Izydor Borowski
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Izydor Borowski ( 1770 – 24 June 1838; ), also spelled Isidor Borowski, was a general in
Qajar Iran The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic peoples, Turkic origin,Cyrus G ...
of
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
origin. He is noted for his instrumental role in the modernization of the army.


Early life

Borowski was born in Wilno (present-day
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
,
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
) in the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
, at the time a shadow of its former self. According to the ''
Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...
'', Borowski gave varying accounts of his parentage, professing to be the illegitimate son of Prince Radziwill and a Jewish woman, or the son of a Jewish mother and a Polish nobleman. There is a possibility that his brother was the literary historian
Leon Borowski Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain León (; ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the province of León, part of the autonomous community of Castile and L ...
(1784-1846). Sources on his early life are inconsistent. According to
Encyclopædia Iranica ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English-language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times. Scope The ''Encyc ...
, he had to flee to England either "presumably" during the
Third Partition of Poland The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polis ...
(1795), or that he departed from Poland in 1793, which however is inconsistent with ''Alma Mater'', an academic publication produced by
Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...
, which states that he participated in the
Kościuszko Uprising The Kościuszko Uprising, also known as the Polish Uprising of 1794, Second Polish War, Polish Campaign of 1794, and the Polish Revolution of 1794, was an uprising against the Russian and Prussian influence on the Polish–Lithuanian Common ...
of 1794, afterwards returning home.


Military career

According to Encyclopædia Iranica, after arriving in England, he later served abroad in South Africa and British India. According to ''Alma Mater,'' which does not contain any reference to his travels to England, Africa or India, in 1797 he joined the
Polish Legions in Italy The Polish Legions (; also known as the Dąbrowski Legions) were several Polish military units that served with the French Army in the Napoleonic era, mainly from 1797 to 1803, although some units continued to serve until 1815. After the T ...
, and was part of the Polish contingent sent to quell the
Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution ( or ; ) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolution was the only known Slave rebellion, slave up ...
in 1802. Like many Poles who disliked quelling an independence movement, he then deserted the French side, and he himself joined the buccaneer organization
Brethren of the Coast The Brethren or Brethren of the Coast were a loose coalition of pirates and buccaneers that were active in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. They mostly operated in two locations, ...
. Around 1805–1806 he joined a group of mercenaries freedom fighters recruited by
Francisco de Miranda Sebastián Francisco de Miranda y Rodríguez de Espinoza (28 March 1750 – 14 July 1816), commonly known as Francisco de Miranda (), was a Venezuelan military leader and revolutionary who fought in the American Revolutionary War, the French R ...
in a failed attempt to liberate
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
from Spanish rule. Around 1810 he became one of the trusted lieutenants and later an adjutant of
Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...
. He was one of Bolivar's commanders during the campaign to liberate New Granada of 1819–1820, distinguishing himself in the
Crossing of the Andes The Crossing of the Andes () was one of the most important feats in the Argentine War of Independence, Argentine and Chilean War of Independence, Chilean wars of independence. A Army of the Andes, combined army of Argentine soldiers and Chilea ...
and the
Battle of Boyacá The Battle of Boyacá (1819), also known as the Battle of Boyacá Bridge was a decisive victory by a combined army of Venezuelan and New Granadan troops along with a British Legion led by General Simon Bolivar over the III Division of the Spa ...
, and in 1821, at the
Battle of Carabobo The Battle of Carabobo, on 24 June 1821, was fought between independence fighters, led by Venezuelan General Simón Bolívar, and the Royalist forces, led by Spanish Field Marshal Miguel de la Torre. Bolívar's decisive victory at Carabobo led ...
. Following the establishment of
Gran Colombia Gran Colombia (, "Great Colombia"), also known as Greater Colombia and officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish language, Spanish: ''República de Colombia''), was a state that encompassed much of northern South America and parts of Central ...
, he lived in
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
for at least two years, but political intrigues resulted in his decision to leave South America. He visited the United States and then traveled to the Middle East, where he worked for
Muhammad Ali of Egypt Muhammad Ali (4 March 1769 – 2 August 1849) was the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Albanians, Albanian viceroy and governor who became the ''de facto'' ruler of History of Egypt under the Muhammad Ali dynasty, Egypt from 1805 to 1848, widely consi ...
and taught mathematics and English. Encyclopædia Iranica states that at an unspecified time he moved to Iran on the request of then-crown prince
Abbas Mirza Abbas Mirza (; 26 August 1789 – 25 October 1833) was the Qajar dynasty, Qajar crown prince of Qajar Iran, Iran during the reign of his father Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (). As governor of the vulnerable Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan province, he played ...
, and entered Iranian service. According to ''Alma Mater'' he advocated Iranian intervention in the
November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...
(1830-1831). He quickly became on good terms with both the incumbent king
Fath Ali Shah Qajar Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (; 5 August 1772 – 24 October 1834) was the second Shah of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irrevocable ceding of Iran's northern territories in the Caucasus, com ...
(r. 1797-1834), as well as the crown prince himself. He successfully climbed the ranks and played a pivotal role in the modernization of the Iranian army. Later on, he was promoted to the rank of general. According to ''Alma Mater'' he received positions, titles or functions of a
Vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...
and
Emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...
. Borowski was then assigned to Abbas Mirza's son, Mohammad Mirza (later known by his regal name of
Mohammad Shah Qajar Mohammad Shah (; born Mohammad Mirza; 5 January 1808 – 5 September 1848) was the third Qajar ''shah'' of Iran from 1834 to 1848, inheriting the throne from his grandfather, Fath-Ali Shah. From a young age, Mohammad Mirza was under the tutela ...
), who was the commander-in-chief of the Iranian forces besieging Herat in 1833. Upon Abbas Mirza's death in late 1833, and that of his father Fath Ali Shah a year after, Borowski remained loyal to Mohammad Mirza, and joined him in the ensuing war of succession. Some time after, Borowski, Qahreman Mirza (another son of Abbas Mirza) and Masoud Mirza managed to defeat the Uzbek incursions as well as the rebelling
Turkmens Turkmens (, , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern regions of Iran and north-western Afghanistan. Sizeable groups of Turkmens are found also in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, ...
, both in
Khorasan KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West and Central Asia that encompasses western and no ...
.


