Witold (1937–1998)
56-517: Napoleon Baniewicz (4 January 1904 – 1979) was a Polish-Lithuanian neurologist and psychiatrist . He was the first to describe a neurological symptom now known in neurology as the Baniewicz symptom. He was the founder of the neurological department of the Bydgoszcz Hospital and became a local celebrity. Napoleon Baniewicz was born to a Polonized and impoverished Lithuanian Szlachta family as
112-636: A Pole, not a Lithuanian." Despite this, radical Polish nationalists planned to protest Miłosz's funeral, claiming (among other reasons) that he was "not Polish enough", though the protest ultimately was not staged. The use of the expressions "Polish-Lithuanian," "Polonized Lithuanian," and "Pole of Lithuanian descent" persists in recent biographical descriptions of the Radziwiłł family and in those of several notable 19th and 20th-century figures such as Emilia Plater , Józef Piłsudski , Adam Mickiewicz , Czesław Miłosz , and Gabriel Narutowicz , among others. At
168-527: A Polish-led federation re-creating the Commonwealth ( Międzymorze ), became a failure. An analogy can be drawn here with regards to the split between Finnish and Swedish culture (see Finnish Declaration of Independence ). Lithuanian nobleman Mečislovas Davainis-Silvestraitis published newspapers Litwa ( Lithuania , 1908–1914) and Lud ( People , 1912–1914) in Vilnius with the objective of returning of
224-619: A Sarmatian branch known as " Roxolanians ". Lithuanian elites developed a theory about their Roman origins – most known is Palemonian myth and Palemonids . The theory of the Roman descent of Lithuanians heretofore mostly used to be considered as emerging during Vytautas the Great times (1392–1430), with Lithuania as a 'corrupted' form of l'ltalia . Maciej Stryjkowski and Augustinus Rotundus were strong proponents of using Latin as an official language of Grand Duchy of Lithuania due to their belief that
280-460: A counterpoint by describing Scottish aspirations to independence as essentially crushed at the 1746 Battle of Culloden , which in his view made Scott's path less difficult, and sees pre-1939 Polish-Lithuanian culture as a combination of romantic idealization of medieval Lithuania and contempt for modern Lithuanians. Similarly, he states: "For educated Poles before the Second World War, Lithuania
336-455: A modern form began in the nineteenth century. During the partitions of Poland , the Prussian government planned to create a University of Theology, which was to include faculties of law and economics, but this project did not materialise. In the interwar period the city authorities of Toruń again sought to establish a university. Soon after the annexation of Pomerania to the reborn Poland in 1920,
392-666: A new phase of efforts to develop the university began. Even before 1920, the Supreme People's Council had considered the proposal to establish higher educational institutions in the Polish territories annexed by Prussia at the University of Gdansk and in Toruń. However, political developments and the uncertain future of Pomerania prompted the council's leadership to accept the December 1918 resolution of
448-556: A polonised form of the Lithuanian word for 'Lithuanians'] Józef Piłsudski , an important interwar Polish politician, significantly responsible for Poland's regained independence in the aftermath of World War I , planner of the 1919 Polish coup d'état attempt in Lithuania and orchestrator of the Żeligowski's Mutiny that brought the disputed Vilnius Region into Poland, often drew attention to his Lithuanian ancestry, and briefly pursued
504-455: A wealthier Szlachta family from Courland . With a thesis on the etiology of epilepsy under prof. Stransky, Baniewicz received his doctorate on July 18, 1930, and would soon begin his career as a successful neurologist. After his studies, he returned to Poland and settled in the eastern Polish Wilno with his family. There, at Stefan Batory University he became a medical assistant at the department of nervous and mental illnesses, where he
560-567: A widespread belief in Sarmatism that transcended ethnic identifications. This origin myth posited that the Commonwealth’s noble class stemmed from a group of warriors from Scythia , that its members were racially distinct from and superior to the other inhabitants of the area, and that various features of the Commonwealth displayed its superiority. The Ruthenian nobility of the Commonwealth subscribed to Sarmatism to some extent as well, as part of
616-557: Is known today as the Baniewicz Symptom. As the founder of several neurological departments, he contributed to the common good of the cities of Bydgoszcz, Inowrocław and others. Polish-Lithuanian identity The Polish–Lithuanian identity describes individuals and groups with histories in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth or with close connections to its culture. This federation, formally established by
