Great Emigration Research Articles

“I Thank My Lucky Star for the Time spent with my Family”: Efforts to Reunite with Families among Members of the Great Emigration

“I Thank My Lucky Star for the Time spent with my Family”: Efforts to Reunite with Families among Members of the Great Emigration

Prostitution in the Account of Joseph (Józef) Feliks Zieliński in Exile in France in 1832

Abstract The aim of the article is to present the issue of entertainment in the account of the Polish military and independence activist Józef Feliks Zieliński, from his first months in exile in France in 1832. He was one of the tens of thousands of Polish refugees (the Great Emigration) who, after the collapse of the Independence Uprising (1830–1831) (aimed at freeing the Kingdom of Poland from Russian rule), left their native country. A few thousand came to France, where they received money in the first few months. His observations are unique and of great value to a historian studying everyday life in exile in France. Compared to other diaries of the insurgents, they are distinguished by the description of intimate life. He presented the taboo subject of the use of prostitutes by representatives of the Great Emigration.

Archiwum w Domu Generalnym Zgromadzenia Zmartwychwstania Pana Naszego Jezusa Chrystusa w Rzymie

The Archives at the General House of the Congregation of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Rome is the central historical archives of the congregation. Bogdan Jański should be considered its founder, as he instructed to gather his entire legacy in Rome in 1840. Since 1886 the documentation has been housed in the General House of the Resurrectionists in via San Sebastanello 11. The first works organizing the archival records were undertaken by Father Paweł Smolikowski, at the turn of the 20th century. The current state of the archives has been most influenced by Father John Iwicki, who has catalogued nearly 70,000 file records, dividing the collection into 11 series. Between 2017 and 2023, Father Paweł Szymanowski, the congregation’s archivist, succeeded in signing an agreement with the Head Office of the State Archives to digitize and restore the letters of Adam Mickiewicz and Cyprian Kamil Norwid. Moreover, the Integrated Archival Information System (Zintegrowany System Informacji Archiwalnej – ZoSIA) has been implemented in the archives, thanks to which the inventory descriptions of archival items and their scans are successively uploaded. While the Roman Resurrectionist Archives does not have a statute, since October 30th, 1996, it has been operating on the basis of regulations approved by Father Sutherland MacDonald CR, the General of the Congregation. The archives have an inventory of more than 80,000 records. It collects the documentation heritage generated by the congregation’s central institutions, Resurrectionist houses and the legacy of the clergy. The Resurrectionist Archives includes very precious documentary resources, which, by their sheer size and informational value, make this institution one of the most important outside Poland. Its significance is not limited only to the knowledge of the history of the Polish Church in exile in the 19th and 20th centuries, but also the life of Polish exiles. Particularly valuable are the materials concerning the activity of the Great Emigration, cultural and political life of Poles in exile in the era of national captivity.

Książę Adam Jerzy Czartoryski i jego obóz polityczny wobec grekokatolików

Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski and his political camp towards Greek Catholics The article aims to describe the actions of Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski and his friends of the same political group directed towards Greek Catholics. Prince Adam Jerzy, firstly religiously indifferent, came into contact with Uniates’ problems at the beginning of the 19th century, as a curator of Vilnius Scientific Society. In that period he was a protector of Uniate Bazylian Convent. As a representative of authorities of the Kingdom of Poland he aimed to engage Uniates in development of people’s education. New opening for Czartoryski’s activities started with the Great Emigration after the failure of the November Uprising. As a leader of Hotel Lambert Prince Czartoryski observed with a great worry the liquidation of the Church Union in Russian partition. Several times he intervened by Pope Gregory XVI in favour of the persecuted people of Uniate Church. Apostolic Capital was then receiving journals, letters, and other proofs for Russian repressions. In 40s and 50s of the 19th century Czartoryski’s agents were involved in issues of Uniates living in Russian and Austrian partitions. Some examples of these actions were: giving the Roman Catholic Church Madonna del Pascola to Bazylian Convent, opening of Uniate Collegium and placing Galician clerics in Apostolic Capital. Moreover, initiatives for Greek Catholics among Polish immigrants were supported and also the foundation of the Greek Catholic Church in Bulgaria was backed up.

