Ludwik Warynski
Encyclopedia
Ludwik Tadeusz Waryński (24 September 1856 at Martynówka- – 2 March 1889 in Shlisselburg
) was an activist and theoretician of the socialist movement in Poland
.
combatant. In 1865, he started his education at the gymnasium at Biała Cerkiew
. From 1874 he studied in Saint Petersburg
. At the Technological Institute he met socialists, and joined the Polish Socialist Youth. Because of the students' riots of 1875, he was forced to leave the Institute. He started to educate himself.
In 1876, Waryński went to Warsaw
, and was the founder of the first socialist magazine in the lands of the Russian-occupied Poland. Then, he joined the Agronomical School in Puławy but was still leader of the Warsaw worker's movement. In 1879 Tsarist police found him in Warsaw and he was forced to leave Russia.
He moved to Lvov, and, one year later, to Kraków
, where he continued his socialist work. He was arrested by Austro-Hungarian police in February 1879 and jailed till his trial in February 1880, at which he was acquitted (after making a long speech defending the socialist ideas). Nevertheless, he was forced to leave for Switzerland, where his socialist ideas and international contacts developed further. Waryński was the author of the Brussels Program, an ideological declaration of Polish socialists. During his stay in Switzerland, he also met his future wife Anna Sieroszewska, with whom he had a son, Tadeusz.
In 1882, Waryński returned to Warsaw, where he created the first Polish worker's party, called The Proletariat
. In 1883 he was arrested by the Tsarist secret police and, after a trial with 29 co-defendants in 1885, sentenced to 16 years in prison in Shlisselburg. He died there of tuberculosis
6 years later.
, the socialist movement pioneered by Waryński was conventionally presented as the starting point of the Polish socialist tradition. Countless Polish schoolchildren memorized Elegia o śmierci Ludwika Waryńskiego, the powerful poem of Waryński's death by Władysław Broniewski.
Shlisselburg
Shlisselburg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated at the head of the Neva River on Lake Ladoga, east of St. Petersburg. From 1944 to 1992, it was known as Petrokrepost...
) was an activist and theoretician of the socialist movement in Poland
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...
.
Biography
He was born at Martynówka (Martynovkoje in Ukraine), the son of a January UprisingJanuary Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
combatant. In 1865, he started his education at the gymnasium at Biała Cerkiew
Bila Tserkva
Bila Tserkva is a city located on the Ros' River in the Kiev Oblast in central Ukraine, approximately south of the capital, Kiev. Population 203,300 Area 34 km².-Administrative status:...
. From 1874 he studied in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
. At the Technological Institute he met socialists, and joined the Polish Socialist Youth. Because of the students' riots of 1875, he was forced to leave the Institute. He started to educate himself.
In 1876, Waryński went to 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 was the founder of the first socialist magazine in the lands of the Russian-occupied Poland. Then, he joined the Agronomical School in Puławy but was still leader of the Warsaw worker's movement. In 1879 Tsarist police found him in Warsaw and he was forced to leave Russia.
He moved to Lvov, and, one year later, to Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, where he continued his socialist work. He was arrested by Austro-Hungarian police in February 1879 and jailed till his trial in February 1880, at which he was acquitted (after making a long speech defending the socialist ideas). Nevertheless, he was forced to leave for Switzerland, where his socialist ideas and international contacts developed further. Waryński was the author of the Brussels Program, an ideological declaration of Polish socialists. During his stay in Switzerland, he also met his future wife Anna Sieroszewska, with whom he had a son, Tadeusz.
In 1882, Waryński returned to Warsaw, where he created the first Polish worker's party, called The Proletariat
Proletariat (party)
Proletariat is the name used to refer to three Polish political parties:*The First Proletariat , also called the Great Proletariat....
. In 1883 he was arrested by the Tsarist secret police and, after a trial with 29 co-defendants in 1885, sentenced to 16 years in prison in Shlisselburg. He died there of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
6 years later.
Legacy
During the times of the People's Republic of PolandPeople's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
, the socialist movement pioneered by Waryński was conventionally presented as the starting point of the Polish socialist tradition. Countless Polish schoolchildren memorized Elegia o śmierci Ludwika Waryńskiego, the powerful poem of Waryński's death by Władysław Broniewski.
Further reading
- Andrzej Notkowski: Ludwik Waryński, Wrocław 1989, ISBN 83-04-03034-9