The Military Workshop
1st Lieutenant
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2005
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Interesting article in the Australian newspaper today.
Concerns the name of Australia's tallest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, named after Tadeusz Kosciuszko (1746-1817). He led an uprising against Imperial Russia and the Kingdom of Prussia; he also fought in the American revolutionary war.
Below a few paras from the article :
"Australia’s highest peak – Mount Kosciuszko – is named after a man who never stepped foot on this continent. Should we change it, maybe to something approved by the Ngarigo people, who still live nearby?
Writer Anthony Sharwood considers this question in his new book, Kosciuszko: The Incredible Life of the Man Behind the Mountain (Hachette), out this week.
“There’s certainly an appetite for change, but it’s not going to be easy to find a new name that everyone agrees on,” says Sharwood.
Kosciuszko – the man – was born in 1746 in what is now Belarus, but he travelled widely, and he was a war hero in three countries. The Australian mountain is not the only place in the world named for him (for example, there is a misspelled Kosciusko in Mississippi, whose most famous daughter is Oprah Winfrey).
Kosciuszko’s name was bestowed upon Australia’s highest peak by a Polish explorer, Pawel Strzelecki, who climbed – and named – it for him in 1840".
I suspect the name change mention is just click bait to get people to read the article.
I looked him up on Wikipedia and he has a very interesting career to say the least. He went over to America to help the colonials against the British. He got around and was mainly involved in planning fortifications. Fought for 7 years without pay ! Knew Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson and met Napoleon.
During the Revolution, Kościuszko carried an old Spanish sword at his side, which was inscribed with the words Do not draw me without reason; do not sheathe me without honour.
Then commanded troops against the Russians.
Obviously many place names in Australia come from Englishmen and women of the time who also never set foot in Australia. For example Victoria, Queensland, Melbourne, Sydney etc. Kosciuszko certainly a worthy person to have something named after him and the fact the mountain was named by a Pole does not make him any less worthy than Brits who had places named after him.
Concerns the name of Australia's tallest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, named after Tadeusz Kosciuszko (1746-1817). He led an uprising against Imperial Russia and the Kingdom of Prussia; he also fought in the American revolutionary war.
Below a few paras from the article :
"Australia’s highest peak – Mount Kosciuszko – is named after a man who never stepped foot on this continent. Should we change it, maybe to something approved by the Ngarigo people, who still live nearby?
Writer Anthony Sharwood considers this question in his new book, Kosciuszko: The Incredible Life of the Man Behind the Mountain (Hachette), out this week.
“There’s certainly an appetite for change, but it’s not going to be easy to find a new name that everyone agrees on,” says Sharwood.
Kosciuszko – the man – was born in 1746 in what is now Belarus, but he travelled widely, and he was a war hero in three countries. The Australian mountain is not the only place in the world named for him (for example, there is a misspelled Kosciusko in Mississippi, whose most famous daughter is Oprah Winfrey).
Kosciuszko’s name was bestowed upon Australia’s highest peak by a Polish explorer, Pawel Strzelecki, who climbed – and named – it for him in 1840".
I suspect the name change mention is just click bait to get people to read the article.
I looked him up on Wikipedia and he has a very interesting career to say the least. He went over to America to help the colonials against the British. He got around and was mainly involved in planning fortifications. Fought for 7 years without pay ! Knew Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson and met Napoleon.
During the Revolution, Kościuszko carried an old Spanish sword at his side, which was inscribed with the words Do not draw me without reason; do not sheathe me without honour.
Then commanded troops against the Russians.
Obviously many place names in Australia come from Englishmen and women of the time who also never set foot in Australia. For example Victoria, Queensland, Melbourne, Sydney etc. Kosciuszko certainly a worthy person to have something named after him and the fact the mountain was named by a Pole does not make him any less worthy than Brits who had places named after him.