Leon Young de Blankenheim (1837? – April 29, 1863 in

Nowiny Brdowskie Nowiny Brdowskie is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Babiak, within Koło County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. It lies approximately east of Babiak, south-east of Brdów, north-east of Koło, and e ...

) was a

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

soldier, who was promoted to the rank of colonel of Polish rebels during the

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire on April 26, 1863. De Blankenheim was a volunteer who came to

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...

to participate in the anti-Russian rebellion. In March 1863, he was named commandant of a rebel unit, created by the Działyński Committee from

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 ...

. De Blankenheim participated in fighting in

Kujawy Kuyavia ( pl, Kujawy; german: Kujawien; la, Cuiavia), also referred to as Cuyavia, is a historical region in north-central Poland, situated on the left bank of Vistula, as well as east from Noteć River and Lake Gopło. It is divided into three t ...

, and he was killed in action in Nowiny Brdowskie on April 29, 1863. His body was buried in a parish cemetery in

Brdów Brdów is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Babiak, within Koło County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in central Poland. It lies approximately north of Koło, east of the regional capital Poznań, 76 km (48 mi) south o ...

, while a monument dedicated to him and other rebels was erected in Nowiny Brdowskie.

Sources

* Powstanie styczniowe i zeslancy syberyjscy. Katalog fotografii ze zbiorow Muzeum Historycznego m. st. Warszawy, t. I, Warszawa 2004 1837 births 1863 deaths French military personnel Polish military personnel January Uprising participants French emigrants to Poland {{France-mil-bio-stub