Studium przypadku Michała Kędzierskiego z Wojnicza czyli losy neofity na prowincji w pierwszej połowie XVIII wieku
Michał Kędzierski from Wojnicz, or the Case Study of a Neophyte in Back Country in the First Half of the Eighteenth Century

Summary/Abstract: The article describes the complicated history of Michał Kędzierski's life. He was a Jewish convert who lived in the first half of the eighteenth century in Wojnicz. Initially he served for the Wojnicz's starost and in 1716 he was the administrator of the whole crown lands in Wojnicz county (starostwo wojnickie). In this period, he was described in official documents as a member of nobility. After 1720 he settled in Wojnicz town, from which his wife Elżbieta Bialikowic hailed. She was a member of a known burgher family which produced many Roman Catholic clergymen. In the following years, Kędzierski integrated with town's community and in 1732 he was chosen as member of the town’s delegation sent to the Polish king with town's to campaign against Kędzierski's former patron Jakub Stanisław Karwowski, the Wojnicz starosta, and defend the town’s rights violated by nobleman and his Jewish leaseholder of a Wojnicz inn. His son Andrzej Kędzierski was a notable priest and prelate - canon (dean) in Wojnicz. The article shows that assimilation and integration was possible for Jewish converts in 18th century Poland.

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