Stanisław Narutowicz

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Stanislovas Narutavičius
Stanislovas Narutavičius
Act of Lithuanian independence, Narutavičius's signature ("S. Narutowicz) visible in the right column, third from the bottom
Act of Lithuanian independence, Narutavičius's signature ("S. Narutowicz) visible in the right column, third from the bottom

Stanisław Narutowicz (Lithuanian: Stanislovas Narutavičius pronunciation (help·info)) (born September 2, 1862, in Brėvikiai, Telšiai County, Lithuania - died December 31, 1932, in Kaunas, Lithuania) was a Lithuanian lawyer and politician, one of the twenty signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuania and brother to the first president of Poland Gabriel Narutowicz. He was also the only Lithuanian-Polish member of the Taryba, the provisional Lithuanian parliament formed in the late stages of World War I.

Narutowicz was born September 2, 1862, in Brevikai near Telšiai (modern Telšiai County, Lithuania, then in the Russian Empire), to an old Lithuanian noble family, with roots as far back as the time period of Vytautas the Great and tracing back to certain Narutis, a Samogitian noble and founder of the family. A self-declared Pole[1][dubious – discuss], he was nevertheless for most of his life loyal to the traditions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania[1].[dubious – discuss] His parents, Jan Narutowicz and Wiktoria née Szczepkowska were landowners and ran a manor.

While studying in Liepāja gymnasium and St. Petersburg University every time he did return to his home he did also collect Lithuanian folklore and did distribute books in Lithuanian language.[2]

He graduated from the faculty of law of the Kiev University[3]. During his studies in Kiev Narutowicz joined the Polish circle of students and with time became a member of the II Proletaryat, an underground socialist-revolutionary party and the predecessor of the Polish Socialist Party[3]. However, his beliefs were much less radical than those of his colleagues, and with time Narutowicz's contacts with far left weakened.

Early in his life Narutowicz married Joanna née Billewicz, owner of the Brevikai manor and a cousin to Józef Piłsudski. After 1907 the couple created and maintained a gymnasium for girls in Telšiai. It was the first school for girls in Russian-held Lithuania where teaching in Polish and Lithuanian was allowed. In the period preceding the World War I Narutowicz was also a journalist in various Polish language newspapers. He also was the publisher of the first issues of Tygodnik Powszechny weekly[4]. The couple were also engaged in several education societies spreading knowledge among the Lithuanian peasants of the area. In the period preceding the World War I Narutowicz was also a journalist in various Polish language newspapers.

As a politician, Narutowicz was a mild socialist or a social-democrat[3]. He was a supporter of independence of Lithuania rather than of restoring a Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, mostly for fear of far more numerous Poland gaining the upper hand in such a union[5]. On the other hand he supported a loose union between the states, which made him one of the leader of the so-called krajowcy movement, a group of Polish Lithuanians supporting reconciliation of divided loyalties of local Poles between Poland and Lithuania[6]. In his vision the Polish minority in Lithuania was to gain a status similar to the Walloons in Belgium: with separate culture and language, but united with Lithuanians by what he called "state patriotism"[5]. At the same time he also supported close ties between the nations formerly constituting the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and took part in various Polish-Lithuanian-Belarusian enterprises.

Participating at Great Seimas of Vilnius he did suggest that all estates should be disbanded and the land should be distributed amnongst poor peasants. It was quite unexpected for most of the deputies.[7]

At Vilnius Conference he suggested the main goal for future: "Main strive - independent Lithuania in the ethnic Lithuanian lands"[8]. In September of 1917 Narutowicz joined the Council of Lithuania (Lietuvos Taryba), a Lithuanian governing body established by the Germans as part of their Mitteleuropa plan, yet largely independent and striving for establishment of Lithuania as an independent state. As a member of that body, Narutowicz became one of twenty signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuania. However, following the conflicts within the Taryba he took a more anti-German stance than most of his colleagues. After the body asked the government of Germany for protection and help and vowed for stable and strong alliance with the German Reich, Narutowicz protested. When, on January 26, 1918, 12 of the Taryba's members voted for compromise with Germany, Narutowicz and three of his social-democratic colleagues (Steponas Kairys, Jonas Vileišis and Mykolas Biržiška) resigned their posts. In the following years Stanisław Narutowicz continued to actively support the increasingly difficult rapprochement between Poland and Lithuania, but to little avail.

Narutowicz committed suicide on December 31, 1932, in Kaunas. The Polish historian Krzysztof Buchowski of the University of Bialystok attributes his suicide to alienation resulting from the futility of his endeavors, denounced on both sides of the border, as well as to the increasingly hostile stance of the Lithuanian government towards the Polish minority in Lithuania.[1] His biography published by the National Museum of Lithuania attributes his suicide to depression, family troubles, and economic hardship.[8]

After Narutowicz's death his son Kazimierz Narutowicz (1904-1987) tried to mediate between the ministries of diplomacy of Poland and Lithuania for settlement of the conflict for the city of Vilnius. Arrested by the Soviets during the World War II and forcibly resettled to Siberia, in 1947 he was released and settled in Poland. His widow continued to run various schools, notably the Polish gymnasium in Kaunas. After the outbreak of World War II she retreated to her manor in Brevikiai, but left Lithuania for Warsaw, where she died in 1948.

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c (Polish) Krzysztof Buchowski (2001). "Stanisław Narutowicz - szkic do portretu idealisty (Stanisław Narutowicz: a sketch for a portrait of an idealist)". Biuletyn Historii Pogranicza (2): 41–51. Białystok: Polskie Towarzystwo Historyczne. 
  2. ^ Stanislovas Narutavičius (Lithuanian). Lithuanian Seimas. Retrieved on 2007-09-07. “Studijuodamas Liepojos gimnazijoje, vėliau – teisę Peterburgo Universitete, Stanislovas kiekvieną vasarą grįždavo gimtinėn, užrašinėdavo tautosaką, platino lietuviškas knygeles”
  3. ^ a b c (Polish) Gerard Żeberek (1981). Początki ruchu socjaldemokratycznego w Kijowie w latach 1889-1903. Wydawnictwo Literackie, 34, 160. 
  4. ^ (Polish) Kazimierz Kelles-Krauz; Wiesław Bieńkowski, Aleksandra Garlicka, Aleksander Kochański, Feliks Tych (1984). Listy. Wrocław: Ossolineum, Polish Academy of Sciences, 77. ISBN 8304020149. 
  5. ^ a b (Polish) Juliusz Bardach (1988). O dawnej i niedawnej Litwie. Poznań: Adam Mickiewicz University, 268. ISBN 8323201188. 
  6. ^ (English) Piotr Wandycz (1974). The Lands of Partitioned Poland, 1795-1918. University of Washington Press, 349. ISBN 0295953586. 
  7. ^ Stanislovas Narutavičius (Lithuanian). Lithuanian Seimas. Retrieved on 2007-09-07. “1905 m. dalyvavo revoliucijoje ir Didžiajame Vilniaus Seime; čia S. Narutavičius pasiūlė dvarininkų žemes išdalinti mažažemiams ir bežemiams – toks dvarininko pasiūlymas nustebino Seimo dalyvius”
  8. ^ a b (Lithuanian) Stanislovas Narutavičius (1862-1932). National Museum of Lithuania (2006-09-07). Retrieved on 2007-08-30. “„Svarbiausias tikslas – nepriklausoma Lietuva etninėse ribose“.”

[edit] External links

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Signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuania
twenty signatories of the Act of Independence