 In 1888, Jan entered a "gymnasium" (a pre-Revolution secondary public school of the Russian Empire) in Wilno (present-day Vilnius), finishing it in 1897.From 1897 to 1899, he studied literature, history and philosophy at Jagiellonian University, Kraków, but did not graduate because of lack of money.Back home, he lived in the village of Peresieka () near Minsk, where he inherited a manor after his great-uncle's death.