Wincenty Konstanty Kalinowski, also known as Kastuś Kalinoŭski ( be, Касту́сь Каліно́ўскі also be, Вінцэ́нт Канстанці́н Каліно́ўскі, lit=Vincent Kanstancin Kalinoŭski, lt, Konstantinas Kalinauskas) ( – ), was a 19th-century Belarusian writer, journalist, lawyer and revolutionary. He was one of the leaders of the Polish Lithuanian and Belarusian national revival and the leader of the

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

in lands of the former

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was Partitions of Poland, partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire, Habsburg Empire of ...

in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

. One of several participants in the failed January Uprisings, Kalinowski is especially revered in Belarus where he is seen as a forefather and icon of

Belarusian nationalism Belarusian nationalism is the nationalism that asserts the nationality of Belarusians. It originated in the first decade of the 20th century. The Belarusian People's Republic, declared on 25 March 1918, was the first manifestation of Belarusian st ...

Early life and education

Kalinowski was born in Mastaŭliany, in

Grodnensky Uyezd Grodnensky Uyezd (''Гродненский уезд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Grodno Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the northern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Grodno. Demographics At the ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

(now Mostowlany, Poland) to a '' szlachta'' family. The

Kalinowski family Kalinowski was a notable Polish noble family that belonged to a limited and small circle of Magnates of Poland and Lithuania. History Like many other Szlachta houses of the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Duchy of ...

hailed from the Polish region of Mazovia and bore the Kalinowa coat of arms. His father, Szymon, was a manager of the Mastaŭliany farm and manor. His older brother, would become a historian. In 1849 his father, Szymon bought a folwark near Świsłocz (now Svislach, Belarus) where Kastuś grew up. After graduating from a local school in Świsłocz in 1855, Kalinowski entered the faculty of Medicine of the University of Moscow as an external student. After one semester he moved to St. Petersburg, where his brother was and joined the faculty of Law at the University of St. Petersburg. Along with his brother Victor, he got himself involved in Polish students' conspiracies and secret cultural societies, headed by Zygmunt Sierakowski and Jarosław Dąbrowski. After graduating in 1860, Konstanty traveled to

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urba ...

where he unsuccessfully applied to join the civil service under .

Career

Literary work

Konstanty then returned to the

Grodno Grodno (russian: Гродно, pl, Grodno; lt, Gardinas) or Hrodna ( be, Гродна ), is a city in western Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish b ...

area in 1861. Konstanty started publishing '' Mużyckaja prauda'' (''Peasants' Truth''), the first newspaper in Belarusian, written in

Łacinka The Belarusian Latin alphabet or Łacinka (from be, лацінка or łacinka, BGN/PCGN: ''Latsinka'', ) for the Latin script in general is the common name for writing Belarusian using Latin script. It is similar to the Sorbian alphabet an ...

, first published in June 1862. The Peasants' Truth was issued seven times until 1863. Konstanty also published two other

Polish language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In ad ...

newspapers. Konstanty was more aligned with the Reds which represented a democratic movement uniting peasants, workers, and some clergy rather than the more moderate

Whites White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as ...

. In his literary work, Kalinoŭski underlined the need to liberate all people of the former

from Russia's occupation and to conserve and promote the Greek-Catholic faith and

Belarusian language Belarusian ( be, беларуская мова, biełaruskaja mova, link=no, ) is an East Slavic language. It is the native language of many Belarusians and one of the two official state languages in Belarus. Additionally, it is spoken in some ...

. He also promoted the idea of activisation of peasants for the cause of national liberation, the idea that was until then dominated by the

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest c ...

. He favored the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's traditions of democracy, tolerance and freedom, as opposed to national oppression of cultures dominated by Imperial Russia: There is some academic debate about which texts to attribute to Konstanty. Konstanty was unhappy with the timing and objectives of the

, which broke out on 23 January 1863. There had been a growing rift between him and other leaders of the uprising in Warsaw. After the outbreak of the January Uprising, he was involved in the secret in

. Soon he was promoted to the commissar of the Polish National Government for the

Grodno Governorate The Grodno Governorate, (russian: Гро́дненская губе́рнiя, translit=Grodnenskaya guberniya, pl, Gubernia grodzieńska, be, Гродзенская губерня, translit=Hrodzenskaya gubernya, lt, Gardino gubernija, u ...

