Quick Facts
Biography
Władysław Franciszek Jabłonowski (25 October 1769 – 29 September 1802) was a Black Polish and French general.
Early life
He was of mixed ancestry - the illegitimate child of Maria Dealire, an English aristocrat, and an unidentified African. He acquired the nickname "Murzynek". Maria Dealire's husband, the Polish nobleman Konstanty Jabłonowski, accepted him as his son.
In 1783 he was admitted to the French military academy at Brienne-le-Château. There he was a schoolmate of Napoleon and Davout. In a climate of bullying, he was subjected to racist taunts, including from Napoleon. On graduation he joined the Régiment de Royal-Allemand where he attained the rank of lieutenant.
Military career
In 1794 he fought in Tadeusz Kościuszko's uprising against Tsarist Russia. He participated in battles of Szczekociny, Warsaw, Maciejowice, and at Praga. In 1799 he was made General of Brigade of the Polish legions.
From 1801 he was the leader of Legia Naddunajska. He was sent on his own request to Haiti in May 1802 (before the decision to send the rest of the Polish legions). There he worked to put down the Haitian Revolution. Jabłonowski died from yellow fever on 29 September 1802 in Jérémie, Haiti.
In Polish culture
He is mentioned in Adam Mickiewicz's famous epic poem Pan Tadeusz in the context of a veteran of the Polish legions recounting what he had seen:
- how Jablonowski had reached the land where the pepper grows
- and where sugar is produced, and where in eternal spring'
- bloom fragrant woods: with the legion of the Danube there
- the Polish general smites the negroes, but sighs for his native soil
- Mickiewicz, Adam (1917). Pan Tadeusz (PDF). London: J. M. Dent. p. 31. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
Translated by George Rapall Noyes