Aleksander Malinowski (1869-1922 рр.): kharkiv period against the background of the revolutionary’s life

For now, the problem of biography in historical science is a trend. One way or another, we see today numerous works dedicated to historical figures / political leaders which are, in fact, the world’s bestsellers. Such books give us an awareness of the significant role of outstanding figures in history, as well as an understanding of their individuality, exclusivity.

One of the key figures in the Polish socialist movement, who is still ignored in Polish and Ukrainian historiography, is Aleksander Malinowski. It is a matter of a debate whether this happens deliberately or not. Therefore, one of the main tasks of this essay is to fill in the lack of information about the period of stay and activity of this character in Kharkiv.

Aleksander Malinowski is one of the most prominent figures of the Polish left-wingers, who came from the eastern outskirts of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was born on the 27th of February, 1869 in the village of Luka (at that time – Tarashchanskiy county of Kyiv province). It was in this area that his father (one of the former participants in the January uprising of 1863-1864) was the director of the sugar mill. The family was large (7 children), although it was considered normal at the time. Life seemed fine and beautiful, but trouble came unexpectedly and at the age of 14 the boy suffered a grievous loss – the death of his father. Like his brothers and sisters, he was later raised in the family of his mother, Malvina Grosheim. An interesting fact is that the family raised children in the spirit of patriotism and heroic deeds of the Polish rebels. This is not surprising, since the brother of Aleksander’s mother, (Alfred Grosheim), was one of the participants in the uprising as well as his father. He died in 1863, and the husband of an aunt of our hero (matrilineally), Romuald Olshansky, – was executed by shooting in Kyiv for propaganda work among young people aimed at organizing an armed uprising.

In 1889, after a year’s fundraising for education, the guy came to Kharkiv to enroll in a higher educational institution and managed this successfully. In an industrial city, the enrollee chose an industrial profession (it was quite logical) and entered the Mechanical Faculty of the Institute of Technology. It was the second largest Polytechnic Institute (after St. Petersburg) in the Russian Empire, founded in 1886 by order of Tsar Alexander III. Many Polish students studied there. It is known that a little earlier (in 1886-1887) young Jozef Pilsudski studied in Kharkiv, however at the Medical Faculty of the Imperial University. Of course, at that time Pilsudski did not have time to meet with Aleksander Malinowski, who arrived later, – his future friend and “comrade” in the fight against tsarism in the ranks of the Polish Socialist Party (hereinafter referred to as the PPS, Polska Partia Socjalistyczna).

The landscape of Kharkiv with the Technological institute (on a hill)

The lively temperament and vigor contributed to Malinowski’s successful learning and social activities, which he had conducted since he was a schoolboy. Aleksander quickly became the leader of the Polish student community, which delegated him to the general Polish youth congress of scientific and higher educational institutions of the Russian Empire, which took place in 1891 in Moscow. It is interesting that at this congress he met one of the “first Polish socialists” – Roman Dmowski. The latter became later the irreconcilable enemy of J. Pilsudski and socialism, as well as the “father” of Polish nationalism, which was just emerging at that time.

Having returned from Moscow, Malinowski headed Polish student youth in Kharkiv. At this time he was also a member of a fairly conspiratorial circle of Russian socialists. At its meetings, discussions were held on various topics (on history and literature, but most importantly – on politics). Such “learning” undoubtedly hardened the spirit of Aleksander for the future. It was at this time that Malinowski wrote a small competitive work on the theme of “Rationalist morality”, for which he by the way won the prize in the amount of 25 rubles (at that time it was a fair amount of money). During his stay in Kharkiv, Malinowski made close contacts with the PPS, which had illegal organizations and institutions in the major university cities of the Russian Empire. By spreading the ideas of “socialism of independence” among Polish students, PPS-activists thus collected the necessary means to continue their political work and at the same time prepared appropriate personnel for it. Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Kharkiv, and later Kyiv, were the centers from which the PPS drew a large amount of its material resources and the human capital that the entire party organization relied on. With undeniable leadership qualities and excellent organizational energy, Malinowski quickly headed the Kharkiv branch of the PPS. The party noted his enormous help and influence, as the “Corporation” gave 20% of its statutory income to the PPS’ political work.

However, student life also had negative consequences. An illness that came to light while studying at high school (the young man had to work hard because of his large financial challenge) made him take a year-long break in his university education. Malinowski had to undergo surgery for glands infected with tuberculosis. However, the operation was not performed. Since the information on why the operation was cancelled is not available, it can be assumed that this was due to a lack of money. Eventually, the sick student was sent for kumiss-treatment to Samara province. This greatly improved his health and, as a result, allowed him to resume interrupted studies quickly and, after passing the exams, to finish his higher education (1895).