Death and legacy

Borowski then served in the second siege of Herat (1837/38). According to ''Alma Mater'', he was the commander-in-chief of the Iranian forces. Since the Iranian commanders were quarrelling among themselves and the Iranian army had low morale, Borowski took the lead in the field himself. This siege would be his last, for he was mortally wounded by a bullet to the abdomen, while personally leading an assault on the enemy fortifications. He died not long afterwards. He was buried in the Armenian cemetery in New Julfa (the Armenian quarter of
Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...
). The French inscription on his grave gives 24 June 1838 as his date of death. After his death, a friend of Borowski in the Iranian army, an Italian named Barthelemy Semino, married his widow (an
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
woman from New Julfa), and he reportedly took care of his children as well. According to the sources, Borowski is said to have made a "considerable" amount of wealth in the years he served in Iran. However, most of it apparently had gone missing around the time his
testament A testament is a document that the author has sworn to be true. In law it usually means last will and testament. Testament or The Testament can also refer to: Books * ''Testament'' (comic book), a 2005 comic book * ''Testament'', a thriller no ...
was to be invoked, that testament being in the possession of
Aleksander Chodźko Aleksander Borejko Chodźko (30 August 1804 – 27 December 1891) was a Polish poet, Slavist, and Iranologist. Early life He was born in Krzywicze, in the Minsk Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Belarus) and attended the Imperial ...
, a "compatriot" of Borowski and Russian consul in
Rasht Rasht (; ) is a city in the Central District (Rasht County), Central District of Rasht County, Gilan province, Gilan province, Iran, serving as the capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is also known as the "City of ...
. According to Encyclopædia Iranica, Borowski was survived by his two sons. The first one, Stanislaw, would become a teacher at the Dar ul-Fonun school. He died in
Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
in 1898. Borowski's second son would enter the service of the Iranian government as well, but he committed suicide not long after. ''Alma Mater'', however, mentions only Antoni Radziwiłł-Borowski, who also became a general in the Iranian service, and took part in
Siege of Herat (1856) A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characte ...
.


References


Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Borowski, Izydor 1770s births 1838 deaths Military personnel from Vilnius Polish expatriates in England Polish emigrants to Iran Polish pirates Iranian generals Military personnel of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth People of Qajar Iran Polish generals