„To jest najgłupsza, najhaniebniejsza historia pod słońcem!”
“To read history keenly”, or about Norwid’s certain address on the anniversary of the January Uprising

Summary/Abstract: The article describes Antoni Berezowski’s assassination attempt on Tsar Alexander II on 6th June 1867 (Berezowski was a Polish émigré and former insurgent). In Norwid’s writings the event is just an episode, however, it has not been fairly thoroughly discussed: both with respect to the data and facts that here and there appear in commentaries to the poet’s writings, and with respect to the very historical fact that caused commotion in the Polish émigré circles in Paris; but also with respect to the event’s context and its political repercussions in Europe and in Poland. The present text tries – since it is based on authentic materials and documents – to fairly thoroughly describe the whole affair and verify Norwid’s judgments and opinions formulated for the moment, without a proper political and historical analysis. It also shows the figure of Berezowski, an unusual émigré and patriot who paid a terrible price for the unsuccessful attempt.

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