Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
BartłomiejBeniowskihaslongbeenafootnotetoBritishlabourhistory,as
theonlyforeignrefugeetoplayanidentifiableroleinearlyChartism.Butfor
Britishhistorianshehasremainedwithintheconfinesofthatfootnote,which
refersatmosttotwoofthethirtyoneyearsthathespentinLondon,
energeticallyforwardingpoliticalideas,socialschemesandentrepreneurial
endeavours.NorhashislifeandworkbeenofmuchinteresttoPolishhistorians,
althoughformanyyearshewasaprominentdemocraticmemberoftheGreat
EmigrationthatfollowedthefailedPolishRevolutionofNovember1830.Inthe
1930s,thehistorian,librarianandarchivistAdamLewakwroteanentryon
BeniowskiinthenewDictionaryofNationalBiography
1
,referringtohisfivery
activeroleintheChartistmovementwhichwasworkingforradical
constitutionalandsocialchangeinEngland,”andoutlininghisearlyaffiliations
withinPolishémigrépolitics,aswellashischampioninginLondonof
mnemonicsandprintinginnovations(fiwhichwonsupportandhelpfromEnglish
capitalists”).Thereafter,Beniowskiwaslargelyignored.Evenduringtheperiod
from1945to1989,whenthePolishPeople)sRepublicforegroundedlabour
history,historianstendedtofocusonLondonPoleslikeLudwikOborskiwho
weremoreevidentlycentraltomovementsontheroutetotheFirstInternational.
Whilethe20th-centuryémigréhistoriansofPolishsocialism,AdamandLidia
Ciołkosz,paidseriousattentiontosomeaspectsofBeniowski)scontribution,he
inevitablyappearsonlyenpassantintheirwide-rangingstudy.
2
Andin
thebackgroundtothegenerallackofinterestwasthelingeringechoofthe
reputationbestowedonhiminLondoninthe1830sbythePolishconservative
émigrésassociatedwithPrinceAdamCzartoryski,whoinretaliationforhis
outspokenpoliticalstancestigmatisedhimasanon-Poleandaspy.Theterm
firealPole”wasalreadybeingusedbytherightwinginthe1830stodescribethe
RomanCatholic,mythicallyfiSarmatian,”landedgentlemanwhosupported
1
PolskiSłownikBiograficzny,ed.WładysławKonopczyński,vol.1,Kraków,1935.
2
LidiaiAdamCiołkoszowie,Zarysdziejówsocjalizmupolskiego,vol.I,Londyn,1966;
vol.2,Londyn,1972.
