Editing Karol Libelt

{{Short description|Polish politician and author (1807–1875)}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Karol Libelt
| image         = Karol Libelt.PNG
| alt           = 
| caption       = Portrait of Libelt by [[Maksymilian Fajans]], {{circa}}1850s-70s
| birth_name    = Karol Fryderyk Libelt
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1807|04|08}}
| birth_place   = [[Poznań|Posen]], [[South Prussia]], [[Kingdom of Prussia]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1875|06|09|1807|04|08}}
| death_place   = [[Brdowo]], [[Province of Posen]], [[German Empire]]
| other_names   = Karl Friedrich Libelt
| occupation    = 
| years_active  = 
| known_for     = 
| notable_works = 
}}

'''Karol Libelt''' (8 April 1807, [[Poznań]], [[South Prussia]]<!--the Duchy of Warsaw was founded in June 1807--> – 9 June 1875, [[Brdowo]]) was a Polish philosopher, writer, political and social activist, social worker and [[liberalism|liberal]], [[nationalism|nationalist]] politician, and president of the [[Poznań Society of Friends of Learning]].

==Life and work==
Libelt took part in the failed [[November Uprising]] against Russia in 1830, and was imprisoned for nine months at [[Magdeburg]]. From 1839 he became the head of a secret committee started in order to organise another uprising against the [[Partitions of Poland|partitioning powers]], which was nicknamed the Libelt Committee ({{langx|pl|Komitet Libelt}}). He was sentenced by the [[Prussia]]n authorities to 20 years of imprisonment for taking part in the [[Greater Poland Uprising (1846)|Greater Poland Uprising of 1846]]. However, he was amnestied in 1848 and returned to [[Poznań|Posen]], where he took part in the [[Greater Poland Uprising (1848)|Greater Poland Uprising of 1848]] and joined various organisations supporting the independence of Poland ([[Polish National Committee (1848)|Polish National Committee]] and Revolutionary Committee). During the [[Spring of Nations]] he was elected as one of the members of the [[Frankfurt Parliament]]. He also took part in the [[Slavic Congress]] in [[Prague]] in June 1848.

In 1849 he was elected a member of the Prussian parliament and became the director of the liberal {{lang|pl|Dziennik Polski}} (Polish Daily). The following year Libelt began to establish various scientific and social organisations in [[Greater Poland]], including the [[Society of Friends of the Sciences]] in Posen, which became a ''de facto'' university. Between 1868 and 1875 he headed the Society and gave lectures in [[aesthetics]].  In 1873, he was elected to the Prussian Lower House.

In his philosophical works, Libelt described the so-called [[Polish messianism]], or a belief that the history of the world would be redeemed by the Polish people, who gained moral excellence because of the suffering of their fatherland. He believed in existence of a super-rational cognitive power, visible through art. He is known internationally because the word [[intelligentsia]] was popularized by him in his book {{lang|pl|Filozofia i krytyka}} (''Philosophy and Critics'').

==Writings==
* {{lang|pl|Filozofia i krytyka}} (1845–50)
* {{lang|pl|Estetyka}} (1851)
* {{lang|pl|Umnictevo}} (1857)
* {{lang|pl|Dziela}} (1875)
* {{lang|pl|Zbior pism pomniejszych}} (1849–51)
* {{lang|pl|Dziewica Orléanska}} (1847)
* {{lang|pl|Humor i pravada}} (1852)

== See also ==
* [[Poznań Society of Friends of Learning]]
* [[History of philosophy in Poland#Messianism|History of philosophy in Poland]]
* [[List of Poles#Philosophy|List of Poles]]

== References ==
* [[Witold Jakóbczyk]], ''Przetrwać na Wartą 1815-1914'', ''Dzieje narodu i państwa polskiego'', vol. III-55, Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza, Warszawa 1989
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Libelt, Karol|year=1905}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Libelt, Karol}}
[[Category:1807 births]]
[[Category:1875 deaths]]
[[Category:Writers from Poznań]]
[[Category:Politicians from Poznań]]
[[Category:19th-century Polish philosophers]]
[[Category:Polish male writers]]
[[Category:November Uprising participants]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Virtuti Militari]]
[[Category:People from the Grand Duchy of Posen]]
[[Category:Members of the Prussian House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Members of the Frankfurt Parliament]]
[[Category:Polish political prisoners in the Prussian partition]]
[[Category:Activists from the Grand Duchy of Posen]]
[[Category:Participants of the Slavic Congress in Prague 1848]]
[[Category:Polish messianism]]