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#1733106450296672-521: Is located in Toruń , Poland. It is named after Nicolaus Copernicus , who was born in Toruń in 1473. The first institution of higher education in Toruń, the Toruń Academic Gymnasium was founded in 1568. It was one of the first universities in northern Poland. The Academic Gymnasium was the precursor to scientific and cultural life (including the first museum created in 1594) in the region. Thanks to
728-543: Is the family of Narutowicz (Narutavičius) – Stanislovas Narutavičius became one of the twenty signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuania , while his brother Gabriel Narutowicz became the first president of Poland. A prominent Lithuanian zoologist and biologist, and one of the founders of Vytautas Magnus University Tadas Ivanauskas chose to be a Lithuanian, while his other two brothers – Jerzy and Stanisław became Polish and Vacłaŭ – Belarusian. Tomas Venclova notes that
784-539: The Baltic Institute (later transferred to Gdynia, and then to Gdańsk ) amongst others, were established in the town. Finally, in 1938, it was decided to set up the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń as a subsidiary of Poznań's Adam Mickiewicz University ; work was to start at the beginning of 1940. This program, however, was interrupted by World War II . It was not until 1947, two years after
840-730: The Czech alphabet over the Polish one for the Lithuanian alphabet . The old cultural identities lost the fight to the more attractive ethnic, religious and linguistic-based ones. Following the abolition of serfdom in the Russian Empire in 1861 , social mobility increased, and Lithuanian intellectuals arose from the ranks of the rural populace; language became associated with identity in Lithuania, as elsewhere across Europe. The dual identity maintained by many leading figures of Polish-Lithuanian history,
896-672: The Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, emerged. He was also at the Medical Academy in Warsaw, where he was appointed associate professor of medicine. However, he increasingly feuded with the communist leadership, which wanted him to resign, while his colleagues would have preferred to see him head his own independent neurological clinic in Bydgoszcz. Baniewicz eventually moved to another hospital in Bydgoszcz and withdrew from
952-443: The Polish or Lithuanian ethnicity nor their predominant Roman Catholic faith. The usage of "Polish-Lithuanian" in this context can potentially be confusing, particularly as the term is often abbreviated to just "Polish", or misinterpreted as being a simple mix of the 20th-century nationalistic usage of the terms " Polish " and " Lithuanian ", as, depending on the context, it may include numerous ethnic groups that inhabited
1008-584: The Polish-Soviet War . Speaking of that period, Winston Churchill commented: " The war of giants has ended, the wars of the pygmies began." Eventually, the bad blood created but those conflicts, and the staunch opposition by (primarily) Polish and Lithuanian nationalists towards the federation idea, and finally the Peace of Riga , in which Poland abandoned the Belarusian and Ukrainian independence cause, would doom
1064-628: The Sejm to overlook Toruń as a location for a new university and instead go ahead with the development of a university in Poznań . In 1920, the first declaration requesting the establishment of a university was put forward in November by the National Workers Party whose members chose Toruń-born Nicolaus Copernicus to be the patron of the university. For this purpose a number of educational societies, such as
1120-539: The gente Lithuanus, natione Polonus attitude still popular in the early 19th century, was increasingly less feasible as the century pressed ahead. The leaders of the unsuccessful January Uprising of 1863–1865 invoked the former commonalities, appealing to "Brother Ruthenians and Lithuanians" and to "Brothers of the Poles of the Mosaic Persuasion". The peasants in the region were largely unmoved since they had never shared
1176-519: The re-creation of the old Commonwealth . In light of the other great plan for post-World War I order, the Bolshevik intention to spread the communist revolution through the Red Army , his goal of re-constituting the Commonwealth "could only be achieved by war." Poland was not alone in its newfound opportunities and troubles. With the collapse of Russian and German occupying authorities , virtually all of
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#17331064502961232-456: The 1569 Union of Lublin between the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania , created a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state founded on the binding powers of national identity and shared culture rather than ethnicity or religious affiliation . The term Polish-Lithuanian has been used to describe various groups residing in the Commonwealth, including those that did not share
1288-544: The 19th-century Lithuanian National Revival . According to Norman Davies , till the Revival, Lithuanian had no agreed upon written form and Lithuanian literature was mostly religious, and the language was rarely heard in the Grand Duchy's capital of Vilnius . Lithuanian humanists Stanislovas Rapolionis (1485–1545), Abraomas Kulvietis (1510–1545), Mikalojus Daukša (1527–1613), Konstantinas Sirvydas (1579–1631) promoted
