Grabowski was born on 11 June 1857 in Nowe Dobre, near Chełmno, in Poland. Soon after his birth, his family moved from Nowe Dobre to Toruń. Grabowski's parents did not have a lot of money, so Grabowski started to work before leaving high school. He wanted to learn a lot, though, so he got himself ready to take a test to get into grammar school. He passed the test.