Wanderers – Pilgrims – Soldiers – Emigrants

The main purpose of the article is to review imageries and experiences of a specific group of poets organized within the frame of the Second Polish Corps during World War II, and to analyze its most characteristic motifs within a deeper historical context of Polish romanticism, as “replayed” in the paths and roles of the Corps poets-soldiers. The study is based on the extensive use of all available books of verses and other literary publications of the Corps, which were produced on the long way from the Soviet Union, where the bulk of Corps was formed in 1941–1942, through the Middle East, Italy, to the final exile station, London in most cases. This material is analyzed within the reference framework of the Polish poetry of World War II studies, as well as comparative studies on the Polish romantic literary tradition, especially that of the Great Emigration. This comparative point of view and method of analysis is used in all parts of the chronologically organized text. From a short presentation of the history of the Corps variegated cultural life which accompanied its development from 1941 to 1945, it proceeds to similarly succinct picture of the group of more than 80 active poets publishing in the Corps. The study centers its analysis on the main theme forming the time-perception of the world presented in soldier poetry: the motif of the road or path. It reveals a phenomenon of uniting very different poetic “schools” and styles (from extreme avant-gardist and futurist, through neoromanticism, to cabaret texts) under the pressure of the war and exile experiences, as well as the strength of the great romantic tradition of Polish poetry formed along a very similar path: from Russia, Siberia, through the Middle East, to Italy, where Polish soldiers had fought under Napoleon, to London and Paris, centers of the Great Emigration. Topoi of martyrdom, strengthened through Siberia and the Holy Land connections, homelessness, martial experiences in Italy, a “treason” of Western allies (Teheran and Yalta conferences) are effectively “refreshed” in this comparative approach.

Poles in Belgium and the question of rebirth of an independent Polish state

The issue of the participation of Polish political emigration in the struggle for freedom and its comprehensive activity in the political, scientific and cultural spheres are reflected in the Polish (European) history, thus providing valuable research material for future generations. Polish post-partition emigres, especially after the major national uprisings, was concentrated mainly in France, England and Belgium. Polish emigration in Belgium, similar to some extent to emigration in France – albeit smaller in number – was constituted by the Polish colony, represented, among others, by soldiers seeking refuge after the November Uprising (including several dozen officers, e.g. Ignacy Kruszewski, Feliks Prot de Pruszyński, Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki, Władysław Zamoyski) and representatives of culture and science, Joachim Lelewel (an outstanding Polish historian, spiritual guide in an exile democratic camp), Stanisław Worcell (thinker and social activist of the Great Emigration) and many other outstanding Poles. The aim of this article is to present the role of Polish emigration in Belgium, its contribution to the struggle for Poland’s independence, and to draw attention to the scholarly dispute surrounding the Great Emigration between Polish and Belgian historians regarding the effects of “politics in exile” and the question of the heroism of Polish patriots in exile. These considerations are a contribution to a broader discussion and an encouragement to a deeper penetration of the literature (source materials) on the Great Emigration, especially, if it concerns Belgium, available in foreign languages – French and Dutch.

Mechanisms of Conceptual Change in the Discourse of Polish Political Emigration after the November Insurrection of 1830–1

This essay investigates the mechanisms of conceptual change in the discourse of Polish political emigration after the November Insurrection of 1830–1. To this end, a methodological apparatus is employed that has been elaborated by scholars of the German ‘history of concepts’ (Begriffsgeschichte) school and by Anglo-Saxon researchers specialised in the intellectual history and studies on ideology. Quoting a series of period source materials, I argue that the decades of 1830s and 1840s are interpretable in the Polish context as the time of a fundamental breakthrough in the sphere of ideas and political concepts. This turn was caused, for one thing, by the absorbability of Polish political discourse of the time, with a number of new ideas and concepts appearing, particularly those borrowed from the French debates ongoing in the period concerned. For another, it resulted from ardent disputes going on in the circles of the Polish Great Emigration. The concluding remarks stress the need to render a method applicable with such considerations empirically rooted since the dynamism of conceptual change is fundamentally different depending on the period as well as national and linguistic context.

Początki Wielkiej Emigracji. Polacy w Besançon w latach 1832–1833

The beginnings of the Great Emigration. Poles in Besançon in 1832–1833 The presence of Poles who emigrated after the November Uprising in Besançon and the Franche-Comté region definitely deserves the historians’ attention. Although the Poles stayed in the city and surrounding areas for only a little longer than a year, they made a mark in the history of the region. At the beginning, Besançon was meant to be just a point for the emigrants to receive necessary help during their journey to Avignon and Châteauroux. Only a significant inflow of Polish migrants resulted in the establishment of a new dépôt. In the first period of their stay in the city, the Poles received an enthusiastic welcome, but as time went by, their presence was getting more and more troublesome for the inhabitants. Unlawful abandonment of the dépôt to participate in the Frankfurt Expedition, resulted directly in the dissolution and sending the Poles to Normandy and Brittany in 1833. Attention should be given to the fact that thanks to the current availability of French archives, the research on the Polish emigration community may be extended by a new feature of the Great Emigration phenomenon – from the point of view of the French Government and local authorities.

