Portrait of Szymon Konarski. Author: unknown. Public Domain
He was 31 years old when, on the 27th of February 1839, he was shot by order of the tsarist court and secretly buried in Vilnius. His grave was then trampled upon by horses so that no one would be able to find it. And yet, just a few months later, the burial place was uncovered, the body secretly moved and buried in the Calvinist cemetery in Vilnius. What did Szymon Konarski (about whom we write here) do to deserve both death at the hands of the Russian invader and great respect from his compatriots?
He was born on the 5th of March 1808 in the Dobkiszki estate located in the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania. His origins marked out his future: his father served in the national cavalry during the war against Russia in 1792 and took part in the Kościuszko Uprising. In turn, one of his grandfathers had been a general of the Army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the other a member of the Supreme Government Council of Lithuania during the Kościuszko Uprising. Konarski, sooner or later, would have to fight for Poland’s freedom.
In 1826, after completing his education at schools in Sejny and Łomża, he joined the Polish Army of the Congress Kingdom. A year later, he attained the status of non-commissioned officer, and during the November Uprising was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant. He later participated in, among other events: in the famous Battle of Olszynka Grochowska and General Dezydery Chłapowski’s expedition to Lithuania, during which he was captured by the Prussians. In 1832 however, he regained his freedom and emigrated to Western Europe. He stayed in Switzerland, where he learned the craft of watchmaking, and in France, where he became involved with the local revolutionaries. He soon returned to his homeland, where he was to spread the seeds of the revolution. Due to the local population’s lack of interest in progressive ideas, he made his way to the Prussian side of the border. By way of a Prussian prison and Belgium, he ended up in the Kingdom of Sardinia, where he took part in the Savoy Uprising.
After the failure of the uprising, he lived once more in France, where he started publishing the “Północ” [“Nord”] “North” newspaper. He subsequently became involved with the political circle around Joachim Lelewel, on whose initiative he once again went to Polish-Lithuanian lands in 1835. In the Free City of Cracow he signed up to the Association of the Polish People. On behalf of the Association, he travelled to the lands of the Russian partition, where he was to unite numerous anti-Russian organizations into one – the Union of the Polish People. In 1837 he became its leader. He was soon arrested however, and imprisoned in Vilnius. He did not crack when subjected to torture, and attributed all of his conspiratorial activities to himself, thus defending his colleagues.
Prepared by Piotr Bosko