Kazimierz Łyszczyński (Casimir Liszinski) was born in Łyszczyce, in present-day Belarus. He became a Polish nobleman, philosopher, and soldier in the ranks of the Sapieha family. For eight years he studied philosophy as a Jesuit and then became a podsędek (supply judge) in legal cases against the Jesuits concerning estates. Łyszczyński read the book Theologia Naturalis, which tried to prove the existence of divinity. Its arguments were so convoluted that he found many contradictions. Ridiculing the author, Henry Aldsted, Łyszczyński wrote in the book's margins "ergo non-est Deus" ("therefore God does not exist"). This was discovered a nuncio, Jan Kazimierz Brzoska, who, reluctant to repay a large loan from Łyszczyński, accused him of being an atheist and gave the book as evidence. Brzoska also stole gave the court a handwritten copy of De non-existentia Dei (On the non-existence of God), the first Polish atheist treatise, which Łyszczyński had been working on since 1674. Łyszczyński was brought before the diet of 1689 and condemned to death for atheism. The treatise was destroyed, but a few fragments survive in the notes of the trial. The execution was carried out on this date in 1689. I won't go into the grisly details, common in executions at that time. In communist Poland he came to be celebrated as a martyr to the atheist cause, but his story was romanticized. In March 2014, his persona and ideas were the key theme in a public performance during the 2014 Procession of Atheists in Poland, during which his execution was reenacted. Credits: https://w.wiki/Kats Portrait: Public Domain https://w.wiki/Katw After two remote starts with the club, I was ready to ride some familiar hills closer to Santa Cruz. I've ridden down Soquel-San Jose road a few times, but I don't remember riding up all the way to Summit Road. So now I can! And it was fun to ride Laurel Glen again. Wait, nobody told be Casalegno closed! During the pandemic, if I understand? What a shame. It was cold when I started at Capitola Community Center, but warmer up the hill. Then cold again when I got back. I was glad I wore leg sleeves today.