1344-600: The Commonwealth . Self-identifications during the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth often made use of the Latin ' gens -natione' construct (familial or ethnic origin combined with a national identity). The construct was used by the elite inhabitants of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , by the Ruthenian (Ukrainian and Belarusian) elites, and in Prussia . Religious affiliation
1400-565: The Commonwealth, but did not achieve independence until after the late 20th-century collapse of the Soviet Union ). Lithuanian nationalism was a reaction to both the Russification in the Russian partition , and to the threat of further Polonization due to the pressure of Polish culture. The Lithuanian nationalist desire to be separate from Poland was exemplified for example in the adoption of
1456-499: The Lithuanian language was simply a vernacular variety of Latin. Their belief was based on grammatical similarities of Lithuanian and Latin. The Lublin Union of 1569 initiated voluntary Polonization of the Lithuanian upper classes, including increasing use of the Polish language , although they retained a strong sense of Lithuanian identity. Those who identified themselves as gente Lithuanus, natione Polonus ("a Lithuanian person of
1512-816: The Polish Adam Mickiewicz Gymnasium in Kowno. In his early adult years, he worked to gather enough savings to enroll in the University of Vienna . With the help of a scholarship, he studied medicine . Among his professors were Otto Pözl , Emil Redlich , Erwin Stransky and Otto Marburg . From 1929 he worked as a volunteer in the neurological department and for the physician Josef Schaffner. During his time in Vienna he often met with fellow Poles and in such meetings he met his future wife, Walentyna Lachowiczówna that came from
1568-468: The Polish nation") were distinguished by their accent, customs, and cuisine, and did not perceive the categories as mutually exclusive. A diminishing portion of Lithuanian nobility and most of the rural population in the territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania continued to use the Lithuanian language , especially in Samogitia , a practice that reached its nadir in the 18th century, and increased during
1624-659: The Pomeranian city of Bydgoszcz , where he would resume his medical career. He founded the Department of Neurology in Bydgoszcz and became its first head in 1945. In the following years he established neurological departments in Włocławek , Świecie , Inowrocław , and Lipno as well and soon became a local celebrity. As chairman of the Bydgoszcz branch of the Polish Neurological Society, he maintained contact with some of
1680-467: The age of 75. In total, he published 83 research papers during his lifetime. With his book The Axis Reflexes , which was published in 1964, he expanded his many years of research into the so-called axis reflexes. According to the famous Polish professor Eufemiusz Herman, Napoleon Baniewicz wrote his name into the history of neurology with his work that would be very important for the future development of neurology. The symptom described by Napoleon Baniewicz
1736-789: The citizens of the multicultural Commonwealth. The Commonwealth ceased to exist after the late 18th century Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth ; Poland and Lithuania achieved independence as separate nations after World War I . The development of nationalism through the Lithuanian National Revival was a crucial factor that led to the separation of the modern Lithuanian state from Poland; similar movements took hold in Ukraine and later in Belarus (the territories of both modern countries had formerly been part of
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1792-580: The constructed national identity of the elites. While some non-noble inhabitants saw no contradiction in describing themselves as "a Pole, and a Lithuanian as well", dual identity was not widely considered as a matter of course. From this point of view, the conduct of Napoleon in Lithuania is noteworthy. On 1 July 1812, Napoleon formed the Lithuanian Provisional Governing Commission . The provisional government of Lithuania had no connections to Poland. Napoleon also refused to attach
1848-580: The creation of the Nicolaus Copernicus University. that Prof. Karol Górski revealed that there had been an approved plan to open Poznań University long-distance division in Toruń in 1940, which was supposed to teach the humanities and theology. In the first years after the war, many of the teaching staff consisted of professors, assistants and administrative workers from the Stefan Batory University in Vilnius . In 2018, Times Higher Education ranked
1904-633: The description of the Lipka Tatars (Lithuanian Tatars), a Muslim community, and Litvaks (Lithuanian Jews), a significant Jewish community. Eastern Orthodox and Uniate communities also played a role in the Commonwealth's history. German minority , heavily represented in the towns ( burghers ), particularly in the Royal Prussia region, was another group with ties to that culture ("Natione Polonus-gente Prussicus"). Many Prussians from that region identified themselves not as Germans nor Poles, but as
