Aleksander Sulkiewicz Aleksander Sulkiewicz - actually Iskander Mirza Huzman Beg Sulkiewicz , ( conspiratorial name " Michał " , sometimes " Czarny Michał " ( Black Michael ) ) ( born December 8 , 1867 in Skersabaliai , Lithuania , died September 18 , 1916 near Sitowicze ) - was a Polish politician of Tatar ethnicity , activist in socialist and independence movements and one of the co - founders of Polish Socialist Party . Early life . Sulkiewicz was born to a Tatar family with a tradition of support for the cause of Polish independence . He was the son of a " rotmistrz " ( rotamaster ) in the Czarist army , Aleksander and Rozalia née Kryczyńska ( feminine form of Kryczynski as in Prince Kryczynski ; one of the few Tatar families officially acknowledge as princes by the Polish — Lithuanian Diet and the King — Grand Duke ) . He was related to Józef Bielak , a general in the Kościuszko Uprising and one of the most cherished family possessions was a letter from Tadeusz Kościuszko praising and thanking his grandfather for his service . As a child he attended a Turkish school in Istanbul , where he came into contact with the Polish emigre community . After the death of his father ( around 1877 ) he came back with his family to Suwałki ( in 1800 ) and later to Sejny , where he continued his studies . Underground political activity . In Vilnius he was introduced into circles of socialist activists . He became an active member of the Social - Revolutionary Party Proletariat . In November 1892 he took part in the " Paris Convention " and creation of " Związek Zagraniczny Socjalistów Polskich " ( Organization of Polish Socialists Abroad ) . Subsequently he came back to Poland where he participated in the organization of Polish Socialist Party groups in Vilna . Together with Józef Piłsudski , Stanisław Wojciechowski , Stefan Bielak and Ludwik Zajkowski he took part in the meeting in a forest near Vilna , which later was recognized as the First Congress of the Polish Socialist Party ( PPS ) . In 1890 he got a job in the treasury department in Suwałki , and later in the customs office in Władysławowo and Kiborty . Thanks to these positions he came to be in charge of smuggling operations of the underground socialist press ( so called Bibuła ) from Geneva and London into Congress Poland . He also helped Lithuanian nationalists smuggle in Lithuanian language publications from abroad which were banned by Russian authorities . He was able to carry out clandestine conspiratorial activity for so long without being detected , partly because the Russian authorities did not suspect a follower of Islam of pro - Polish independence activities . From 1895 to 1897 , and then from 1899 to 1902 he was in the Central Committee of the PPS . He finished his job as a bureaucrat in customs in 1900 , and , on party orders , moved to Łódź where he set up the printing shop for the " Robotnik " newspaper . He composed and edited the first issue of the paper together with Piłsudski . The print shop was soon discovered by the Czarist police but Sulkiewicz managed to evade arrest . However , Józef Piłsudski was caught . Sulkiewicz with help from others ( like Władysław Mazurkiewicz ) began making plans for his escape . The escape occurred on on May 14 , 1901 , after Piłsudski feigned mental illness in order to get himself transferred from the Warsaw Citadel to a lower security mental hospital in Saint Petersburg . The escape might very well have saved Piłsudski ' s life as martial law applied and hence any conspiratorial activity was harshly punished . Starting in 1903 he rejoined the Central Committee of PPS , this time in Kiev . He was caught by the police , but thanks to good recommendations from his previous places of work he was freed after a few months with a caution . Soon after there was a split in PPS , and Suwalkiewicz followed Piłsudski in joining the pro - independence ( as opposed to the pro - internationalist ) PPS - Revolutionary Faction , and in 1908 became a member of its Central Committee . World War I and the Polish Legions . When World War I broke out , Sulkiewicz volunteered for the Polish Legions . After the creation of Polish National Organization ( PON ) he became its director in Wilno region . He traveled on diplomatic mission to Berlin , Copenhagen , Sweden and Kiev . Later he came back to Galicia and from there he was sent by Piłsudski back to German controlled Warsaw . There he was active in the Polish Military Organisation ( POW , or " Polska Organizacja Wojskowa " ) and PPS . He was arrested by Germans in November 1915 but eventually released . He moved to Austria - occupied Poland in order to take part in further fighting as part of the Polish Legions . He was initially made an intendent ( a manager ) in May 1916 but , after being refused twice due to his age ( he was 49 years old at the time ) he was finally given a front line position as a sergeant in the first Brigade of the Polish Legion . On September 18 , 1916 , during the Battle of Sitowicze , while running to help the wounded chorąży , Adam Koc , he was mortally wounded himself . On November 8 , 1925 his body was moved to Warsaw and buried in the Powązki Military Cemetery . Sulkiewicz was awarded the Order of Virtuti Militari . He was also posthumously awarded the Cross of Independence with Swords .