Henryk Cederbaum
Encyclopedia
Henryk Cederbaum was a Polish
lawyer and one of the noted members of Warsaw
's bar
in the early 20th century.
Already before World War I
, when Congress Poland
was under Imperial Russian control, he gained much fame as one of the "unhumble" lawyers: prosecuting and defending in trials where Polish people were victims and Russians were offenders. One of the best known was the trial of Aleksandr Barteniev, a Russian military officer who murdered his Polish lover, a noted dramatic actress Maria Wisnowska in 1890. The Varshavskiy Dnevnik, the official Russian-language newspaper published by the tsarist authorities, noted that - despite the official ban on usage of the Polish language
in public - Cederbaum spoke very bad Russian and was apparently very proud of it. The case was later fictionalised by, among others, Ivan Bunin in his 1925 novella Case of Lieutenant Yelagin.
Another well-known and widely discussed case was the trial of Maria Gurko, the wife of Russian governor-general of Poland Iosif Gurko. She was well-known to Warsaw's shopkeepers for never paying for the clothes and jewellery she ordered. However, in 1892 one of the shopkeepers in a silk store called the police. The governor's wife was set free while the shopkeeper was sentenced to three months in prison for "offending the higher authorities." For his skilful yet unsuccessful defense of the shopkeeper, Cederbaum was expelled from the bar and sentenced to five years without the right of appearing in court.
During his banishment from the bar, Cederbaum authored a number of legal handbooks for ordinary people, among them a guide on writing last wills and testaments
. After the Russian withdrawal from Warsaw in 1915, during World War I
, Cederbaum wrote a number of articles as well as a lengthy study on the Russian reprisals against the civilian population during the January Uprising
against Russian rule in Poland. He also became one of the key members of the so-called "Delegation of Warsaw's Solicitors" (Delegatura Adwokatury Warszawskiej), a body formed by some of the most renowned members of the Warsaw bar for creation of a new penal code for the future Republic of Poland. The documents prepared by the Delegation became the core of what on January 1, 1919 was passed as the Decree on Temporary Statute of Lawyers for the Polish State, the main legal document regarding the status and duties of lawyers in Poland until mid-1930s.
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...
lawyer and one of the noted members of 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...
's bar
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
in the early 20th century.
Already before World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, when Congress Poland
Congress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...
was under Imperial Russian control, he gained much fame as one of the "unhumble" lawyers: prosecuting and defending in trials where Polish people were victims and Russians were offenders. One of the best known was the trial of Aleksandr Barteniev, a Russian military officer who murdered his Polish lover, a noted dramatic actress Maria Wisnowska in 1890. The Varshavskiy Dnevnik, the official Russian-language newspaper published by the tsarist authorities, noted that - despite the official ban on usage of the Polish language
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
in public - Cederbaum spoke very bad Russian and was apparently very proud of it. The case was later fictionalised by, among others, Ivan Bunin in his 1925 novella Case of Lieutenant Yelagin.
Another well-known and widely discussed case was the trial of Maria Gurko, the wife of Russian governor-general of Poland Iosif Gurko. She was well-known to Warsaw's shopkeepers for never paying for the clothes and jewellery she ordered. However, in 1892 one of the shopkeepers in a silk store called the police. The governor's wife was set free while the shopkeeper was sentenced to three months in prison for "offending the higher authorities." For his skilful yet unsuccessful defense of the shopkeeper, Cederbaum was expelled from the bar and sentenced to five years without the right of appearing in court.
During his banishment from the bar, Cederbaum authored a number of legal handbooks for ordinary people, among them a guide on writing last wills and testaments
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
. After the Russian withdrawal from Warsaw in 1915, during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Cederbaum wrote a number of articles as well as a lengthy study on the Russian reprisals against the civilian population during the January Uprising
January Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
against Russian rule in Poland. He also became one of the key members of the so-called "Delegation of Warsaw's Solicitors" (Delegatura Adwokatury Warszawskiej), a body formed by some of the most renowned members of the Warsaw bar for creation of a new penal code for the future Republic of Poland. The documents prepared by the Delegation became the core of what on January 1, 1919 was passed as the Decree on Temporary Statute of Lawyers for the Polish State, the main legal document regarding the status and duties of lawyers in Poland until mid-1930s.