Bogdan Jański i jego współcześni

Artykuł poświęcony jest postaci Bogdana Jańskiego – emigracyjnego działa­cza doby romantyzmu. Punkt wyjścia stanowi przedstawienie biografii zało­życiela zmartwychwstańców. Skonfrontowane zostały ze sobą różne wersje jego życiorysu: od hagiograficznej, poprzez popularną, aż po ściśle naukową. Przypomniana i wyjaśniona zostaje kwestia relacji Jańskiego z Adamem Mickiewiczem (osobista przyjaźń, wzajemne wpływy światopoglądowe). Ważny element wywodu stanowi ukazanie powiązań „apostoła emigracji” z innymi autorytetami duchowymi tego okresu. Artykuł ma na celu przypomnienie skomplikowanych i interesujących dziejów Jańskiego oraz miejsca, jakie zaj­muje on w historii Wielkiej Emigracji, a także wyjaśnienie pewnych kwe­stii spornych związanych z jego biografią (np. zakresu wpływu Jańskiego na twórczość poetycką Mickiewicza).

From "De Facto King" to Peasants' Communes

This article presents a conceptual history of representation in the political debates of the Polish émigré community in the period 1832–1846/48. As I argue, while the concept was present in the output of all political environments of the Polish Great Emigration, there were more discrepancies than similarities about how to understand it. As a result of debates about what the Polish diaspora in exile actually was and who had the right to represent it, the concept became a part and parcel of political frays. In this way, the right to use it—and consequently to represent the whole Polish community and Polish nation as well—occupied a central place in the evolution of the concept of representation.

Waśnie martyrologiczne Wielkiej Emigracji. Demokraci wobec Mickiewicza

Today, the martyrological discourse is one of the most conspicuous traditions of Polish Romanti-cism. When searching for the genesis of this discourse, one cannot overestimate the importance of the literary and political activities of Adam Mickiewicz from the autumn of 1832 to the middle of 1833. However, little is known about the problem of the resonance of Mickiewicz’s martyrological language and about how this discourse functioned in various texts of the Great Emigration. This paper attempts to answer those questions in reference to left-leaning texts of Komitet Narodowy Polski (KNP) and To-warzystwo Demokratyczne Polskie (TDP) from the 1830s. A study of the writings of KNP has led the author to the conclusion that they represent a common martyrological code of the emigration’s logo-sphere, while the TDP publications constitute an interesting variation of the martyrological collective imagination. The original character of the martyrological expression of the democrats stems from their views on the role of the people in regaining independence. On the other hand, certain common traits existed between TDP and Mickiewicz, which demonstrates that democrats modified the martyrological framework as a national narrative established by Mickiewicz.

Zakłady (dépôts) dla emigrantów polskich w Châteauroux i departamencie Indre w latach 1831–1833

Refugee depots for Polish emigrants in Châteauroux and Indre department in the years 1831–1833 In the article the author presents the setting up and operation of refugee depots (Fr. dépôts) in the Indre department for Polish emigrants who arrived in France after the fall of the November Uprising. The refugee depot in Châteauroux was one of the several depots founded by the French government. It was intended for civil exiles. The other camps for military refugees were set up in Avignon, Lunel, Besançon, Bourges, Lons-le-Saunier, Salins and Dijon. From the beginning of August 1832 till August 1833, the French authorities directed civilians to cities of Indre: Châteauroux – the capital of the department, as well as Issoudun, Levroux, La Chatre, Argenton, Buzançais, Chatillon, Saint Benoit, and La Blanc. The author establishes that in that period of time, 634 Polish refugees went through the camps of the Indre department. Most of them were students (from the Vilnius University), young officials and members of free professions. They came from the pre-partition areas of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Lithuania, Volhynia and Podolia). Despite the restrictive policy of the administration and the fact that they stayed in the French province, the Poles engaged in the social and political life of emigration. They participated actively in democratic and educational organizations of the Great Emigration. In many cases, by their own determination, they went to study and obtained aducation at French universities and technical universities. The article is based on sources from the Indre Department Archives in Châteauroux, archives of the Defense Historical Service in Vincennes, the National Archives in Paris, the Polish Library in Paris, the Princes Czartoryski Library in Krakow, and academic studies.

