Ludwik Tadeusz Waryński (24 September 1856 at Martynówka – 2 March 1889 in

Shlisselburg Shlisselburg (, ; ; ; ), formerly Oreshek (Орешек) (1323–1611) and Petrokrepost (Петрокрепость) (1944–1992), is a town in Kirovsky District, Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located at the head of the Neva River on Lake Ladoga, ...

) was an activist and theoretician of the

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

movement in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Biography

Waryński was born at Martynówka,

Kiev Governorate Kiev Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire (1796–1917), Ukrainian People's Republic (1917–18; 1918–1921), Ukrainian State (1918), and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919–19 ...

(Мартинівка in present-day Kaniv Raion,

Cherkasy Oblast Cherkasy Oblast (, ), also referred to as Cherkashchyna (, ) is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in central Ukraine located along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. The Capital city, administrative center of the oblast is the cit ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

), the son of a

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

insurrectionist. In 1865, he began his education at the gymnasium in

Bila Tserkva Bila Tserkva ( ; , ) is a city in central Ukraine. It is situated on the Ros (river), Ros River in the historical region of right-bank Ukraine. It is the largest city in Kyiv Oblast (which does not include the city of Kyiv) and serves as the ...

. Beginning in 1874 he studied in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

at the Technological Institute, where he met other socialists, and joined the Polish Socialist Youth. Student disturbances at the Institute in 1875 led to Waryński being forced to leave. He returned to his father's residence under police surveillance, and spent the next year educating himself. Early in 1877, he arrived in Warsaw and dedicated himself to furthering socialism in Polish. He founded the first socialist magazine in the lands of the Russian-occupied Poland. He then joined the Agronomical School in

Puławy Puławy (, also written Pulawy) is a city in eastern Poland, in Lesser Poland's Lublin Voivodeship, at the confluence of the Vistula and Kurówka River, Kurówka Rivers. Puławy is the capital of Puławy County. The city's 2019 population was Cen ...

while still a leader of Warsaw's workers movement. In 1879 Tsarist police found him in Warsaw and forced him to leave Russia. He moved to

Lvov Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, and, one year later, to

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, where he continued his socialist work. He was arrested by

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

police in February 1879 and jailed until his trial in February 1880, at which he was acquitted (after making a long speech defending the socialist ideas). Nevertheless, he was forced to leave for Switzerland, where his socialist ideas and international contacts developed further. Waryński was the author of the Brussels Program, an ideological declaration of Polish socialists. During his stay in Switzerland, he also met his future wife Anna Sieroszewska (sister of

Wacław Sieroszewski Wacław Kajetan Sieroszewski (24 August 1858 – 20 April 1945) was a Polish writer, Polish Socialist Party activist, and soldier in the World War I-era Polish Legions (decorated with the Virtuti Militari). For activities subversive of th ...

), with whom he had a son, Tadeusz. In 1882, Waryński returned to Warsaw, where he created the first Polish

workers' party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

, called The Proletariat. In 1883 he was arrested by the Tsarist secret police and, after a trial with 29 co-defendants in 1885, sentenced to 16 years in prison in

. He died there of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

4 years later.

Legacy

During the times of the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

, the socialist movement pioneered by Waryński was conventionally presented as the starting point of the Polish socialist tradition. Countless Polish schoolchildren memorized ''Elegia o śmierci Ludwika Waryńskiego'', the powerful poem of Waryński's death by

Władysław Broniewski Władysław Kazimierz Broniewski (17 December 1897 – 10 February 1962) was a Polish poet, writer, translator and soldier, known for his Revolution, revolutionary and Patriotism, patriotic writings. Life He was the son of Antoni, a bank clerk. ...

. He was commemorated on the Polish 100 zloty banknote between 1975 and 1996. In 1952 a Warsaw factory was named after Waryński and became a large producer of excavators, bulldozers, cranes and other building equipment (pl: ''Warszawskie Zakłady Budowy Urządzeń Przemysłowych'', en: Warsaw Industrial Machinery Construction Works). Today, after privatisation and transformation, it is the core of the Waryński Holding Group.http://www.warynski.pl/home-en/ A 1979 Polish movie '' Biały mazur'' is a biography of Waryński. There are several monuments to Waryński in Poland and Ukraine.

Footnotes

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Warynski, Ludwik 1856 births 1889 deaths People from Cherkasy Oblast People from Kiev Governorate People from the Russian Empire of Polish descent 19th-century Polish nobility Polish socialists Polish revolutionaries 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Russia Prisoners of Shlisselburg fortress