Kosciuszko plaque unveiled in Finland

Kosciuszko spent a week there in January 1797, from where he travelled, via Stockholm and Goeteborg, to London.

In London he boarded a ship bound for America. This was not his first visit there. In 1776 he took part in the American Revolutionary War as a colonel in the Continental Army.

In 1794, in Poland, Kosciuszko organised an uprising against Tsarist Russia, whose defeat led to the Third Partition of Poland.

While in Turku, which was on Swedish territory at the time, Kosciuszko was a guest of the Finnish-Italian influential Casagrande family.

The commemorative plaque, in Polish, English and Finnish, is placed on the family’s house in the town centre.

The unveiling ceremony, attended by the Polish ambassador in Finland and the town authorities, was preceded by an academic seminar and a concert which featured Kosciuszko’s own compositions – polonaises and waltzes.

Kosciuszko was indeed a man of many talents. (mk/rg)