1960-407: The efforts of Heinrich Stroband , city mayor in 1594, academics in Toruń received good working conditions for teaching and research. Among his professors in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were meritorious scholars of Polish and Prussian history, authors of textbooks and papers from various disciplines of humanities, and associates scientific journals. The establishment of the university in
2016-563: The eldest of four children of the eponymous Napoleon Baniewicz and his wife Maria Baniewicz (born Maria Citowiczówna) in Kowno (today Kaunas, Lithuania ), then part of the Russian Empire . His father was the administrator of the noble estate of the aristocratic Tyszkiewicz family. Napoleon grew up in a catholic and patriotic household at a time when there was no independent Polish state. He attended Russian elementary school and graduated from
2072-597: The end of World War I , saw the participation of the Lithuanian state in the old Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth mostly in a negative light and idealized the pre-Commonwealth Duchy although this attitude has been changing recently. Modern Polish-Lithuanian relations have improved, but their respective views of history can still differ. Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toru%C5%84 Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń or NCU ( Polish : Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu , UMK )
2128-550: The idea of the Międzymorze federation. The failure to create a strong counterbalance to Germany and Soviet Union, such as Międzymorze, which Piłsudski saw as a counterweight to Russian and German imperialism , according to some historians, doomed those countries to their eventual fate as victims of World War II . The Nobel Prize-winning poet Czesław Miłosz often wrote of his dual Polish and Lithuanian identities. Anatol Lieven lists Miłosz among "great Polish figures", at
2184-438: The meaning of the terms: "a Lithuanian" and "a Pole" changed over the centuries. Polish-speaking Lithuanians often found it outrageous to be called 'Poles'. <...> As one Lithuanian 'Pole', Michal Juckniewicz, angrily told Lithuanian nationalists: " Jagiełło , Chodkiewicz , Mickiewicz , Piłsudski and I – these are Lithuanians [using the word Litwini , the Polish word for Lithuanians] – and you; you are Lietuvisy [using
2240-748: The military units consisting of Lithuanians to the Polish ones. On July 14, 1812, the Lithuanian Provisional Governing Commission formally submitted to the General Council of the Confederation of the Kingdom of Poland. Krajowcy , a group of individuals who tried to maintain their dual identity, emerged in the early years of 20th century in an effort to recreate a federalist Grand Duchy of Lithuania in close association with Poland. Their political program, as well as Piłsudski's idea of
2296-544: The most important neurologists in Poland. With his research, which he presented at neurological and psychiatric specialist congresses, he formed the Bydgoszcz School together with his students. Among other things, he set up a research laboratory with brain slices for research. He also campaigned for the establishment of a Medical Academy in Bydgoszcz, from which today's Ludwik Rydygier Medical Faculty in Bydgoszcz, which belongs to
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2352-547: The newly independent neighbours began fighting over borders: Romania fought with Hungary over Transylvania , Yugoslavia with Italy over Rijeka , Poland with Czechoslovakia over Cieszyn Silesia , with Germany over Poznań , with Ukraine over Eastern Galicia , with Lithuania over Vilnius Region . Spreading Communist influences resulted in Communist revolutions in Munich , Berlin , Budapest and Prešov , and finally, in
2408-646: The nobility into the Lithuanian nation. The main point of returning was to make Lithuanian their family and everyday language. An active figure in the 1863 rebellion, writer and publicist Mikalojus Akelaitis wrote: We should lift up the Lithuanian language, wrest away from scorn that language which has the Sanskrit greatness, the Latin force, the Greek refinement, and the Italian melodiousness. Simonas Daukantas (1793 – 1864), who wrote
2464-472: The origins of some cultural icons with roots in both cultures who are described in their national discourses as Polish-Lithuanian, as simply Polish, or as simply Lithuanian. The poet Adam Mickiewicz is an exemplar of the controversy. Today's Republic of Poland considers itself a successor to the Commonwealth, and stresses the common history of both nations, whereas the Republic of Lithuania, re-established at
2520-524: The pseudonym Tomasz Wartki, and Kazimierz (1944-), who, like his father became a psychiatrist and a traveler as well. Napoleon Baniewicz's wife, Walentyna was a veteran of the Home Army , which resisted against the occupation of Poland during World War II by German and Soviet forces, she died in the year 2001. Napoleon Baniewicz dedicated most of his life to medicine and work. In the last five years of his life, he battled myeloma , from which he died in 1979 at
