Gallus Anonimus (the Anonymous Gaul).

see other post

The surname Petin probably started out as the French Pétin. Most likely many wounded Napoleonic soldiers were nursed back to health by Polish maidens and decided to settle down and start a family. The name appears derived from the French verb péter (roughly pronoucned payTAY) which means... to give off a loud cracking sound, let 'er rip or, to put it mildly, to break wind. The related word péteur means farter or sorry individual, a miserable excuse for a human being. On Polish soil the etymology was not widely known, as only the upper classes knew French.

You may be interested to know that Odrowąż is the name of a Polish coat of arms whose origin is quite unusual. In genral Polish coats of arms are surrounded by medieval legends explaining the circumsatnces of their emergence. The rather gory legend surrounding the Odrowąż coat of arms is said to go back to a hand-to-hand encounter that took place in the Middle Ages in Moravia (now part of the Czech Republic) between a Polish knight and a pagan warrior. The knight became so frustrated that he could not topple the resisting pagan that he grabbed him by his bushy moustache and ripped it off, nose and all, impaled it on an arrow and presented it to his lord as a trophy. The lord was so revolted at the sight of the mutilated noseless pagan that he forced the knight to use the Odrowąż coat of arms which means something like “moustache-ripper” and depicts what is supposed to symbolise a white moustache impaled on a stylized arrow set against a blood-red shield. The heraldic device may be viewed online at:
www.republika.pl/akromer/armorial_pocz.html