Jarosław Dąbrowski
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jarosław Radwan Dąbrowski-Żądło (November 13, 1836 – May 23, 1871) was a Polish revolutionary Nationalist and general. (Zdrada 1973, p. 9).
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Youth
Dąbrowski was born in Zhytomyr, currently part of Ukraine. He was the offspring of the old Polish noble family Radwan Dąbrowski-Żądło. He bore the Clan Radwan arms. His father was Wiktor Radwan Dąbrowski-Żądło. His mother was Zofia née Falkenhagen-Zaleska. (Zdrada 1973, pp. 9-10).
[edit] Military career
In 1845 at age 9, Jarosław Radwan Dąbrowski-Żądło joined the Russian army, enrolling in the officer training corp at the Brest-Litovsk Fortress, where he spent 8 years. He graduated from the St. Petersburg Cadet Corps in 1855. He fought as a Russian officer against mountaineer uprisings in the Caucasus. In 1859 he enrolled in the General Staff Academy in St. Petersburg. There he was one of the leaders of the secret "Officers' Committee of the First Army". Members included several hundred Russian and Polish officers, cooperating with the revolutionary "Zemlya i Volya" (Land and Liberty) movement. (Lerski 1996, p. 103). He became involved in the preparation of the January Uprising, but was arrested on August 14, 1862, and exiled to Siberia for his participation in a plot against the Tsar, Alexander II. In 1865, he escaped and fled to France.
[edit] On the barricades in Paris
In early March 1871, following months of siege by the Prussians, and social unrest after the Franco-Prussian War, revolution broke out in Paris. The city declared itself independent of the French National Government, calling itself the Paris Commune. As an immediate step, Parisians - calling themselves Communards - took immediate steps to defend itself against the Prussians (who were still in the vicinity) and against the deposed Monarchists, seeking a return to Louis Napoleon's Third Empire. By this time, Dąbrowski had been elected to the Council of the Paris Commune, using the nom de guerre, Iaroslav Dombrovski[1]. When negotiations with the National Government broke down, he became Commander-in-Chief and started organising its defence. He died on 23 May 1871 on the barricades of his adopted city. The Commune itself fell on 28 May 1871. The subsequent massacres of the Communards by French National Government shocked liberal society throughout Europe. Nevertheless, the shame of Dąbrowski having associated himself so closely with socialism and revolution was such that his two sons were driven to commit suicide, and his brother was driven to crime in exile. (Billington 1980, p. 613).
[edit] Legacy
[edit] Spanish Civil War
In the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), - the Dabrowski Battalion and various Brigade-strength units (known in Polish as the Dąbrowszczacy) - were named in his honour. See Polish Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War.
[edit] Poland
Several schools and roads are named after him in Poland; among them most notable is The Military Technical Academy in Warsaw, Poland,[2] named in memorial of him.
Polish 200-Złoty Banknote Printed in 1976 (Obverse):
(Reverse):
[edit] Notes
He should not be confused with Jan Henryk Dąbrowski, (Coat-of-Arms/Herb: Własnego Dąbrowski), after whom the Polish national anthem (Mazurek Dąbrowskiego) is named.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Petit Robert: Noms Propres
- ^ "Wojskowa Akademia Techniczna im. Jarosława Dąbrowskiego", Ogólnopolski Katalog Szkolnictwa www.szkolnictwo.pl. Retrieved on June 14, 2007.
[edit] References
- Billington, James H. (1980), Fire in the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith, New York: Basic Books.
- Lerski, Jerzy J. (1996), Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966-1945, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
- Zdrada, Jerzy (1973), JAROSŁAW DĄBROWSKI: 1836 -- 1871, Kraców, POLSKA: Wydawnictwo Literackie.
