Tadeusz Wróblewski
Encyclopedia
Tadeusz Wróblewski was a Polish–Lithuanian noble, politician, lawyer, bibliophile and cultural activist. He supported the democratic wing of krajowcy
movement. Wróblewski sponsored a large library in Vilnius
(Wilno) (the Biblioteka Wróblewskich).
leaders in Lithuania and later General of Paris Commune
.
After graduating from a Gymnasium in Vilnius, Wróblewski did not have a chance to get a doctor's diploma because he was expelled from Saint Petersburg
surgical-medical academy and later from Warsaw University for participation in revolutionary organizations. In 1884 he was exiled to Siberia for such revolutionary activities. Few years after he was released from exile in Tobolsk Governorate, Wróblewski took equivalence examination and graduated from St. Petersburg University with a master's in law.
For some time he was working as an assistant to a lawyer in Saint Petersburg. After his father's death in 1891 he came back to Vilnius. His father left him a library, which Wróblewski further expanded using most of his inherited wealth and a great part of his income as a lawyer. His main interest was Lithuanian history and especially Vilnius history. The library had a large collection of valuable manuscript
s, maps, documents, plans, photographs, postcards, linotypes and various museum artifacts. In 1907 he acquired Plater family collection, including a large art collection.
Wróblewski succeeded in acquiring an extensive collection of Lithuanian Free masons lodge. Major portions of this collection were acquired from Henryk Tartura from Minsk, Russian writer Ivan Yelagin
(1725–1794), and Emilja Federowich, widow of Waclaw Fedorovich. The collection also included items from collections of Michal Dulski, Dominyk Moniuszko, Vilnius University
professor Johan Wolfgang Bartolomius Bieniowski. The collection had a complete set of all Grand Duchy of Lithuania
masonry loges signs (including all of the 7 level GDL signs), seals, medals, "Gorliwy Litwin" (Diligent Lithuanian) loge regulations project manuscript and ritual cup. In 1899 Wróblewski founded and led "Neoszubrawcy" para-masonic organization (discontinued in 1914).
Wróblewski was known as a lawyer who would take unpopular cases. He defended 1905–1907 revolution activists. During the trials he was defending about 400 people, including his best-known case of Pyotr Schmidt
, that gained him Empire
-wide recognition.
He was consistent in his belief, that no ethnic group is superior over others, and demanded autonomy for minorities. Being consistent in his democratic beliefs Wróblewski was a strong supporter of Lithuanian, Belarusian, Ukrainian and Polish territories sovereignty in the first and the third Russian Duma
.
After Vilnius Region
was annexed by Poland, Wróblewski defended Lithuanian activists without a charge, most-known case is Mykolas Biržiška
. In 1922 Wróblewski unanimously was elected as an honorary member of the Lithuanian Science Society
, and held lectures in the society organized events about the Vilnius and Lithuania history.
Tadeusz Wróblewski is buried at the Rasos cemetery
.
Following the Soviet invasion of Poland
most valuable part of the collection was robbed in September 1939, and together with most of Vilnius city archives was transferred to Minsk
. Among the most valuable lost items was a full collection of Lithuanian Free masonry loge signs and manuscripts collection (86 volumes), Grand Duchy of Lithuania
collection (678 volumes), Lithunistics volumes regarding Vilnius region (435 volumes) and Lithuanian state (72 volumes), and other valuable books (72 volumes). The library was taken over by the Lithuanians in October 1939.
Nowadays the remaining part of Wróblewski's collection is preserved as a valuable part of Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
library (Lietuvos mokslų akademijos biblioteka), residing in Vilnius.
Krajowcy
The Krajowcy was a group of mainly Polish-speaking intellectuals from the Vilnius Region who, in the beginning of the 20th century, opposed the division of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth into nation states along ethnic and linguistic lines. It was a reactionary movement against growing...
movement. Wróblewski sponsored a large library in Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
(Wilno) (the Biblioteka Wróblewskich).
Life
Tadeusz Wróblewski was born to a family of a famous homeopathic doctor. His uncle Walery Antoni Wróblewski was one of the January uprisingJanuary Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
leaders in Lithuania and later General of Paris Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
.
After graduating from a Gymnasium in Vilnius, Wróblewski did not have a chance to get a doctor's diploma because he was expelled from 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...
surgical-medical academy and later from Warsaw University for participation in revolutionary organizations. In 1884 he was exiled to Siberia for such revolutionary activities. Few years after he was released from exile in Tobolsk Governorate, Wróblewski took equivalence examination and graduated from St. Petersburg University with a master's in law.
For some time he was working as an assistant to a lawyer in Saint Petersburg. After his father's death in 1891 he came back to Vilnius. His father left him a library, which Wróblewski further expanded using most of his inherited wealth and a great part of his income as a lawyer. His main interest was Lithuanian history and especially Vilnius history. The library had a large collection of valuable manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
s, maps, documents, plans, photographs, postcards, linotypes and various museum artifacts. In 1907 he acquired Plater family collection, including a large art collection.