Публічна дипломатія Італійської Республіки

Публічна дипломатія Італійської Республіки

DIPLOMATIC AND MILITARY AGENTS OF THE POLISH EMIGRATION IN THE ROMANIAN PRINCIPALITIES (1833–1849)

Before the 1848–1849 revolution, the Romanian Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, under Turkish suzerainty and Russian protectorate, hosted a significant number of Poles belonging to both factions of the Polish Great Emigration, Adam Czartoryski’s circle and the democrats. The names and activity of the Poles emigrated in the Romanian Lands during the Peoples’ Spring are less known than those of the Polish Great Emigration in France and England. The study brings to light the diplomatic involvement (1833–1849) of leading characters among the Polish monarchists sent by Czartoryski and Michał Czajkowski in the Romanian national movement promoted by Ion Câmpineanu (1838), as well as their bounds and military support offered to Nicolae Bălcescu and other revolutionaries from Wallachia (1848). Special attention is paid to the activity unfolded by Polish democrats in Moldavia, in order to prepare and trigger an uprising in neighbouring Galicia (1846, 1848). Led by Faustyn Filanowicz, Teofil Wiśniowski, Ioan Loga, the democrats’ main accomplishment was the establishment of the Polish South Legion (1842), with operational basis in Grozeşti (Oituz) and military deployment in southern Moldavia and north-eastern Wallachia (1848). The study case of the Polish emigration in the Romanian Principalities between 1833–1849 reveals useful conclusions regarding the organization of the universal revolution, a phenomenon of world interest for nineteenth century history.

Mujeres de refugiados, mujeres refugiadas en la Francia del siglo XIX (años 1830-1870)

El artículo se interroga sobre el lugar ocupado por unas mujeres extranjeras consideradas como “étrangers réfugiés” por la administración francesa desde la Monarquía de Julio hasta el final del Segundo Imperio. Después de las Tres Gloriosas, una serie de emigraciones políticas europeas contribuyó a ampliar los rangos de los extranjeros tratados en Francia como unos “refugiados”: liberales italianos, españoles y portugueses, polacos de la “Gran Emigración”, pero también carlistas españoles que atravesaron la frontera durante la primera guerra carlista.Nuestro estudio analiza la manera con la que la administración francesa privilegió el reconocimiento del título de “refugiado” a los padres de familia, descartando a las mujeres que eran sin embargo numerosas, tanto extranjeras como francesas. Las mujeres aisladas, solteras o viudas en exilio representaban un grupo aparte que recibía peculiar atención. ¿Cómo, en ausencia de hombres adultos en su entorno, consiguieron ser designadas y reconocidas como unas refugiadas? ¿En qué medida la administración francesa desarrolló la idea de vulnerabilidad para ellas? Mostraremos el papel que aquellas mujeres pudieron desempeñar en las relaciones con la administración francesa y con la sociedad local.

The Pathogenesis of the Public Sphere in Exile: Anarchy and Unity in the Political Thought and Mentality of the Great Polish Emigration

The post-1831 Great Emigration created conditions that were particularly favourable for the development of Polish political thought. This development, however, would have progressed at a considerably slower tempo without the deepening of ideopolitical differences, which put paid to any belief that the émigrés would reach unity. Paradoxically, successive rifts were often justified exactly by the aspiration to implement the concept of ‘unity’. The present article focuses on an issue-based analysis of the tensions between the categories of ‘unity’ and ‘anarchy’, and discusses the mechanism which led to the emergence of the public sphere in exile.

POLISH «GREAT EMIGRATION» OF 1831 – 1870: TRANSFORMATION OF IDEOLOGICALANDOUTLOOK FOUNDATIONS OF LIBERATION MOVEMENT

Abstract. The purpose of the article is the attempt to study the influence of the «great emigration» of 1831 – 1870 on the transformation processes of the main ideological and outlook foundations and the organizational forms of the Polish national liberation movement, as well as to outline the key social and socio-political circumstances of the Polish emigrant environment life in Western Europe. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, systematicity, scientificity, verification, an authoritative objectivity, a moderate narrative constructivism, an anthropological approach, as well as special historical (historical-genetic, historical-typological, historical-systemic) methods. The scientific novelty is that for the first time in the Ukrainian historical science the transformation process of the main ideological and philosophical foundations of the liberation movement of the «great Polish emigration» period of 1831 – 1870 has been substantiated. Conclusions. For almost four decades, Polish «great emigration» had undergone an internal transformation; its social and political programmes have evolved; its main problem was the struggle for the national liberation and democratic social change.The analysis of the historical and political aspects of the Polish «great emigration» emergence in 1831 – 1870 and the peculiarities of its justification for the Poles' desire to struggle for a national freedom, a public liberation, the aspiration for independence, lead to the conclusion that the Polish «great emigration» contributed to the spread of a national liberationdemocratic ideas.

