Rawa Voivodeship
The family name is of ancient heritage in Podlasie and Masovia. It is presently traceable to the fifteenth century, but may have roots further back in the Kingdom of Hungary. Legend has it that genealogy connects it to a Roman tribune, "Messala Corvinus", in the province of Dacia in the Late Roman Empire. According to composer Karol Szymanowski's exacting biographer, Teresa Chylińska, the village of Szymany in Podlasie of present day Eastern Poland was land recorded as having been inherited by Mikołaj (Nicholas) Szymanowski and he died before 1544. The family later moved to the Rawa Voivodeship from where they spread into Masovia.