Bonawentura Niemojowski was born in
Słupia near
Kępno to a noble (
szlachta) family (
Wierusz Coat of Arms). He first studied in the
Piarist college in
Warsaw, and later abroad in
Paris. After returning to Poland, he became elected from the
Kalisz Voivodeship to the
Sejm (parliament) of
Congress Poland. He was a member of the
liberal Kalisz Opposition (
Kaliszanie) in the parliament since 1820; the group was named after the
voivodeship which he and his brother,
Wincenty Niemojowski, both notable members of the group, were from. In 1821 Bonawentura married Wiktoria Lubowidzka, with whom he had two children. In the Sejm, Bonawentura soon became a major nuisance to the Russian officials. One of the demands of the Kalisz faction in 1820, regarding independence of the judiciary, led the
tsar Alexander I of Russia (who was also king of Congress Poland, the
Russian Empire puppet state) to suspend the Polish parliament for a period of five years; Niemojowski was dismissed from the parliament before that and subject to
house arrest for over a year. After the parliament was reestablished, he was a vocal opponent to the movement to make the parliament debates secret, and criticized the tsar's and Russian officials breaking the
Constitution of the Congress Poland. In 1830 tsar ordered the
Senate of Poland to annul Niemojowski's and his brother's mandates on a technicality in order to bar them from attending the parliament sessions. Although opposed to any means of revolutionary changes, the
Kaliszanie eventually supported the
November Uprising and joined the ranks of the
National Government in 1830. During the period of struggle against Russia, the
Kaliszanie practically dominated the government, controlling the ministries of internal affairs, treasury and war. With the November Uprising of 1830 Bonawentura joined the revolutionary government, taking, among others, posts of minister of justice and later minister of internal affairs. On 8 September 1831 he replaced general
Jan Krukowiecki as the leader of
Polish National Government. Where Krukowiecki wanted to negotiate with the Russians, Niemojowski represented the radical arm of the insurgents, opposed the negotiations and in favor of continuing the uprising. He supported the defense of Warsaw. After the fall of Warsaw he moved to
Modlin. He resigned his post on 23 September, once the majority of the government decided to support
capitulation, and was succeeded by general
Maciej Rybiński. Eventually, with the collapse of the uprising, he escaped to France, joining the
Great Emigration; he lived in Paris and
Brussels and was an activist in the
Komitet Tymczasowy Emigracji (''Emigration's Temporary Committee''). ==Works==