Walerian Łukasiński

Walerian Łukasiński (15 April 1786 in Warsaw – 27 January 1868 in Shlisselburg) was a Polish officer and political activist. Sentenced by Russian Imperial authorities to 14 years' imprisonment, he was never released and died after 46 years of solitary incarceration, becoming a symbol of the Polish struggle for independence.

Born in Warsaw on 15 April 1786, as a child he lived through the last of the partitions of Poland that destroyed the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He joined the Polish military early, serving in the army of Duchy of Warsaw from 1807 to 1815 and later in that of Congress Poland. In Congress Poland, a puppet state of the Russian Empire, ruled by the Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia, the Polish army's morale was very low. Łukasiński, who reached the rank of a major in the 4th Regiment of Line Infantry, took it upon himself to restore it, creating a secret organization known as National Freemasonry (Wolnomularstwo Narodowe), which existed from 1819 to 1820 and successfully raised morale.. In 1818 Łukasiński published "Reflections of an Army Officer Concerning the Need of Organizing the Jews". In 1820 he formally disbanded National Freemasonry and replaced it by another secret organization, Patriotic Society (Towarzystwo Patriotyczne). Its goal was not a revolution but to influence public opinion and improve the lot of the oppressed, like peasants and Jews.

He ended up on the wrong side of Prince Constantine when he refused to sign an order condemning some innocent Polish officers of negligent duty. Soon afterwards he was denounced by a traitor for his involvement with secret conspirational organizations, and he was arrested by the Russian authorities and sentenced to 7 years of hard labour in Zamość. For participation in the prisoners revolt against inhumane conditions, he was accused of being one of the ringleaders (without much proof) and his sentence was doubled to 14 years.

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