Aleksander Romanowicz

Aleksander Romanowicz was a general of cavalry in both

Russian Imperial Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

and

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stret ...

. Born on 1 April 1871, on his family estate Olekszyszki (near

Lida Lida ( be, Лі́да ; russian: Ли́да ; lt, Lyda; lv, Ļida; pl, Lida ; yi, לידע, Lyde) is a city 168 km (104 mi) west of Minsk in western Belarus in Grodno Region. Etymology The name ''Lida'' arises from its Lithuani ...

), in 1890 he graduated from the Russian Army Cadet Corps in

Polotsk Polotsk (russian: По́лоцк; be, По́лацк, translit=Polatsk (BGN/PCGN), Polack (official transliteration); lt, Polockas; pl, Połock) is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina River. It is the center of the Polotsk Distr ...

, then entered the Officer’s School of Cavalry, becoming in 1892 a professional officer of the Russian Army. He was of Lithuanian Tatar origin. At the beginning of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he fought in

Eastern Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871 ...

. Then, together with his soldiers, he was moved to the area of

Kalisz (The oldest city of Poland) , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town , image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...

, and in 1916 was poisoned during a German gas attack. After recuperating, in 1917 he was promoted to General Major and moved to

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. In November 1918 Romanowicz joined the

and became commander of the

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

Uhlan Uhlans (; ; ; ; ) were a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance. While first appearing in the cavalry of Lithuania and then Poland, Uhlans were quickly adopted by the mounted forces of other countries, including France, Russia, Pr ...

Regiment, later 7th Mounted Regiment. He participated in the Polish-Soviet War, after the conflict decided to quit the army. In mid-1921 he settled in his family estate and became president of the local Muslim community. Later Romanowicz moved to

Wilno Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...

, where he died on 14 November 1933. {{DEFAULTSORT:Romanowicz, Aleksander 1871 births 1933 deaths People from Voranava District People from Lidsky Uyezd Imperial Russian Army generals Polish people of Lipka Tatar descent Polish generals in the Imperial Russian Army Polish people of World War I Polish Muslims Muslims from the Russian Empire People from the Russian Empire of Lipka Tatar descent