Jakub Krzysztof Jasiński ( lt, Jokūbas Kristupas Jasinskis) of Rawicz Clan (24 July 1761, in

Węglew Węglew is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Golina, within Konin County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Golina, west of Konin, and east of the regional capital Poznań. ...

near

Pyzdry Pyzdry (german: Peisern, yi, פּײַזער or ''Peizer'') is a town in Września County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,163 inhabitants (2004). History Pyzdry was first mentioned in 1232, when army of Silesian Piast Duke Henry ...

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; german: Großpolen, sv, Storpolen, la, Polonia Maior), is a Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed ...

– 4 November 1794, in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

general, and poet of

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

.Jerzy Snopek
"The Polish Literature of the Enlightenment." Pages 142–143.
Jakub Jasiński's mock-heroic "'Sprzeczki" (Quarrels). (PDF 122 KB) ''Poland.pl.'' He participated in the

War in Defence of the Constitution War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...

in 1792, was an enemy of the

Targowica Confederation The Targowica Confederation ( pl, konfederacja targowicka, , lt, Targovicos konfederacija) was a Confederation (Poland), confederation established by Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Polish and Lithuanian magnates on 27 April 1792, in Saint Pe ...

and organized an action against its supporters in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

. He participated also in the

Kościuszko Uprising The Kościuszko Uprising, also known as the Polish Uprising of 1794 and the Second Polish War, was an uprising against the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia led by Tadeusz Kościuszko in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Pr ...

, during the course of which he was killed in the Battle of Praga in 1794. A graduate of the

-based

Szkoła Rycerska ''Szkoła Rycerska'' ( en, School of Chivalry) or ''Akademia Szlachecka Korpusu Kadetów Jego Królewskiej Mości i Rzeczypospolitej'' (English: ''Nobles' Academy of the Corps of Cadets of His Royal Majesty and the Commonwealth'') was the first st ...

, with time he became the tutor of engineering at his '' alma mater''. He fought with distinction in the

War in Defense of the Constitution War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...

of 1792. After the king joined the

he remained loyal to the new authorities. In 1789 he became the commanding officer of the Engineering Corps for Lithuania.

War in Defence of the Constitution

He participated in the Battle of Brześć in July 1792, for which he was awarded the military award

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King Stan ...

. Despite his antipathy towards the

Confederation of Targowica The Targowica Confederation ( pl, konfederacja targowicka, , lt, Targovicos konfederacija) was a confederation established by Polish and Lithuanian magnates on 27 April 1792, in Saint Petersburg, with the backing of the Russian Empress Catheri ...

, opposed the

Constitution of 3 May The Constitution of 3 May 1791,; lt, Gegužės trečiosios konstitucija titled the Governance Act, was a constitution adopted by the Great Sejm ("Four-Year Sejm", meeting in 1788–1792) for the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a dual mo ...

which Jasiński had defended, during this time he pledged his loyalty to it, not giving up conspiratorial activities against it.Żytkowicz, Leonid, 'Ze stosunków Jasińskiego z konfederacją targowicką', ''Ateneum Wileńskie'' XIII, 172 (Wilno: 1938).

The war of liberation

During the

of 1794 Jasiński was among the most prominent members of the radical wing of the Polish Jacobins and at the same time a successful military commander of partisan forces in the area of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...

. In April of that year he liberated the city of

by leading a successful uprising there. Supported by

Tadeusz Kościuszko Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko ( be, Andréj Tadévuš Banavientúra Kasciúška, en, Andrew Thaddeus Bonaventure Kosciuszko; 4 or 12 February 174615 October 1817) was a Polish Military engineering, military engineer, statesman, an ...

and appointed the commander in chief of all the partisan forces in the former Grand Duchy, he managed to defeat numerous Russian garrisons in the area. However, accusations of radical republicanism brought him into conflict with the state authorities, and by the beginning of June he was forced to resign as commander-in-chief of Lithuanian forces and pass his office to General Michał Wielhorski. Jakub Jasiński continued to harass enemy forces in Lithuania and then withdrew with a small partisan troop towards

. There he perished in November during the defense of Warsaw against the forces of

Alexander Suvorov Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov (russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Суво́ров, Aleksándr Vasíl'yevich Suvórov; or 1730) was a Russian general in service of the Russian Empire. He was Count of Rymnik, Count of the Holy ...

. Among his literary works are numerous poems of satirical and

fable Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular mo ...

d character, under huge influence of

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...

, for example Jasiński's better-known "Sprzeczki" (Quarrels). He was also an author of many patriotic and revolutionary poems and songs against injustices, inspired by the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, and arousing hope of a similar one in his homeland.

Commemoration

In Poland, there are or were a number of streets named after Jakub Jasiński, including in Warsaw, Chorzów, Częstochowa, Gliwice, Inowrocław, Kraków, Lublin, Łódź, Przemyśl, Radom, Świdnica, and Zielona Góra. Outside Poland, he is also commemorated in the names of Streets in Belarus, where there is a street named after him in

Maladzyechna Maladzyechna ( be, Маладзе́чна, Maladziečna, ; russian: Молоде́чно, Molodechno; pl, Mołodeczno) is a city in the Minsk Region of Belarus, an administrative centre of the Maladzyechna District (and formerly of the Maladzyech ...

as well in Lithuania, where he has a street both in the Old Town of

and in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

. Belarus also released a stamp with his image in 1994.

References

18th-century Polish–Lithuanian poets Generals of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Generals of the Kościuszko Uprising Polish Jacobins People of the Polish–Russian War of 1792 1761 births 1794 deaths People from Września County Polish generals 18th-century Polish nobility Clan of Rawicz Polish male poets 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian military personnel {{Poland-poet-stub