Emilia Plater: Difference between revisions
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[[Countess]] '''Emilia Plater''' (Broel-Plater) (13 November 1806 – 23 December 1831) was a |
[[Countess]] '''Emilia Plater''' (Broel-Plater) (13 November 1806 – 23 December 1831) was a [[Polish people|Polish]] [[szlachta|noblewoman]] and revolutionary<ref>Robin Morgan, "Sisterhood is global: the international women's movement anthology", Feminist Press, 1996, pg. 559</ref> from the lands of the [[partitions of Poland|partitioned]] [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. She fought in the [[November Uprising]] and is considered a national hero in [[Poland]], [[Lithuania]] and [[Belarus]], which were former parts of the Commonwealth. |
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==Biography== |
==Biography== |
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Revision as of 01:42, 22 March 2011
Countess Emilia Plater (Broel-Plater) (13 November 1806 – 23 December 1831) was a Polish noblewoman and revolutionary[1] from the lands of the partitioned Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. She fought in the November Uprising and is considered a national hero in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus, which were former parts of the Commonwealth.
Biography
Emilia Plater was born in Vilnius into an noble Polish-Lithuanian family.[2] Originating in Westphalia, much of the family relocated to Livonia during the 15th century and later to Lithuania.[2] She is described as either Polish, Polish-Lithuanian, or Lithuanian.[3][4][5] Her parents, Franciszek Ksawery Plater and Anna von der Mohl, divorced when she was nine years old. She was brought up by distant relatives, the Plater-Zyberk family, in their family's manor Līksna near Daugavpils, contemporary Latvia. Well-educated, Plater was brought up to appreciate the efforts of Tadeusz Kościuszko, and the poet Adam Mickiewicz. She also admired Bouboulina, a woman who became one of the icons of the Greek uprising against the Ottomans, as well as Joan of Arc. These pursuits were accompanied by an early interest in equestrianism and marksmanship, quite uncommon for early 19th century girls from aristocratic families.
In 1829, Emilia Plater began a grand tour throughout the historical Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but returned home due to the death of her mother. After the outbreak of the November Uprising against Imperial Russia, the lands of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania were initially unaffected by the fighting and during the initial stages, no anti-Tsarist units were in existence.
Emilia Plater decided to form one of the first such partisan Lithuanians units herself. She cut her hair, prepared a uniform for herself and organized and equipped a group of volunteers. The unit was composed of roughly 280 infantry, 60 cavalry and several hundred peasants armed with war scythes.
From the area of Daugavpils she entered Lithuania, where in April 1831 her unit seized the town of Zarasai. Her unit then attempted to return to Daugavpils, but after a reconnaissance mission discovered that the city was defended by a strong garrison and was impregnable to attack by such a small force as her own unit, that plan was abandoned.
She then returned to Samogitia and headed for Panevėžys, where she joined forces with the unit commanded by Karol Załuski. Shortly afterwards General Dezydery Chłapowski entered the area with a large force and took command over all units fighting in the former Grand Duchy.
According to a popular legend, he advised Emilia Plater to stand down and return home. She allegedly replied that she had no intention of taking off her uniform until her fatherland was fully liberated.
Her decision was accepted and she was made the commanding officer of 1st company of the Polish 1st Lithuanian Infantry Regiment. She fought with distinction and was promoted to the rank of captain, the highest rank awarded to a woman at that time.
After the Polish units were defeated by the Russians, Gen. Chłapowski decided to cross the border into Prussia and become interned there. Emilia Plater refused to follow orders and instead decided to try to break through to Warsaw and continue the struggle.
However, Emilia Plater became seriously ill and died December 23, 1831 in a manor of the Abłamowicz family in Justinavas. She was buried in the small village of Kapčiamiestis (Kopciowo) near Lazdijai.
Legacy
Her death was widely publicised shortly afterwards and Emilia Plater became one of the symbols of the uprising. The symbol of the fighting girl became quite widespread both in Poland, Lithuania and abroad.
Adam Mickiewicz immortalized her in one of his poems, Śmierć pułkownika (Death of a Colonel), although the description of her death is a pure poetical fiction and was only loosely based on her real life.
Other literary works based on her life were published, mostly abroad, both by Polish emigres and by foreigners. Among them were Georg Büchner, Konstanty Gaszyński, Antoni Edward Odyniec and Władysław Buchner and Józef Straszewicz, who published three successive versions of her biography in French.
She also became the theme of paintings by several artists of the epoch, among them Hyppolyte Bellange, Achille Deveria, Philipp Veit, Francois de Villain and Wojciech Kossak. In 1842 J. K. Salomoński published a short biography of Emilia Plater in New York, under the title of Emily Plater, The Polish Heroine; Life of the Countess Emily Plater.
She was shown on the Second Polish Republic's notes (20 zloty). During the World War II, a Polish female support unit (1 Samodzielny Battalion Kobiecy im. Emilii Plater) in Polish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division; its former members founded a village (Platerówka) in Lower Silesia.
In 1959 she was made the name-sake of M/S Emilia Plater, a 10,000 BRT ship built for the Polish Oceanic Lines. She has a street named after her in most major towns of Poland.
References
- ^ Robin Morgan, "Sisterhood is global: the international women's movement anthology", Feminist Press, 1996, pg. 559
- ^ a b Jerzy Jan Lerski (1996). Historical dictionary of Poland, 966-1945. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 444. ISBN 9780313260070. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
- ^ Szymon Konarski, "Materiały do biografii, genealogii i heraldyki polskiej, Volume 4" (English), Paris 1967, pg. 215
- ^ Mary Fleming Zirin (2007). Russia, the non-Russian peoples of the Russian Federation, and the successor states of the Soviet Union. M.E. Sharpe. p. 695. ISBN 9780765607379. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
- ^ Suzanne LaFont (August 1998). Women in transition: voices from Lithuania. SUNY Press. p. 29. ISBN 9780791438114. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
External links
- Short biography
- www.emiliaplater.org
- Original letter by Emilia Plater, in which she confirms the fact that she joined the ranks of the army of her own will
- Westphalian Plater family
- Death place of Emilia Plater. Ruins of Justinavas manor and Emilia's sculpture