Wkład batignolczyków i Biuletynu Polskiego w umocnienie polskiej tożsamości, kultury i polityki na Zachodzie

Artykuł ukazuje wkład drugiego i trzeciego pokolenia Wielkiej Emigracji, zwanej batignolską, w utrzymanie i promocję polskiej/polonijnej społeczności i jej kultury we Francji i w Europie. Cel/teza: Prezentacja, powstanie, ewolucja i analiza zawartości najbardziej prestiżowego, wydawanego w języku francuskim, periodyku Bulletin polonais littéraire, scientifique et artistique oraz działalność jego redaktorów. Metody badań: Odwołując się do metod prasoznawczych i analizy źródeł historycznych, prezentuje znaczenie gazety w utrzymaniu polonijnej wychodźczej tożsamości. Wyniki i wnioski: Przedstawia wagę stroniącego od polityki pisma w budowaniu siły i prestiżu ugrupowania konserwatywno-patriotycznego w przededniu uzyskania niepodległości na tle innych efemerycznych przedsięwzięć dziennikarskich. Wartość poznawcza: Ukazuje jego rolę jako kronikarza, a zarazem wyraziciela polskich nastrojów nad Sekwaną.

Duchowni i duszpasterstwo polskiej emigracji w krajach Europy Zachodniej w I połowie XIX wieku. Przegląd problematyki badawczej

The article deals with the subject of pastoral care and the presence of the Polish clergy among emigrants from Poland in the post-partition period. Its purpose is to outline the research issues regarding the role of the clergy among the Polish Diaspora and to present the current state and directions of research. The chronological framework covers the period from the beginning of the 19th century until the failure of the January Uprising. The author of the article studied the activity of the Polish clergy in France during the Great Emigration period. An archival and library inquiry showed that, apart from France, Polish priests could be found in the British Isles, Austria, the Italian countries, Spain, Belgium, and other countries where subsequent waves of emigration had arrived. The following issues will be presented in the respective Western European countries: 1) an outline of emigration after the partitions; 2) the number of clergy; 3) pastoral and social initiatives of Polish priests; 4) the state of research; 5) postulates for further scientific researches.

“Appointment” and Spontaneous Field Situations: Ethnographic Fieldwork in the Hungarian Communities of American Industrial Towns and Mining Settlements

Abstract To create context, the study first recounts, in a nutshell, the emigration history of Hungarian Americans and the main features of their American integration. In addition to discussing the specific fieldwork goals and experiences, the article seeks to present the theoretical background of the fieldwork concept of the research. The author began his research in the United States in 2006, where he has been regularly returning to conduct ethnographic fieldwork ever since. From the great emigration wave that began at the end of the nineteenth century up until today, he examines the history, institutional networks, and socio-ethnographic aspects of Hungarian communities on the East Coast and in the Midwest, including acculturation, identity change, and contacts with the homeland. When developing his fieldwork concept, for his guiding principle he chose to combine the individual identity construction model with capsule theory. Hungarian American emigrants who have been forced to switch cultures have been living their lives in a “time and mentality capsule”. The part brought from the old country resides inside the capsule, while everything outside is part of the new environment. This duality can be complemented by the potential role of the local community, which directly surrounds the individual in the alien new country. Examination of this particular capsule is only possible in the field. In the course of fieldwork, the main question becomes: to what extent do the adopted patterns of behavior, the desire to meet American social expectations, and the efforts that are internally controlled and realized, allow a look into these capsules? Such fieldwork is characterized by a duality of scheduled appointments pre-arranged with prospective informants, and spontaneous field situations. In the Hungarian communities of industrial towns, fieldwork consisted predominantly (almost exclusively) of the “appointment” type of data collection, while in the case of former mining settlements on the brink of extinction, spontaneously developing ethnographic data collection was more typical. Participation in events linked to dates and venues, data collecting at these occasions, and getting acquainted with event participants for later interviewing is the third option besides the fieldwork situations mentioned above. Finally, the paper attempts to demonstrate through several examples of the ways in which fieldwork can enrich the information gained from documents with additional data, tangible memorabilia, and the memories related to them.