Wolszlegier, Antoni
Wolszlegier, Antoni (Anton Johannes Nepomucenus von Wolszlegier), 1893-98 member of the Reichstag of the German Empire, 1896-98 member of the 2nd Chamber of the Prussian Landtag. *14.3.1843 the estate of Schönfeld/Szenfeld (today Nieżychowice) near Conitz/Chojnice, †5.1.1922 Chojnice: a priest and publicist. He was the brother of the member of the Reichstag, Władysław Wolszlegier (Wladislaus von Wolszlegier, 1849-1919). 1873: A-levels at the grammar school in Conitz. Subsequently he studied philosophy, philology and theology at the universities in Breslau, Innsbruck, Würzburg and Munich. In 1879 he was made a Doctor of theology in Würzburg and ordained as a priest there. Initially he was a trainee at the Archiepiscopal office in Pelplin, then an administrative priest in Czersk, and from 1884 onwards the director of the Institute of Retired Priests in the monastery in Jacobsdorf/Zamarte (powiat sępoleński) near Conitz. In 1892 he was made the parish priest in Gilgenburg/Dąbrówno. He was active in cooperative movements and in the development of agricultural clubs. In June 1893 he was elected into the Polish parliamentary group in the German Reichstag for the constituency of Rößel-Allenstein/Reszel-Olsztyn with a majority of 54.94% in the second ballot. He served on special committees for tobacco tax, immigration, the right of assembly, jurisdiction, the committee of accounts and the civil law book, and was the first Polish member for Warmia in the Reichstag. From 1896 he was coeditor of the Gazeta Ludowa/Volkszeitung in Lyck/Ełk. He used his family inheritance to support Polish newspapers and printing presses that had sunk into financial difficulties, like the Gazeta Toruńska/Thorner Zeitung and the Gazeta Olsztyńska/Allensteiner Zeitung, and was an active supporter of the founding of the Gazeta Gdańska/Danziger Zeitung. Between 1914 and 1920 he was one of the main Polish activists working for the creation of Polish states in the Prussian sector. In 1918 he became a member of the Polski Sejm Dzielnicowy/Polish Provincial Parliament in Poznan. In 1918/19 he was a member of the Naczelna Rada Ludowa/National Peoples Council. After the death of his brother, Władysław he took over the family inheritance in 1919. After the Poles were defeated in the referendum in Warmia in 1920 he settled on the family estate in Schönfeld. picture: http://www.historiachojnic.pl/biografia/32/rod-wolszlegierow Own writings: Sprawozdanie z wieca w Toruniu dla katolickiej ludności polskiej w dniach od 27. do 29. września 1891, Thorn 1892; Wybór najuywaszych pieni kocielnych wyjetych ze ‚Zbioru pieni nabonych katolickich‘, Pelplin 1912.
Further reading:
Amtliches Reichstag-Handbuch, 9. Legislaturperiode, Berlin 1898, 258; Reichstagsprotokolle 1867-1895, Register 155; Reichstagsprotokolle 1895-1918, Register 150; A. Kotowski: Zwischen Staatsräson und Vaterlandsliebe, Düsseldorf 2007, 117, 126f.
Online:
http://zhsf.gesis.org, Parlamentarierportal, BIORAB Kaiserreich online
http://www.reichstag-abgeordnetendatenbank.de/
http://www.reichstagsprotokolle.de
http://www.sejm-wielki.pl
Historia Chojnic, http://www.historiachojnic.pl/biografia/32/rod-wolszlegierow
Axel Feuß, October 2016
Link to the minutes of the Reichstag:
http://www.reichstagsprotokolle.de