Marian Langiewicz
Encyclopedia
Krotoszyn
Krotoszyn is a town in central Poland with 30,010 inhabitants . It has been part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship since 1999; it was within Kalisz Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998....
- 11 May 1887, Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
), was a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
patriot notable as a military leader of the January Uprising
January Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
in 1863.
Biography
He was born in the province of PosenProvince of Posen
The Province of Posen was a province of Prussia from 1848–1918 and as such part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918. The area was about 29,000 km2....
, his father being the local doctor. Langiewicz was educated at Posen
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, Breslau and Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, and was compelled to earn his daily bread by giving lectures.
He subsequently entered the Prussian Landwehr
Landwehr
Landwehr, or Landeswehr, is a German language term used in referring to certain national armies, or militias found in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. In different context it refers to large scale, low strength fortifications...
and served for a year in the royal guard. In 1860 he migrated to Paris and was for a time professor in the high school founded there by Ludwik Adam Mieroslawski.
The same year he took part in Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and fled Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and...
's Neapolitan campaign, and was then a professor in the military school at Cuneo
Cuneo
Cuneo is a city and comune in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the third largest of Italy’s provinces by area...
till the establishment was closed.
In 1862 he entered into communication with the central Polish committee at Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, and on the outbreak of the insurrection, 22 January 1863, he took the command of the armed bands.
On defeated the Russians at Wąchock
Wachock
Wąchock is a town in Starachowice County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland, near Starachowice. In 2006, it had 2,777 inhabitants.- History :...
and Słupia (February), capturing 1000 muskets and 8 cannon. This victory drew hundreds of young recruits to his standard, till at last he had 12,000 men at his disposal.
On 23 February he again defeated the Russians, at Małogoszcz, and captured 500 muskets and 2 cannons. On 10 March he proclaimed himself Dictator
Dictator
A dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power but without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...
and attempted to form a regular government; but either he had insufficient organizing talent, or had not time enough to carry out his plans, and after a fresh series of engagements at the battle of Chrobrze on 17 March and battle of Grochowiska
Battle of Grochowiska
The Battle of Grochowiska took place on March 18, 1863 at the village of Grochowiska near Pińczów, Poland during the Polish January Uprising against the Russian Empire. It involved a 3000 strong unit of Polish insurgents under the command of Marian Langiewicz which had been cornered by Russian...
on 18 March he took refuge in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n territory and was interned at Tarnów
Tarnów
Tarnów is a city in southeastern Poland with 115,341 inhabitants as of June 2009. The city has been situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999, but from 1975 to 1998 it was the capital of the Tarnów Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east-west connection...
. He was subsequently transferred to the fortress of Josephstadt, from which he was released in 1865.
He then lived at Solothurn
Solothurn
The city of Solothurn is the capital of the Canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. The city also comprises the only municipality of the district of the same name.-Pre-roman settlement:...
as a citizen of the Swiss Republic
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and subsequently entered the Turkish service as Langie Bey. He died in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
on 10 May 1887 and is buried at the Haidar Pasha Cemetery
Haydarpasa Cemetery
Haydarpaşa Cemetery, also known as Haidar Pasha Cemetery, Istanbul , located in the Haydarpaşa neighborhood of Üsküdar district in the Asian part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a burial ground established initially for British military personnel, who took part in the Crimean War...
with his English wife Suzanne (2 February 1837 - 24 November 1906).
Sources and references
- See Boleslaw Limanowski, The National Insurrection of 1863-64 (Pol.) (Lemberg, 1900); Paulo Mazzolcni, I Bergamaschi in Polonia net 1863 (Bergamo, 1893); W. H. Bavink, De Poolsche opstand 1863, &c. (Haarlein, 1864).