 From the age of 8, Kalinowski attended the Institute for Nobles at Vilna, and graduated with honors in 1850.He next attended the School of Agriculture ("Instytut Agronomiczny") at Hory-Horki, near Orsha.The Russians strictly limited opportunities for further education, so in 1853 he enlisted in the Imperial Russian Army and entered the Nicholayev Engineering Academy ("Mikołajewska Szkoła Inżynierii").