The Instytut of Technology in Kharkiv

It should be added that Malinowski enjoyed great respect among the Polish youth of Kharkiv for the truthfulness of character, the serenity of mind, tranquility and thirst for knowledge. He acquired many abilities (not only professional, but also such as the ability to establish contacts quickly) during his stay in Kharkiv (1889-1895) through his participation in various underground revolutionary organizations. These skills had remained with him for life, and there are a lot of evidences for that.

After leaving Kharkiv, Malinowski moved to Warsaw, where he got the position of engineer at the factory “Vesta”. At the same time, he continued to participate in the organizational work of the PPS, which at that time only started to deploy its active agitation and propaganda activities. In it, Malinowski occupied one of the leading places, because he as no one else “maintained relations with various workers’ organizations in the Kingdom of Poland, transported “required documents”, agitated and organized, circling between Warsaw, Kyiv, St. Petersburg and Kharkiv…”. Such active work, however, could not remain unnoticed for a long time by the gendarmerie. In an effort to avoid arrest, Malinowski departed for a while in London in 1898. There, at Beaumont Square, was located the headquarters of the Foreign Union of the Polish Socialists, printing office of the newspaper Przedświt and other foreign publishing houses. The young politician was actively involved in the life of Polish socialist emigration in London. The result was his return to the status of “illegal agent”. Malinowski got a passport on the name of “Vladek”, using which he came to Warsaw. In the Russian Empire, he proceeded to do what he did best before departure – transporting “the necessary socialist literature” to the remotest corners of the state. It was Malinowski who was the key figure in transporting the secret printing office of the newspaper Robotnik (The Worker) from Vilno to Lodz in 1899.

For a while “Vladik” had luck, the gendarmerie did not pay special attention to him. Driving around with illegal literature under a false identity, Aleksander Malinowski took a serious risk. After all, among railway engineers, there were many acquaintances from his student years in Kharkiv, who, when meeting him, always exclaimed: “How are you, colleague Malinowski?” Such phrase could have cost him his freedom, and possibly even his life. For conspiracy purposes, he periodically changed his appearance (wearing a wig), but this could not turn away the inevitable – in February 1900 due a report of a police informer Malinowski was arrested at the Warsaw railway station. At the same time in the house on the Wschodnia Street, where after transportation from Lodz a secret printing house of Robotnik was located, a search was carried and the Pilsudski couple was arrested. The revolutionary was held for 2 years, 4 months and 2 weeks in the Pavilion Nr. 10 of the Warsaw Citadel and in the prison in Siedlce, and after that he got a sentence – 8 years of exilement in Siberia. The latter, however, was avoided. The head of the prison in Siedlce, when reading the sentence, jokingly predicted: “The gentleman will not get there.” When Malinowski wondered why this would happen, the chief replied: “It seems to me that Pe-pe-es will try to retake you, but we give a good police escort.” However, the escort did not satisfy the expectations and the PPS “stole” Malinowski on the 4th of June, 1902 at the train station in Minsk. Then he moved to Galicia, from where he quickly left for London (April 1903). Illegal work and imprisonment consumed a great deal of energy, affecting Malinowski’s health, which upon his arrival in London was unsatisfactory. Here, in the quiet life rhythm of English capital, Mr. Malinowski had the opportunity to replenish and accumulate material relating to the revolutionary activities of the PPS in the Russian Empire, while actively using the party archive.

In August 1904, Malinowski participated as a delegate of the PPS at the International Socialist Congress in Amsterdam. After that, he returned to his leisurely London activity, which however did not last long. The coming of the Russo-Japanese War, as well as the turbulent political and social life, forced him to return to Poland, this time to Krakow, where the PPS Foreign Committee was located. Aleksander Malinowski participated in its activities and development, being the member of the circle of the so-called “Old supporters of independence without political commitments” Returning from the “most interesting meeting” in Vienna, he continued to work more actively in the PPS, but already in its Revolutionary Faction. It eventually worked against him and on the 16th of December, 1906, ironically, Malinowski was “taken” again in Warsaw in an illegal apartment on Industrialna Street where the PPS conference was just taking place. For the second time, Malinowski landed inside the Warsaw Citadel, though this time for a much shorter period. It is worth to mention the information about the agitation and recruitment that the revolutionaries carried out during their detention. In particular, when Malinowski waited for his sentence in the Pavilion Nr. 10, he got into the situation he mentioned later: “I put off the ink pen and address a gendarme, who is watching me surly. “I have a right to sit with some other prisoner in my cell.” My sentinel replies: “Yes, you do. Who do you want to sit with?” “Obviously with Pilsudski and Rozhnovsky!” – I reply. “You understand, Sir, the instruction tells me that you have to sit with a raznochinets, and therefore your requirement contradicts my instructions, and you don’t want to share your cell with some worker, I think!” “Why not? On the contrary! ”- I say. “Yes, you agree, but we don’t. You know, now we have spoilt workers because as soon as we imprison them in the same cell with you (socialists – V.Ye.), in a few weeks, you make a true revolutionary from him”- he says with an ironic smile”. Subsequently, he, as well as other socialists, was admitted to bail while pending a court decision, after which Malinowski immediately emigrated abroad – to Galicia.

