Jan Szygut — nauczyciel i działacz polityczny ze Śląska Cieszyńskiego
Jan Szygut — a Teacher and Political Activist from the Cieszyn Silesia

Summary/Abstract: Jan Szygut (1838—1920) — was born to a Protestant family in Hnojnik (Polish Gnojnik) in Cieszyn Silesia. Since 1856 Szygut worked as a teacher. In 1857 he was elected the coordinator of the Evangelical school in Puńców nearby Cieszyn, and performed that role until his retirement in 1907. Initially Szygut was involved in the Polish National Movement; however, around 1879/1880 inspired by Theodor Hasse, a preacher from Cieszyn, he became attracted to the German Liberal Party. In 1889 he was the editor of “Nowy Czas”, a newspaper established by Hasse. In 1896 Szygut was an unsuccessful liberal candidate in the elections to the Silesian Parliament in Opava. Szygut was the president of the Rural Teachers Association in Cieszyn; he was active in the Evangelical reading room established by Hasse, and was repeatedly elected presbyter of the Evangelical church of the Augsburg confession in Cieszyn. Contrary to opinions stated by other scholars, the national and religious situation in Cieszyn Silesia in Szygut’s lifetime cannot be simplified to thinking of protestants as followers of the Polish national movement and associating the Catholics with the Germans. Most Evangelical ministers were in favour of the German Liberal Party; moreover, they influenced the political as well as national votes cast by members of the congregation.

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