Kazimierz Konopka in Jan Matejko's 1891 painting, Constitution of 3 May 1791.

Kazimierz Konopka (1769–1805 or 1809) was a Polish Jacobin, secretary of Hugo Kołłątaj, officer in the Polish Legions, aide-de-camp of Jan Henryk Dąbrowski. He gained notoriety for his involvements in the unrest and hangings in Warsaw during the Kościuszko Uprising.

Biography

Konopka was born in 1769 to a burgher family in Poznań.[1] He studies law in Kraków, where he was a lawyer applicant in the F. Barss legal practice.[1] Member of the Kołłątaj's Forge organization and one of the Polish Jacobins, and secretary to Hugo Kołłątaj; during Kołlataj's period as the Deputy Crown Chancellor (podkanclerz koronny) in 1791, Konopka held the position of the Secretary of the Lesser Seal (sekretarz pieczęci mniejszej).[1][2][3][4]

He participated in the Kościuszko Uprising, joining the cavalry.[1] During that period, around May and June 1794, he gained notoriety as one of the leaders of the demonstrations and riots in Warsaw.[1][2][5][6][7] In particular, he was involved in the "hanging of the traitors" incident around 28 June.[1][8][9] In this incident, not supported by the insurrectionist government, out of several people hanged, including insurrection opponents such as chamberlain Karol Boscamp-Lasopolski, prince Antoni Stanisław Czetwertyński-Światopełk and bishop Ignacy Jakub Massalski, the defense attorney and a prosecutor who attempted to stop the mob were also beaten and hanged; they included a friend of Tadeusz Kościuszko, advocate Michał Wulfers.[10][11][12] For his involvement in the incident, Koponka was sentenced by the insurrectionist court to an exile (banicja).[1][7][12]

Koponka left for France, where he joined French cavalry, and fought in Corsica.[1][6][7] In the aftermath of the final Third Partition of Poland, after Polish Legions were recreated under the French control in Italy, he became involved in the formation creation, reaching a rank of a captain or [9] major[13] (sources vary).[1][2][3][14] He commanded a squadron, and later, a baon. In 1801 he was an aide-de-camp of Jan Henryk Dąbrowski.[1]

He died in 1805 in Bari[1][14] (Pachoński mentions a sudden heart attack) or in 1809 (according to Rusinowa).[2]

Konopka is one of the figures immortalized in Jan Matejko's 1891 painting, Constitution of 3 May 1791. He is shown near the center, with an outstretched hand, holding the czekan (an ax- and hammer-like weapon) and with a French blue-white-red flower in his hat.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Zdzisław Czeszejko-Sochacki (1981). Słownik biograficzny adwokatów polskich: G-Ł. Wydawnictwo Prawnicze. p. 166. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Izabella Rusinowa (1986). Polska w latach 1795 - 1864. Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  3. 1 2 Józef Ignacy Kraszewski (1903). Polska w czasie trzech rozbiorów, 1772-1779: 1791-1799. Gebethner i Wolff. p. 476. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  4. ↑ Instytut Sztuki (Polska Akademia Nauk) (1984). Pamiętnik teatralny. Instytut. p. 326. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  5. ↑ Józef Ignacy Kraszewski (1903). Polska w czasie trzech rozbiorów, 1772-1779: 1791-1799. Gebethner i Wolff. pp. 437–439, 459–460. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  6. 1 2 Alexander Kraushar (1903). Barss, palestrant warszawski: jego misya polityczna we Francyi, 1793-1800. Przewodnik Naukowego i Literackiego. pp. 149–150. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  7. 1 2 3 Szymon Askenazy (1918). Napoleon a Polska. Towarzystwo wydawnicze w Warszawie. p. 59. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  8. ↑ Jonas Šliupas (1915). Lithuania in retrospect and prospect. The Lithuanian press association of America. p. 60. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  9. 1 2 Kazimierz Bartoszewicz (1891). Księga pamiątkowa setnej rocznicy ustanowienia konstytucji 3 Maja. Nakł. K. Bartoszewicz. p. 264. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  10. ↑ Alex Storozynski (3 August 2010). The Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution. Macmillan. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-312-62594-8. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  11. ↑ Norman Davies (30 March 2005). God's Playground: The origins to 1795. Columbia University Press. p. 407. ISBN 978-0-231-12817-9. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  12. 1 2 William Van Norden (1835). The Foreign quarterly review. L. Scott. p. 1. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  13. ↑ Antoni Jan Ostrowski (1873). Żywot Tomasza Ostrowskiego, ministra rzeczypospolitej póżniej,prezesa senatu xięstwa warszawskiego i królestwa polskiego: obejmujacy rys wypadḱow krajowych od 1765 roku do 1817. Nakł. K. Ostrowskiego. p. 215. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  14. 1 2 Jan Pachoński (1975). Józef Grabiński, generał polski, francuski i włoski, naczelny wódz powstania bolońskiego 1831 roku. Wydawn. Literackie. p. 161. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  15. ↑ Jan Matejko (1993). Matejko: obrazy olejne : katalog. Arkady. ISBN 978-83-213-3652-7. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
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