KOŚCIUSZKO, TADEUSZ. - Polish patriot, b. at Mereczowszczyzna on 4 Feb. 1746, d. at Solothurn (Switzerland) on 20 Oct. 1817. Under the protection of the Czartoryski family, he was able to attend the cadet school in Warsaw, from which he emerged as an officer. He then furthered his studies in Paris, where, in the Enlightenment atmosphere of the French capital, those democratic-humanitarian ideas took root in him, as well as a faith in progress and in the betterment of humanity that never left him.
Sentimental entanglements led him to the United States (1776), where he enlisted as a colonel of engineers,
distinguishing himself by his moral qualities and technical skill to the point of reaching the rank of commander-in-chief of the corps of engineers of the Southern Army. His stay in the United States and his contact with American society strengthened in him the already clear democratic consciousness.
Thus, after his return to his homeland (1784), in the wake of the unfortunate campaign of 1792 against the Russians and the second partition of Poland, K. appeared to those who yearned for a resurgence as the most suitable person to channel toward a single goal—the struggle against the Russians—all social classes. On 23 March 1794, K. took command of the insurrection in Cracow, which spread throughout Poland and achieved successes at Racławice, Żmudź, Warsaw, and Vilnius, while through opportune measures favoring the peasants (partial abolition of serfdom, reduction of corvées for peasant combatants, etc.) he succeeded in swelling the ranks of the insurgents with fresh forces. The Russians under Suvorov, after their setbacks, took the offensive and, together with the Prussians under Fersen, defeated the Poles in the subsequent battles of Szczekociny (6 June) and Maciejowice (10 Oct.), where K., gravely wounded, fell into Russian hands, while on 4 Nov. Warsaw capitulated. K., taken prisoner to St. Petersburg, was released by Paul I at the end of 1796 and from then on remained practically inactive and politically isolated, except for a final interview in 1815 with Alexander I, retiring to Solothurn.