Victor Cordella
Victor Cordella | |
|---|---|
Wiktor Kordela | |
 Cordella in 1921, holding cucumbers | |
| Born | January 1, 1872 |
| Died | April 12, 1937 (aged 65) |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Alma mater | Royal Art Academy |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Years active | 1903–1927 |
| Buildings | |
Victor Cordella (January 1, 1872 – April 12, 1937) was a Polish-American architect known for designing churches for Eastern European congregations in Minnesota.
Early life and education
[edit]Wiktor Kordela was born on January 1, 1872, in Kraków to Italian father Marian, a sculptor, and Polish mother Florence, an artist. After studying at the Royal Art Academy in Kraków, and completing further studies in Lviv under Michael Kowalozuk, Cordella immigrated to Minnesota in 1893, and began to study architecture under Cass Gilbert.[1][2][3]
Career
[edit]
From 1903 to 1911, Cordella worked in conjunction with Christopher A. Boeheme as the Boehme & Cordella architecture firm.[4] One of their first commissions was the 1903 Gluek's Restaurant in downtown Minneapolis. They also designed the Grain Belt Beer tavern in Minneapolis on East Hennepin Ave,[5] the P. F. Laum & Sons Building,[6] and the Swan Turnblad Mansion, built in 1908.[7]
Cordella's designs embodied the ethnic identities of their congregations, and the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches in the Upper Midwest that he designed helped shape the identities of the immigrants who worshipped in them.[8] He worked with many different ethnicities, including Slovaks, Ruthenians, Ukrainians, and Russians. One of the first churches that he designed was St. Mary's Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Minneapolis. Due to unease in the congregation of St. Mary's two offshoot churches were founded that Cordella designed;[7] in 1913, he designed the Byzantine Catholic Church of St. Constantine,[a] also in Minneapolis, and in 1926, he designed the Romanesque St. John the Baptist Greek Catholic Church in Minneapolis.[8]
Cordella also designed number of Latin churches. In 1904, he designed the Polish Church of St. Casimir in Saint Paul.[7][5] He also designed the Polish-Baroque Church of St. Joseph in Browerville (1907),[2] St. Peter's and St. Mary of Czestochowa parishes in Delano (1913),[5] the Romanesque-style St. John the Baptist in Vermillion (1914),[9] St. Francis Xavier in Buffalo (1916),[2] the Renaissance Revival-style Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Minneapolis (1917),[10] St. Stanislaus in Perham (1922),[11] combination Spanish Mission and French Renaissance-style St. Luke's in Sherburn (1922),[12] Holy Cross in North Prairie (1922),[13] the Baroque Revival-style Our Lady of Lourdes in Little Falls (1923),[14] and Holy Cross in Northeast Minneapolis (1927).[7] In total, Cordella designed around twenty churches for various immigrant ethnic groups.[15]
Personal life and death
[edit]
Cordella married Ruth Maser on September 15, 1902.[1] Cordella married Minnie Beckwith on October 9, 1918.[16][5] In 1921, he was featured in the Minneapolis Journal for growing a 19-inch cucumber.[17] The Great Depression greatly impacted Cordella and his wife; in 1930, he was unable to pay his dues to the American Institute of Architects. It seems possible that by the mid-1930s, he was resigned to work as a manual laborer.[2]
Cordella died in Minneapolis on April 12, 1937.[7][4] His funeral was on April 15 at the Basilica of Saint Mary and he was buried in St Mary's cemetery.[3]
Notes
[edit]- ^ This building was demolished and replaced in 1970.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Holcombe, Return Ira; Bingham, William H. (1914). Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota. Chicago: H. Taylor & Co. p. 260. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- ^ a b c d Gyrisco, Geoffrey M. (1997). "Victor Cordella and the Architecture of Polish and East-Slavic Identity in America". Polish American Studies. 54 (1): 33–52. ISSN 0032-2806. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- ^ a b "Obituary for VICTOR CORDELLA". Star Tribune. 14 April 1937. p. 6. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- ^ a b "Collection: Boehme and Cordella collection | University of Minnesota Archival Collections Guides". University of Minnesota Library Archives. University of Minnesota. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- ^ a b c d "Taking church design from wood to brick and stone" (PDF). PolAm. 39 (3). Polish-American Cultural Institute of Minnesota: 3. April–May 2017.
- ^ "MINNEAPOLIS WAREHOUSE DISTRICT" (PDF). Historic American Buildings Survey. National Park Service. p. 9. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- ^ a b c d e "A Polish Architect for all" (PDF). PolAm. 39 (3). Polish-American Cultural Institute of Minnesota: 1, 6. March–April 2017.
- ^ a b Gyrisco, Geoffrey M. (1997). "East Slav Identity and Church Architecture in Minneapolis, Minnesota". Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture. 7: 199–211. doi:10.2307/3514393. ISSN 0887-9885. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- ^ "From Our Special Diocesan News Correspondents". The Catholic Bulletin. 17 October 1914. p. 8. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- ^ "Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church, Minneapolis | Houses of Worship". Houses of Worship. University of Minnesota. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- ^ "From Our Special Diocesan News Correspondents". The Catholic Bulletin. January 14, 1922. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- ^ "Church is Dedicated at Sherburn, Minn". The Catholic Bulletin. 14 January 1922. p. 8. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- ^ History of the parish of North Prairie. Little Falls, MN: Transcript Publishing Co. 1926. p. 18.
- ^ Lehrke, Terry (3 June 2017). "Our Lady of Lourdes: A labor of love and faith for 100 years". Morrison County Record. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- ^ Elliott, Cecil D. (2003). The American architect from the colonial era to the present. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-7864-1391-1.
- ^ "Minnesota Official Marriage System".
HENNEPIN 02170346 10/09/1918 CORDELLA, VICTOR BECKWITH, MINNIE M
- ^ "Architect Raises Giant Cucumber". The Minneapolis Journal. 23 August 1921. p. 11. Retrieved 7 January 2025.