Karol Liebelt A Polish philosopher and politician, born on
April 8, 1807 in Poznan in an artisan's family. During 1826-30,
Liebelt studied philosophy, classical languages and natural
sciences at the Berlin University where he earned his doctorate
for the thesis "De pantheismo in philosophia"
prepared under G. F. Hegel. At the beginning of 1831, Liebelt
went to the Congress Kingdom to take part in the November Rising
as an artillery soldier. Upon his return to Poznan, Prussian
authorities made it impossible for him to work as a teacher. He
supported himself and his family on income from a landholding
inherited by his wife. The 1840s were a period of intensive
scientific activity; his most important philosophical works, i.a.
"On the love of the homeland", "On the moral courage",
"Philosophy and criticism", were written then. He strove to
create a system of Slavic philosophy which, by referring to the
world view of Slavic peoples, was to resolve existing
dilemmas,e.g., it was to even out contradictions between modern
philosophy and religion. Libelt's historiosophy emphasized the
importance of the so-called mediating elements, allowing a
gradual passage from one epoch to the next and maintaining the
continuity of historical development. In his political activity,
too, Libelt opposed radical solutions. In 1839, he joined the
conspiratorial Poznan Centralization, associated with the
emigré Polish Democratic Society, constituting the major
center of preparations to an all-Poland insurrection. However,
as opposed to Edward Dembowski and the Plebeians' Union, he
opposed accelerating the onset of armed fighting
disagreed withthe anti-noble propaganda. Meanwhile, Liebelt was active in
legitimate undertakings by collaborating in setting up the first
Polish community organizations. Denounced, he was arrested on
February 14, 1848 and condemnded to twenty years of fortress
imprisonment. Upon his release on March 20, 1848 from the
Moabit prison the Berlin revolutionaries, Liebelt joined the
revolutionary committee set up by Ludwik Mieroslawski and was a
member of the deputation presenting Polish demands to th
e
Prussian king. Upon his return to Poznan on March 27, 1848, he
became one of the leaders of the 1848 Poznan rising. He was the
principal author of appeals and proclamations issued by the
national committee leading the rising and supervised the
committee's sactions abroad. Along with Walenty Stefanski and
Gustaw Potworowski, Libelt formed, on April 3, the underground
national government which, however, did not have a chance to
spread its wings. As a participant of negotiations on
reorganization of the Grand Duchy of Poznan, he signed the Pact
of Jarosalwiec and then tried to pacify radical attitudes in the
countryside. On April 21 he set off to Berlin, leading a
delegation whose aim was to investigate intentions of the
Prussian government. Having returned to Poznan, he finally
conceded to the necessity of launching a popular rising. On
April 27, he left the national committee and took the side of
L. Mieroslawski. As a representative of the province of Poznan,
Liebelt attended the Wroclaw assembly (May 5-8) which was to
form an all-Polish government. Then he travelled to Prague to
participate in the Panslav Congress where he opposed the notion
of Austroslavism, expounded the question of independence for
Poland, and particularly vigorously worked to build bridges
between Poles and the Ukrainian movement. He co-authored "The
Manifesto of the Slav Community to Peoples of Europe". Upon his
return to Poznan, he became one of directors of the Polish
League. Elected to the German Frankfurt parliament, he tried to
win support there for the Polish cause, but resigned from his
seat, having failed to achieve any success.
Subsequently, he was the Grand Duchy of Poznan's envoy to
the Prussian parliament, where he headed the Polish circle.
After the dissolution of the parliament, in spite of winning in
new elections, Liebelt decided against being an representative
and devoted his efforts to publishing Dziennik
Polski (Polish Daily) (1849 - 1850). Late
r on, hisactivity weakened. From 1859 to 1870, he again became an envoy
to the Prussian Landtag and headed the Polish circle there. He
participated in numerous social and community activities in the
Grand Duchy of Poznan; among other things, he co-founded the
Society of Friends of Sciences in Poznan and presided over the
society from 1868 until his death. Liebelt died on 9 June 1875
in Brdow.
JGC revised this file
(http://www.ohiou.edu/~chastain/ip/liebelt) on October 22, 2004. Please E-mail comments or suggestions to chastain@www.ohiou.edu
© 1998, 2004 James Chastain.
Przemyslaw Matusik