2576-466: The public eye. He was part of the Samogitia Corporation at the University of Vienna , which was made up of Lithuanian-Polish students. Baniewicz married Walentyna Lachowicz from Kuldyga , Courland . The couple had three children; Olgierd (1933-1986), who became a surgeon and an Africa-traveler, Witold (1937-1998) who dedicated himself to Polonistics and journalism and wrote as a poet under
2632-535: The same time noting he is referred to as "one of the last citizens of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania", and that his use of the word "Lithuanian" was "very different from the mono-ethnic vision of many Lithuanian nationalists". Miłosz himself compared the situation of Polish Lithuanians in the 19th century to that of educated Scots such as Walter Scott , whose works, while written in English rather than Gaelic, were centered on Scots characters and traditions. Anatol Lieven makes
2688-526: The same time, other sources simply use the word "Polish", just as the word "Poland" is used to refer to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth itself. The usage of the term "Polish" transcends but does not replace the word "Lithuanian", as it was similar to the usage of the term "British" to refer to the British Commonwealth , comprising the English , Scottish and Welsh parts; however as a different term
2744-505: The use of Lithuanian language as part of identity. Famous for his eloquence, Sirvydas spent 10 years of his life preaching sermons at St. John's church in Vilnius (twice a day – once in Lithuanian, and once in Polish). The adjectival terms Lithuanian and Polish-Lithuanian have been used to describe groups residing in the Commonwealth that did not share the Lithuanian ethnicity nor their pre-dominant Christian ( Catholic ) faith, for example in
2800-603: The voluminous history of Lithuania in Lithuanian Darbai senųjų lietuvių ir žemaičių ( Deeds of the Ancient Lithuanians and Samogitians ), and identified the language as the determining factor of nationality was rather critical regarding the Polish–Lithuanian union and considered it to be the cause of the Lithuanian state declining. The gulf between those who chose to use Polish and those who chose to use Lithuanian
2856-416: Was growing, and both groups began to see the very history of the Commonwealth in a different light. Events such as the Polish-Lithuanian War , the 1919 Polish coup d'état attempt in Lithuania , and the conflict over Vilnius (Wilno) Region led to major tensions in the interwar Polish-Lithuanian relations . It was a time of choosing citizenship based on person's values and language. The most iconic case
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#17331064502962912-459: Was interrupted with the outbreak of the Second World War and the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland . His town of Wilno was occupied by the Red Army and then shortly annexed by the Republic of Lithuania , until Lithuania was incorporated into the USSR until the German attack on the USSR began in 1941. After the war, Vilnius became part of the Soviet Union , thus Baniewicz and his family had to leave their hometown. Napoleon Baniewicz settled in
2968-420: Was invited to by his mentor, Stanisław Władyczko . During his time as medical assistant, he researched inflammations of the nervous system . In 1935 he became the head of the neurological department of the PKP Hospital in Wilno. From 1937 to 1939 he was also the head of the Sawicz Hospital, a town also located in the Wilno Voivodeship . Baniewicz had become a very influential figure in neurology, but his career
3024-440: Was not a nation but an assemblage of peasants speaking a peculiar dialect", an attitude that further served to alienate the new Lithuanian intelligentsia . Czesław Miłosz wrote in his letter to Lithuanian poet Tomas Venclova , his long-time friend and associate during exile: "There were some attacks against me in the Lithuanian émigré press because, even though I am a relative of Oscar Miłosz [a Lithuanian poet and diplomat], I am
3080-421: Was not used in the English language, the result can be confusing at times. An analogy has also been drawn between the use of Polish-Lithuanian and that of Anglo-Irish as adjectives. Crucially, the pre- nationalistic usage of "Polish-Lithuanian" refers to (shared) culture , whereas the more modern, nationalistic usage of "Polish" and "Lithuanian" refers to ethnicity . Lithuania and Poland continue to dispute
3136-484: Was sometimes added, leading to self-identifications such as Natione Polonus, gente Prussicus (Polish by nationality, of the Prussian people); or Natione Polonus, gente Ruthenus, origine Judaeus (Polish by nationality, of the Ruthenian people, and of Jewish origin). The Latin phrasing reflects the use of that language as a neutral lingua franca , which continued into the 18th century. The Commonwealth’s nobility ( Szlachta ) were also bound together during this era by
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