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Jan Prosper Witkiewicz
Jan Prosper Witkiewicz | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 24 June 1808 |
| Died | 8 May 1839 (aged 30) |
| Occupation(s) | Orientalist, explorer and diplomat |
Jan Prosper Witkiewicz (Lithuanian: Jonas Prosperas Vitkevičius; Russian: Ян Вѝкторович Виткѐвич) (June 24, 1808–May 8, 1839) was a Polish[1][2]-Lithuanian[3][4] orientalist, explorer and diplomat serving the Russian Empire.[5] He was a Russian agent in Kabul just before the First Anglo-Afghan War.
Surviving family accounts (supported by Polish literature)[citation needed] suggest that, most probably, he was a double agent who tried to provoke a major conflict between the British and Russian Empire in Central Asia to weaken the latter decisively and thus give his native country a chance to regain sovereignty.[6] He was also the paternal uncle of Stanisław Witkiewicz.
- ^ Massalski, Władysław (1928). Pierwszy Polak w Afganistanie [First Pole in Afghanistan] (in Polish). Warsaw. p. 3.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Reychman, Jan (1972). Podróżnicy polscy na Bliskim Wschodzie w XIX w. [Polish Travelers in the Middle East in the 19th Century] (in Polish). Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna. pp. 261–263.
- ^ Ludwig W. Adamec, ed. (2012). Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan. The Scarecrow Press. p. 441. ISBN 978-0521815291.
A Russian agent, or adventurer, of Lithuanian descent, Vitkevich came to Kabul in December 1837 for the purpose of establishing commercial relations with Afghanistan.
- ^ Brysac, Shareen Blair; Meyer, Karl Ernest (1999). The Tournament of Shadows The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia. Washington: Counterpoint. pp. 84–85.
For his part, Vitkevich had reason for retinence. His life history was Dostoyevskian. A Lithuanian by birth, he belonged as a student to the ...
- ^ Dominic Lieven, ed. (2006). The Cambridge History of Russia: Volume 2, Imperial Russia, 1689-1917. Cambridge University Press. p. 175. ISBN 0521815290.
- ^ "NaszaGazeta".
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