Wróblewski succeeded in acquiring an extensive collection of Lithuanian Free masons lodge. Major portions of this collection were acquired from Henryk Tartura from Minsk, Russian writer Ivan Yelagin
Ivan Yelagin
Ivan Perfilievich Yelagin was an amateur poet and translator who acted as unofficial secretary to Catherine the Great in the early years of her reign....
(1725–1794), and Emilja Federowich, widow of Waclaw Fedorovich. The collection also included items from collections of Michal Dulski, Dominyk Moniuszko, Vilnius University
Vilnius University
Vilnius University is the oldest university in the Baltic states and one of the oldest in Eastern Europe. It is also the largest university in Lithuania....
professor Johan Wolfgang Bartolomius Bieniowski. The collection had a complete set of all Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
masonry loges signs (including all of the 7 level GDL signs), seals, medals, "Gorliwy Litwin" (Diligent Lithuanian) loge regulations project manuscript and ritual cup. In 1899 Wróblewski founded and led "Neoszubrawcy" para-masonic organization (discontinued in 1914).
Wróblewski was known as a lawyer who would take unpopular cases. He defended 1905–1907 revolution activists. During the trials he was defending about 400 people, including his best-known case of Pyotr Schmidt
Pyotr Schmidt
Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt was one of the leaders of the Sevastopol Uprising during the Russian Revolution of 1905.-Early years:Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt was born in 1867 in Odessa into the family of a naval officer. His father Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt participated in the defense of Sebastopol during...
, that gained him Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
-wide recognition.
He was consistent in his belief, that no ethnic group is superior over others, and demanded autonomy for minorities. Being consistent in his democratic beliefs Wróblewski was a strong supporter of Lithuanian, Belarusian, Ukrainian and Polish territories sovereignty in the first and the third Russian Duma
State Duma of the Russian Empire
The State Duma of the Russian Empire was a legislative assembly in the late Russian Empire, which met in the Taurida Palace in St. Petersburg. It was convened four times between 1906 and the collapse of the Empire in 1917.-History:...
.
After Vilnius Region
Vilnius region
Vilnius Region , refers to the territory in the present day Lithuania, that was originally inhabited by ethnic Baltic tribes and was a part of Lithuania proper, but came under East Slavic and Polish cultural influences over time,...
was annexed by Poland, Wróblewski defended Lithuanian activists without a charge, most-known case is Mykolas Biržiška
Mykolas Biržiška
Mykolas Biržiška , a Lithuanian editor, historian, professor of literature, diplomat, and politician, was one of the twenty signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuania....
. In 1922 Wróblewski unanimously was elected as an honorary member of the Lithuanian Science Society
Lithuanian Science Society
The Lithuanian Scientific Society was a scientific, cultural, and educational organization that was active between 1907 and 1940 in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was founded in 1907 on the initiative of Jonas Basanavičius....
, and held lectures in the society organized events about the Vilnius and Lithuania history.
Tadeusz Wróblewski is buried at the Rasos cemetery
Rasos Cemetery
Rasos Cemetery is the oldest and most famous cemetery in the city of Vilnius, Lithuania. It is named after the Rasos district where it is located. It is separated into two parts, the old and the new cemeteries, by a narrow Sukilėliai Street. The total area is 10.8 ha...
.
Library
Since 1912 Wróblewski pursued a goal to establish a public library in Vilnius. To that end he established Eustachy and Emilia Wróblewska library society, later transformed into Wroblewski's scientific aid society. In 1925, just before his death, Wróblewski donated his collection to the city under strict conditions that the collection should be never split and under no circumstances would leave the city. Wróblewski died before formal donation procedures were finished. In 1926 the library, then under the custody of the Polish government, was renamed to the National Library of Eustachy and Emilia Wróblewska in Wilno (Państwowa Biblioteka im. Eustachego i Emilii Wróblewskich w Wilnie). By 1939 the library was expanded with a scientific institute and a museum, and had about 200,000 items, including paintings, icons, maps and coins.Following the Soviet invasion of Poland
Soviet invasion of Poland (1939)
The 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland was a Soviet military operation that started without a formal declaration of war on 17 September 1939, during the early stages of World War II. Sixteen days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west, the Soviet Union did so from the east...
most valuable part of the collection was robbed in September 1939, and together with most of Vilnius city archives was transferred to Minsk
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
. Among the most valuable lost items was a full collection of Lithuanian Free masonry loge signs and manuscripts collection (86 volumes), Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
collection (678 volumes), Lithunistics volumes regarding Vilnius region (435 volumes) and Lithuanian state (72 volumes), and other valuable books (72 volumes). The library was taken over by the Lithuanians in October 1939.
Nowadays the remaining part of Wróblewski's collection is preserved as a valuable part of Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
The Lithuanian Academy of Sciences or LAS, founded in 1941 as the Lithuanian SSR Academy of Sciences , as an autonomous, state-subsidized establishment serving as a scientific advisory body to the government of Lithuanian SSR...
library (Lietuvos mokslų akademijos biblioteka), residing in Vilnius.
External links
- padrimariani.org
- Podlaska Digital Library at pbc.biaman.pl