The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Ankwitz, Mikolaj

ANKWITZ, Mikolaj, count, a Polish politician, executed in 1794. He was ambassador at Copenhagen, and deputy to the diet from Cracow. In the diet of Grodno, which was forced to sanction the second dismemberment of Poland, he played a prominent part; and when the treaty consummating it was concluded with Russia, he was deputed to sign it on behalf of Poland, July 23, 1793. Immediately afterward a salary of $13,000 was conferred upon Ankwitz by the Russian government, with the appointment of president of the council. When these facts became known, the rage of the people knew no bounds. On April 18, 1794, soon after the breaking out of the revolution of which Kosciuszko became the leader, he was accused of treason, and his correspondence was seized, which established his guilt. He was hanged, and buried in the felons' graveyard.