Of Polish and Tatar heritage and born in Belarus, Kirkor moved fairly easily among the many languages in the region, and with his own typography he courted the local intelligentsia. In 1855 he was appointed to the Vilna Archeological Commission, and worked with the Tyshkevich brothers on the Museum of Antiquities in Vilna. Always engaged in the study of the archeology and ethnography of Litva and Belarus, he could not escape suspicion for his roots. He helped to establish the Vilna Museum of Antiquity, and was elected to the Krakow Academy of Sciences.