Joseph Musiol (; born 22 June 1865 in

Mikołów Mikołów (, ) is a town in Silesia, in southern Poland, near the city of Katowice. Outer town of the Metropolis GZM, a metropolis with a population of over 2 million, and is within a greater Katowice-Ostrava metropolitan area populated by abou ...

) was a

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

n politician. He served as secretary of the Catholic Trade Union, Dariusz Jerczyński, "Józef Musioł (Joseph Musiol)", in: ''Orędownicy niepodległości Śląska'', Zabrze: 2005, page 144"Joseph Musiol", in: ''Handbuch für den Preussischen Landtag. Ausgabe für die 1. Wahlperiode (von 1921 ab)'', Berlin: April 1921. as a member of the town council in

Bytom Bytom (Polish pronunciation: ; Silesian language, Silesian: ''Bytōm, Bytōń'', ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Voivodeship, the city is 7 km northwest of Katowice, the regional capital. It is one ...

, and as leader of a local group there. He was also a member of the German Catholic Centre Party and a member of the leadership of the Catholic People’s Party of Upper Silesia, an autonomic division of the Centre Party. Musiol served as a deputy in the

Prussian Parliament The Landtag of Prussia () was the representative assembly of the Kingdom of Prussia implemented in 1849, a bicameral legislature consisting of the upper House of Lords (''Herrenhaus'') and the lower House of Representatives (''Abgeordnetenhaus'') ...

from 26 January 1919 to 22 November 1922 and argued for the independence of

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

as a multilingual but unified state like

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He was expelled from the Catholic People's Party in April 1921 for activities that clashed with the official stance of the party. Around the same time, all local groups in Bytom were dissolved, and in early February 1921, Musiol was excluded from the leadership of his party. After leaving his position as deputy, he became manager of the law office of the Polish-language newspaper ''Katolik'' (Catholic). He co-founded and managed a propaganda of the

Union of Upper Silesians The Union of Upper Silesians (; ; Silesian: ''Ferajn Gůrnoślůnzokůw'') was an early 20th-century movement for the independence of Upper Silesia. The movement had its genesis during the revolutions of 1848. Allied with the Silesian People's P ...

beginning in 1919, and he served as leader of the Union from December 1921 until its dissolution, in 1924.Marek Czapliński, ''Adam Napieralski 1861-1928 biografia polityczna'', Wrocław: 1974. In 1922, he ran for a town council position in Bytom as part of the Union Tenants Protection. Nothing is known of his life after 1924.

References

Sources

* Dariusz Jerczyński, "Józef Musioł (Joseph Musiol)", in: ''Orędownicy niepodległości Śląska'', Zabrze: 2005, pages 144-150. * Guido Hitze, ''Carl Ulitzka (1873–1953) oder Oberschlesien zwischen den Weltkriegen'', Düsseldorf: 2002. * Andrea Schmidt-Rösler, "Autonomie und Separatismusbestrebungen in Oberschlesien 1918-1922", in '' Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropa Forschung'', 1, 1999. * Günther Doose, ''Die separatistische Bewegung in Oberschlesien nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg (1918–1922)'', Wiesbaden: 1987.

References

Sources

See also