Edmund Taczanowski (1822, Wieczyn – 1879, Choryń) was a Polish general, insurrectionist, member of the

Taczanowski Taczanowski (Polish feminine: Taczanowska; plural: Taczanowscy) is the surname of a Polish szlachta (nobility) family from Poznań bearing the Jastrzębiec coat of arms and the motto: ''Plus penser que dire''. They took their name from th ...

magnate The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

dynasty (he was grandson of the famous privateer

Maksymilian Taczanowski Maksymilian is the Polish form of the male given name Maximilian. Notable people with the name include: *Andrzej Maksymilian Fredro (1620–1679), Polish noble, writer * Franciszek Maksymilian Ossoliński (1676–1756), Polish noble, politician, c ...

), and Lord of the estate of Choryń in the province of

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

Early years and military career

The son of Jozef Grzegorz Mikolaj Piotr Taczanowski and Franciszka Drweska, as a youth Taczanowski was influenced by Polish

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and national hero

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...

, who lived at Choryń in 1831 while Prussian authorities prevented him from returning to Russian-Poland to support the insurrection there. Originally a Prussian officer, Taczanowski resigned to participate in the Greater Poland Uprising 1846 and in the 1848 revolt against Austrian-Polish rule. Following the collapse of this planned military action, he served with

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...

in the Italian

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

. Wounded, he was placed in French captivity, but he was later released and served as a General in the 1863 Polish revolt against Russian rule. With the collapse of this action and Czarist suppression of the revolution, Taczanowski fled to France and then to Turkey, where he unsuccessfully attempted to find support for the creation of a Polish liberation army and the establishment of an independent Polish state. Under an amnesty, the Prussian government allowed his return to Choryń in 1870 where he remained with his family until his death nine years later. Today, his grave is considered a site of Polish national honour. The manor of Choryń is now a historic landmark bearing plaques in remembrance of both Taczanowski and Mickiewicz.

Personal life

He was married in Czermin in 1860 to Aniela Baranowska (daughter of Agnieszka Baranowska). They had six children, including Stanisława Taczanowska and Stefan Taczanowski.

References

Stefan Kieniewicz Stefan Kieniewicz (20 September 1907, in Dereszewicze – 2 May 1992, in Konstancin) was a Polish historian and university professor, notable for his works on the 19th-century history of Poland. During his work at various universities he became ...

''Powstanie styczniowe'', Warszawa 1972 * Janusz Staszewski, ''General Edmund Taczanowski'', Poznan, 1936 * Bolesław Szczepański, ''Edmund Taczanowski'', ''Wielkopolski słownik biograficzny'', Warszawa-Poznan 1981. *

Polish Biographical Dictionary ''Polski Słownik Biograficzny'' (''PSB''; Polish Biographical Dictionary) is a Polish-language biographical dictionary, comprising an alphabetically arranged compilation of authoritative biographies of some 25,000 notable Poles and of foreigners ...

, ''Polski Slownik Biograficzny'', 1981
Family tree
maintained by great-great-grandniece {{DEFAULTSORT:Taczanowski, Edmund 1822 births 1879 deaths People from Pleszew County Generals of the January Uprising Greater Poland Uprising (1848) participants 19th-century Polish nobility

Edmund Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and ...

Polish political prisoners in the Prussian partition