Polish Jacobins

a revolutionary group that existed at the time of the Polish Uprising of 1794. The Polish Jacobins represented the radical wing of the nascent Polish intelligentsia. Their leaders—K. Konopka, J. Mejer, J. Jasiński, and F. Gorzkowski —were followers of Hugo Kołłataj, but in 1794 they adopted a more radical position and demanded the establishment of a republic. (The Jacobins were also called Hugonists, after Kołłątaj’s first name.) On Apr. 24, 1794, the Polish Jacobins founded the Jacobin Club in Warsaw and announced their intention of following the example of the Great French Revolution. They were supported by Warsaw’s popular masses, which twice, on May 9 and June 28, executed traitors at the urging of the Jacobins.