These spiritual bonds were underlined inter alia by the Finnish historian Sulo Haltsonen who observed that [quotation] “The sufferings of the Polish nation and of Ko¶ciuszko himself were close to the Finns’ hearts.” [end of quotation] These common feelings of both nations were perfectly expressed by a very enthusiastic welcome of the Polish hero prepared by the inhabitants of Åbo, which was the Finnish capital under the Swedish rule. Ko¶ciuszko arrived there at the beginning of January 1797 after having been released from the Tsar’s prison in St. Petersburg. Let’s have a look at Tadeusz Ko¶ciuszko’s route and stay in Finland.

The day after a formal farewell with the Tsar Paul The First in Petersburg on 18th December 1797 Ko¶ciuszko departed in a huge carriage towards the Finnish-Russian border near Vyborg / Viipuri. He travelled well-equipped, wearing a warm sheepskin coat and carrying with himself a camp bed, in case he needed to rest. He was accompanied by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, his former adjutant who served him during the Polish Insurrection, as well as by a young officer called Libiszewski. He also had with him a black servant and a Polish cook. At the border they were joined by a Russian major called Udom, who accompanied Ko¶ciuszko for official reasons.

The journey was long and arduous, especially due to the frosty winter. It was a true ordeal for the exhausted Ko¶ciuszko – who, moreover, suffered from paresis of the leg, pierced by a Cossak spear at the battle of Maciejowice in 1794. In his Diaries of My Times, Ko¶ciuszko’s adjutant Niemcewicz thus describes the journey [quotation]:

“Because of heavy snowfalls we did not cover more than three miles on the first day of the travel. Having arrived at a postal shelter, we all slept in one chamber. With the snowfalls continuing, we had to use two timbers joined together to form a V-shaped plough. The plough was pulled by the horses in order to clear the snow on both sides of the road, enabling us to pass. However, we proceeded very slowly, because the days were very short – there were only four hours of daylight, and we had to prepare for the night’s rest already at 2 p.m. Not only beverages and water, but also meat, poultry and fish were so deeply frozen that one had to cut them with an axe. Ko¶ciuszko could not yet walk, we had to carry him out of the carriage and back into it. Libiszewski willingly performed this service.”

Ko¶ciuszko was passing by Finland, because he wanted to travel to the United States via Sweden and England. The Polish hero fought in the American Revolutionary War from 1776 to 1783.

Having thus covered ca. 300 km from the border, after two weeks from the departure, Ko¶ciuszko and his companions arrived in the town of Åbo, the then capital of the “Swedish” Finland (in Finnish the town is known as Turku) on 3rd January 1797. They were hosted in a refined house belonging to Johan Reinhold Seipel, a famous local restaurant owner, situated at Linnankatu 3, in the town’s centre, close to the historic cathedral. Nowadays, the house belongs to the Italian family of Casagrande.

Ko¶ciuszko and his companions stayed in Turku for approximately one week, until 8th January. During his stay the general met several important local figures, such as general Wrede, who received Ko¶ciuszko at his house with utmost hospitality, as well as the commanding colonel Hjelmasjörn, who paid a courtesy visit to Ko¶ciuszko accompanied by his navy officers.

Two local newspapers – both published in Swedish – wrote about Ko¶ciuszko and his visit to Turku. On 9th January the journal Åbo Tidningar reported as follows [quotation]: “Our entire city is proud that at least for a short time we could host within our town walls one of the biggest men of our times. We did not even know how to pay him due respect. Because of his poor health, Ko¶ciuszko was able to neither accept all the hospitable invitations, nor to have an active social life. Thus, the majority of our citizens were not able to personally meet the great man, whom they truly respected and for whose fate they felt enormous pity. A great source of joy to Ko¶ciuszko was listening to Libiszewski playing the guitar at his bedside and to a concert organised in his honour by the best musicians coming from our town. It is easy to understand the curiosity of the people, which made them come in crowds to the concert organised in honour of such a glorious man, struck by such a cruel fate.” [end of quotation]

Johan Fredrik Martin, Ko¶ciuszko le¿±cy na sofie (podobizna wykonana potajemnie) miedzioryt punktowany, 1797

A similar article appeared more than a dozen days later (on 27th January) in the newspaper Åbo Dagligt Allehanda, attesting to the great interest of the Finnish public opinion in the figure of Ko¶ciuszko. The article was written by Franz Mikel Franzén, a well-known intellectual of that time. He paid Ko¶ciuszko a visit and composed the following short poem in his honour, in which he expressed his admiration and compassion for the general [quotation]:

“So who is this man full of suffering, with a stare frozen by dignity which slowly raises to heaven from the ashes dispersed by the wind?
Alas, it is you, Ko¶ciuszko. You, a Polish hero, who sheds tears because you have outlived your homeland”.

The Finnish historian Oscar Nikula, in his turn, recalls in his History of Turku from 1721 to 1809 the enthusiastic reception of Ko¶ciuszko at the farewell concert which took place shortly before his departure (on 6th or 7th January). The concert was organised by a local music association in the ballroom of the above-mentioned magnificent Seipel’s house. It was, in a sense, a farewell concert, so Ko¶ciuszko himself was present. The ailing hero was carried to the chamber by local students. In the concert’s programme there were pieces by local composers: by Volgene and Neuman for a mixed chorus and orchestra (marches, hymns, arias and opera recitatives).

At the beginning of the concert a speech was delivered in French by one of the professors from the Åbo University. In his address he compared Kosciuszko to the heroes and distinguished figures of the ancient Greece and Rome: to Leonidas, Achilles, Aristides, Cimo and Cincinatus. For his part, Ko¶ciuszko briefly expressed his gratitude to the city’s inhabitants for the beautiful farewell concert. Afterwards the students carried the general to his lodging and in the evening sang under his windows.

On 8th January Ko¶ciuszko left Finland together with his companions. Niemcewicz wrote in his memoirs that “From Åbo we had to travel to Sweden by sea, that is via the Gulf of Bothnia. It was a hard crossing, since sometimes we had to travel across the frozen sea surface, with people running in front of us and checking with pike pokes if the ice was thick enough, and sometimes we had to sail the sea in open ships”.

After five days of this arduous crossing, on 13th January, Ko¶ciuszko with his companions reached Sweden’s shores.

dr Jan Konopka

Wiêcej o uroczysto¶ciach w Turku - tutaj