150px, Radzic Coat of Arms Samuel Kmicic (between 1625 & 1630–1692) was a nobleman (

szlachcic The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in th ...

) from

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 the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

. He held the ranks of colonel (

pułkownik ''Polkovnik'' (russian: полковник, lit=regimentary; pl, pułkownik) is a military rank used mostly in Slavic-speaking countries which corresponds to a colonel in English-speaking states and oberst in several German-speaking and Scandin ...

) in the Royal Army,

chorąży Standard-bearer (Polish: ''Chorąży'' ; Russian and Ukrainian: , ''khorunzhiy''; ; ) is a military rank in Poland, Ukraine and some neighboring countries. A ''chorąży'' was once a knight who bore an ensign, the emblem of an armed troops, a voivo ...

(ensign) of

Orsza Orsha ( be, О́рша, Во́рша, Orša, Vorša; russian: О́рша ; lt, Orša, pl, Orsza) is a city in Belarus in the Vitebsk Region, on the fork of the Dnieper and Arshytsa rivers. History Orsha was first mentioned in 1067 as Rsha ...

and Grand Lithuanian Guardian. During

The Deluge The Genesis flood narrative (chapters 6–9 of the Book of Genesis) is the Hebrew version of the universal flood myth. It tells of God's decision to return the universe to its pre- creation state of watery chaos and remake it through the microc ...

- the Swedish invasion of Poland in 1650s - he led a konfederacja - a military rebellion against

hetman ( uk, гетьман, translit=het'man) is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders. Used by the Czechs in Bohemia since the 15th century. It was the title of the second-highest military co ...

Janusz Radziwiłł, who had betrayed the Commonwealth and allied himself with the Swedes. Later Kmicic joined the

Tyszowce Confederation The Tyszowce Confederation (Poland), Confederation (in Polish language, Polish ''Konfederacja tyszowiecka'') was set up by the Polish army under the command of Great Crown Hetman Stanisław Rewera Potocki and Field Crown Hetman Stanisław Lanckor ...

. Kmicic was one of the Polish commanders in the

Russo-Polish War (1654–1667) The Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667, also called the Thirteen Years' War and the First Northern War, was a major conflict between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Between 1655 and 1660, the Swedish invasion was a ...

, and fought in the

battle of Połonka The Battle of Polonka (Połonka) took place near Połonka (modern Belarus) during the Polish-Russian War (1658-1667) on 29 June 1660 between Polish-Lithuanian and Russian forces. Polish-Lithuanian army under Stefan Czarniecki and Paweł Jan Sapi ...

. After the war, he supported the Polish kings, opposing, among others, the

Lubomirski's Rokosz Lubomirski's rebellion or Lubomirski's rokosz ( pl, rokosz Lubomirskiego), was a rebellion against Polish King John II Casimir, initiated by the Polish nobleman Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski. In 1665–66, Lubomirski's supporters paralyzed the proceed ...

. He was married twice. From his first marriage, he had a son

Kazimierz Kazimierz (; la, Casimiria; yi, קוזמיר, Kuzimyr) is a historical district of Kraków and Kraków Old Town, Poland. From its inception in the 14th century to the early 19th century, Kazimierz was an independent city, a royal city of the ...

. His second wife was Anna Kantakuzem, whom he married about 1676. Samuel Kmicic may have served as the inspiration for the fictional

Andrzej Kmicic Andrzej Kmicic is best known as a fictional character created by Henryk Sienkiewicz featured in the novel ''The Deluge''. He is a typical szlachcic (Polish-Lithuanian noble) from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth; unruly yet patriotic. During ...

, hero of

Henryk Sienkiewicz Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz ( , ; 5 May 1846 – 15 November 1916), also known by the pseudonym Litwos (), was a Polish writer, novelist, journalist and Nobel Prize laureate. He is best remembered for his historical novels, especi ...

's novel '' Potop''."Kmicic istniał naprawdę. Kim był Samuel Kmicic, pierwowzór głównego bohatera „Potopu”"
, ''

Wprost ''Wprost'' (, meaning "Directly") is a Polish-language weekly news magazine published in Poznań, Poland.

'', April 5, 2021

References

* Kosman, Marceli: ''Na tropach bohaterów "Trylogii"'', Książka i Wiedza: Warszawa 1996, pp. 164–170. Polish people of the Russo-Polish War (1654–1667) 17th-century births 1692 deaths 17th-century Lithuanian nobility 17th-century Polish nobility Members of the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Military personnel of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth {{Lithuania-noble-stub