. His writings made him popular both among the peasants and the gentry, which enabled the partisan units under his command to grow rapidly. Because of his successes he was promoted to the rank of Plenipotentiary Commissar of the Government for Lithuania (), which made him the commander-in-chief of all partisan units fighting in the areas of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which are in modern

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

, eastern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

Last months, interment, and execution

However, after initial successes against the Russian armies, the Russians moved a 120,000 men strong army to the area and the revolutionaries started to lose most of the skirmishes. Finally Kalinowski was betrayed by one of his soldiers and handed over to the Russians. He was imprisoned in Vilnius, where he wrote one of his most notable works - the '' Letter from Beneath the Gallows'' (''Pismo z-pad szybienicy''), a passionate ''credo'' for his compatriots. He was tried by a

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

for leading the revolt against Russia and sentenced to death. On 22 March 1864, at the age 26, he was publicly executed on

Lukiškės Square Lukiškės Square (other spellings include ''Łukiszki, Lukiski, Lukishki'', lt, Lukiškių aikštė) is the largest square (about in Vilnius, Lithuania, located in the center of the city. A major street in Vilnius, Gediminas Avenue, passes b ...

in Vilnius. Kalinowski's remains, along with others, were clandestinely buried by the Tsarist authorities on the site of a military fortress on top of the

Gediminas Hill Castle Hill ( lt, Pilies kalnas) or Gediminas' Hill ( lt, Gedimino kalnas) is a hill in Vilnius, Lithuania at the confluence of Neris and Vilnia rivers on the left side of the Vilnia. It is best known as the location of the Gediminas' Tower, a si ...

in Vilnius. In 2017, Kalinowski's remains were excavated and identified, and solemnly reinterred in the Rasos Cemetery on 22 November 2019.

Legacy

Kalinowski's legacy is somewhat controversial. During the so-called

Jeans Revolution The Jeans Revolution ( be, Джынсавая рэвалюцыя, transliteration: ''Džynsavaja revalucyja'', russian: Джинсовая революция) was a term used by Belarus' democratic opposition to describe their protests foll ...

, protesters who disputed the

2006 Belarusian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Belarus on 19 March 2006. The result was a victory for incumbent, President Alexander Lukashenko, who received 84.4% of the vote. However, Western observers deemed the elections rigged. The Organization for S ...

symbolically renamed October Square, after the Bolshevik revolution, into Kalinovski Square.

Kalinovski Square ''Kalinovski Square'' (original title: Плошча, or Plošča) is a 2007 documentary film by Belarusian filmmaker Yury Khashchavatski. The film takes a critical look at the re-election of Alexander Lukashenko in March 2006, featuring especia ...

was also the title of a documentary film about these events. In Uladzimir Karatkievich's

King Stakh's Wild Hunt ''King Stakh's Wild Hunt'' ( be, Дзікае паляванне караля Стаха) is a novel by author Uladzimir Karatkievich published in 1964. It's based on the Wild Hunt - a folklore motif (Motif E501 in Stith Thompson's Motif Index of ...

, one of the principal characters, Andrey Svetsilovich, had a portrait of Kalinowski above his writing desk. During the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. A ...

, Belarusian volunteers fighting on the side of

formed a battalion named Kastuś Kalinoŭski, which later transformed into a regiment. In Ukrainian

Rivne Rivne (; uk, Рівне ),) also known as Rovno (Russian: Ровно; Polish: Równe; Yiddish: ראָוונע), is a city in western Ukraine. The city is the administrative center of Rivne Oblast ( province), as well as the surrounding Rivne ...

a street was named after Kalinowski. File:Kanstantyn Kalinoŭski stamp.jpg, Belarusian commemorative stamp in honor of Kalinowski (1993) File:KalinowskiSierakowskiWilno2.jpg, Memorial at the place of Kalinouski's execution in

File:Paminklas kalinauskui.JPG, Monument in

Šalčininkai Šalčininkai (, , yi, סאָלעטשניק ''Solechnik'', be, Салечнікі) is a town in Vilnius County, Lithuania, situated south-east of Vilnius, near the border with Belarus. Šalčininkai attained the town status in 1956 and is now ...

, Lithuania File:Pomnik Konstantego Kalinowskiego w Mostowlanach 2017.jpg, Monument in Mostowlany,

File:Полк Каліноўскага. Лагатып.png, Logo of the Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment (2022)

References

External links

Website about Kalinowski
(in Belarusian)

belarusguide.com
Archival documents and materials - 1863-4 uprising in Belarus

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20001216074400/http://www.belarus-misc.org/writer/kalinouski.htm Konstanty Kalinowksi biography belarus-misc.org
Каліноўскі як далакоп беларускай мовы
3 December 2013, in Belarusian {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalinowski, Konstanty 1838 births 1864 deaths People from Białystok County People from Grodnensky Uyezd Kalinowski family Belarusian nobility Belarusian journalists Members of Polish government (January Uprising) Belarusian revolutionaries Polish revolutionaries Belarusian writers Polish journalists 19th-century journalists 19th-century male writers Male journalists January Uprising participants Anti-Russification activists Executed people from Podlaskie Voivodeship Executed Belarusian people Executed Polish people People executed by the Russian Empire by hanging Polish people executed by the Russian Empire Burials at Rasos Cemetery