Aleksander Malinowski, photo (1906-1907)

The meticulous control by the authorities during the Stolypin reaction that followed the Russian Revolution of 1905-1907 forced the revolutionary socialist to seek the means of subsistence. During this period, Malinowski married a very friendly girl (this is how he described her in conversation with his colleagues) – Stephanie Dekhnel, whom he met in Krakow. The couple moved to permanent residence in Lviv, where Aleksander returned to his speciality obtained in Kharkiv – engineering technician. He worked in this position at various companies and later created his own construction company. Thanks to his efforts, a house was built in Krakow for the needs of workers’ organizations (at Dunaevsky Street 5). Although he paid a lot of attention to his job, he did not drop contacts with the PPS. During these years, Malinowski established active relations with the Przemysl and Krakow comrades, and participated in the life of the emigration party cell in Galicia. In 1907 and 1911, two volumes of his «Materials to the History of the P.P.S. and the revolutionary movement during the Russian occupation” came out. In this work, its activities were described in the period 1893-1901. Preface to this work was written by J. Pilsudski.

With the outbreak of the First World War, Malinowski, like other “old revolutionaries”, became widely involved in dynamic political activity. As a member of the Polish National Organization (hereinafter referred to as PON, Polska Organizacja Narodowa), established in Kielce in 1914, he participated in its financial activities. After the city was recaptured by Russian troops and until their evacuation in May 1915, he was with the organization in other cities, where it was from time to time transferred.

After the war, the “old revolutionary” found himself again in Lviv after a short stay in Vienna. But this time he went to his permanent place of residence in Krakow. Here he continued his pre-war activities – developing a construction company with engineer C. Kelbasynsky. By their joint efforts, a number of factories were built – “Azot” in Jaworzno, “Len” in Krosno, etc.

Malinowski was little involved in the political activity in the newly created II Rzeczpospolita. Only before the elections to the Sejm in 1922, he was one of the members of the PPS commission in Krakow. The reason for his low political activity was an illness that he had never cured since his college years. It landed him in bed, preventing him from even taking part in the election. Doctors advised in unison his family to take Malinowski to Zakopane. On the eve of departure, Malinowski summoned E. Haecker and handed him a large sum for party needs. As it turned out, it was his last tribute to the party. On the 25th of December, 1922, at 9 in the morning in Zakopane, Aleksander Malinowski died. He was buried at the Rakowicki Cemetery in Krakow. This extraordinary personality has undoubtedly contributed immensely to the development and activities of the Polish left-wing political force in the most difficult and most hard times of its formation.

Sources of information:

  1. Aleksander Malinowski 1869-1922: zbiorowa księga pamiątkowa. – Kraków, 1924. – 63 s.
  2. Bieńkowski W.  Malinowski Aleksander / Polski Słownik Biograficzny. Т. XIX. – Warszawa-Kraków-Wrocław-Gdańsk, 1974. – s.328-330.
  3. Jabłoński M. Inż. Aleksander Malinowski 1869-1922 [Електронний ресурс] / M. Jabłoński. – 2018. – Режим доступу до ресурсу: http://halecki.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Opracowanie-inz.-Aleksander-Malinowski-Dr-in%C5%BC.-Aleksander-Maciej-Jab%C5%82o%C5%84ski.pdf.
  4. Pacholczyk А. Malinowski Aleksander /red. M. Prosińska-Jackl // Słownik historyków polskich . – Warszawa,1994. – s. 332.
  5. Wasilewski L. Życiorys Aleksandra Malinowskiego // Aleksander Malinowski 1869-1922: zbiorowa księga pamiątkowa. – Kraków, 1924. – С. 5-12

Prepared by Valentyn Yeriomin