14 Facts About Konstanty Kalinowski

Konstanty Kalinowski is considered a national hero in present-day Poland, Lithuania and Belarus.

Particularly in Belarus, Kalinowski is revered as Father of the Nation and icon of Belarusian nationalism.

Konstanty Kalinowski was born in Mostowlany, in Grodnensky Uyezd of the Russian Empire to a szlachta family.

The Konstanty Kalinowski family hailed from the Polish region of Mazovia and bore the Kalinowa coat of arms.

Konstanty Kalinowski's father, Szymon, was a manager of the Mostowlany farm and manor.

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

Konstanty Kalinowski promoted the idea of activisation of peasants for the cause of national liberation, the idea that was until then dominated by the gentry.

Konstanty Kalinowski was unhappy with the timing and objectives of the January Uprising, which broke out on 23 January 1863.

Konstanty Kalinowski's writings made him popular both among the peasants and the gentry, which enabled the partisan units under his command to grow rapidly.

Finally, Konstanty Kalinowski was betrayed by one of his soldiers and handed over to the Russians.

Konstanty Kalinowski was tried by a court-martial for leading the revolt against Russia and sentenced to death.

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

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

In June 2024, a memorial plaque in honor of Konstanty Kalinowski was unveiled in a street named after him in Chernihiv.