Hieronim Derdowski [SEP] place of death
Hieronim Derdowski
Hieronim Derdowski (March 9, 1852, Wiele, Pomeranian Voivodeship, German Empire – August 13, 1902, Winona, Minnesota, America) (Kashubian "Hieronim Derdowsczi" or "Jarosz Derdowsczi"), Kashubian-Polish intellectual and activist, was born to Kashubian parents in the Pomeranian village of Wiele. By the time Derdowski emigrated to the United States in 1885, he had already studied for the Roman Catholic priesthood, been repeatedly incarcerated by the German authorities, and edited a newspaper in the city of
Derdowska continued operating "Wiarus" until 1915, when it was sold outside of the family, finally shutting down in 1919.
Legacy.
Hieronim Derdowski combined, both in his life and in his writing, his devotion to both of his heritages: Kashubian and Polish. On the death of the founder of Kaszubian literature, Dr. Florian Ceynowa, he famously stated "Nie ma Kaszëb bez Polonii, a bez Kaszëb Polśczi" "No Kaszubia without Polonia, no Poland without Kaszubia." This attitude he applied equally to