Tomasz Egidiusz Kuszłejko (; 1821 – 1894) – participant of the Uprising of 1863.

Early life

Kuszłejko came from the Lithuanian noble , he was born in in Samogitia. He was an officer of the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

. He went into reserve and lived in the

Bartkūniškiai Bartkūniškiai is a village in Kėdainiai district municipality, in Kaunas County, central Lithuania. It is located 3 km from Kėdainiai Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest List of cities in Lithuania, cities in Lithuania. It is located north o ...

manor near Kėdainiai. Tomasz Kuszłejko was the owner of the Bartkūniškis manor.

Uprising of 1863

In March 1863, he was mobilised by Bolesław Dłuski to form a unit in the

Krakės Krakės (formerly ''Krakiai'', pl, Kroki, russian: link=no, Кроки) is a small town in Kėdainiai district, central Lithuania. It is located on the Smilgaitis River. In the town, there are Catholic church of St. Matthew the Evangelist (bui ...

forests, near his manor. His unit of about 800 rebels, mostly peasants, concentrated in the Krakiai forest near Kuszłejko's manor, chose him as commander. This unit was called the Nevėžis Regiment ( pl, pułk nadniewiażski). In addition to organising the unit, Kuszłejko enfranchised the peasants of his manor. The regiment fought between

and Lenčiai close to

Ažytėnai Ažytėnai (formerly pl, Ożytany, russian: Ожетаны, Ожитаны) is a village in Kėdainiai district municipality, in Kaunas County, in central Lithuania. According to the 2011 census, the village had a population of 239 people. It is l ...

, then in near , and finally near and near

Viekšniai Viekšniai ( Samogitian: ''Vėikšnē'', yi, וועקשנע ''Vekshne'', pl, Wieksznie) is a city in the Mažeikiai district municipality, Lithuania. It is located south-east of Mažeikiai. Notable people * Mykolas Biržiška Mykolas Birž ...

(9 June 1863). Kuszłejko recruited new rebels through the regiment's fighters, inciting the public against Russian occupation. Among the recruiters was

Adomas Bitė Adomas Bitė ( pl, Adam Bitis; 1836–1884) was a participant of the January Uprising and a peasant. Biography Bitė was born in 1836 in Belazariškiai (Białozoryszki), his father died two years later, leaving Adomas, his mother Barbara and h ...

, who was very trusted by the local peasants. The regiment was later divided into smaller independent groups.

In emigration

In autumn 1863, he emigrated and lived in France. He took an active part in the political life of emigration. He was a member of the , as head of the Montparnasse commune, and a member of the Lithuanian Delegation, set up to settle the so-called "Lithuanian sums". In 1867, he was one of the initiators of the split and the formation of the right-wing so-called "Ogół" Organisation.

Last years

Probably after 1868 he returned from emigration and settled in

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

, mostly Lviv, from 1868. For several years he was involved in a court dispute over part of his estate, which the Kaniewski brothers were trying to seize. He died from a heart attack in Zamarstyniv in 1894.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kusleika, Tomas 1821 births 1894 deaths 19th-century Lithuanian nobility January Uprising participants