Tadeusz Kościuszko, Part II: ​Life and Legend

Footnoting History

(Host: Lucy)

How much is it impossible to know about an icon? This episode investigates Tadeusz Kościuszko’s place in historical memory. From the early 19th century onwards, myths coalesced around him and his role in the Polish struggle for independence. Paradoxically, his contemporary fame can make it harder for historians to find facts. As a disabled war veteran who fought for racial and religious equality, moreover, Kościuszko is a figure more complex than the heroic narratives that have often formed around him.