Dembinski, Henryk born January 16,. 1791 in Strzalków, died June 13, 1864 in Paris, Polish general. In 1807-09 studied at the Academy of Engineer
ing in
Vienna; 1809-14 an officer in the army of the Warsaw Duchy, took part in
the 1809, 1812, and 1813 campaigns; for the battle at Smolensk promoted to
the rank of lieutenant by Napoleon; for the battle at Leipzig decorated
with the cross of the Legion of Honor. In 1825 deputy in the Diet of the
Polish Kingdom. During the November Uprising 1830-31 D. organized
security guard and then military troops in the Cracow region; in the
summer of 1831, as colonel and commander of a cavalry brigade, he pr
oved
himself in the battles at Dab Wielki, Kuflewo and Ostroleka, and was
nominated general of brigade; in June and July 1831 D. made a name for
himself by successfully carrying out the retreat from Lithuania and was
nominated general of division; in August the same year, at the peak of his
popularity, D. was nominated governor of Warsaw; on August 11, 1831, after
the dismissal of General J.Z. Skrzynecki, D. was nominated temporary
commander-in-chief of the Polish army corps. Politically connected w
ith
the conservative camp and under the influence of Skrzynecki, D.
implemented his anti-Jacobin policy; an enemy of left-wing leaders of the
Uprising gathered in the Patriotic Society [Towarzystwo Patriotyczne], he
attempted to assume dictatorial power and to carry out the plans of the
reactionary generals; dismissed from the general command of the Polish
army on August 19 the same year, as a result of his conflicts with
officers, deputies and the government; after general Krukowiecki's
taking
over the general command of the army, D. commanded a division. After the
collapse of the November Uprising he emigrated to France and advocated
further military struggle against Russia; put forward proposals for Polish
participation in Turkish and Egyptian armies. Connected with the Hotel
Lambert, D. was for a time its political agent in Strasburg; in 1833 a
member of the secret Stowarzyszenie Jednosci Narodowej [Association of National Unity], gathered around Prince Adam Czarto
ryski, and modelled
after freemasonry lodges; its purpose was to support a national spirit,
reconciliation of political factions of the Polish emigration, and to
prepare the Polish society to regain in dependence. In May 1848 D.
participated in a meeting of deputies from the Austrian and the Prussian
sectors of Poland in Wroclaw; then in the Slav Congress in Prague. In the
Hungarian uprising of 1848 chief of the general staff; then temporarily
commander-in-chief of the revolutionary army; after the
defeat at Temesvar in August 1849, he left for Turkey; after April 1851 in France; died suddenly in Paris; buried in Montmorency. Author of memoires, political
pamphlets, articles, occasional speeches, and addresses, including:
Jenerala . . . pamietniki o powstaniu w Polsce r.1830-31 [Memoires on
the 1830-31 uprising in Poland by general .. .], 2 vols (1875; 1877); Mein Feldzug nach und in Litauen, und mein Rueckzug von Kurszany nach
Warschau (1832); Pamietnik . . .jene
rala wojsk polskich [Memoires of a general of the Polish army] (1860; 1911).
Jolanta T. Pekacz
L. Russjan, Polacy i sprawa polska na Wegrzech w r. 1848-1849. Warsaw, 1934.
B. Szyndler, Henryk Dembinski, 1791-1864, Warsaw, 1984.
jgc revised this file (http://www.cats.ohiou.edu/~chastain/dh/dembinsk.htm) on October 26, 2000.
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© 2000 James Chastain.