A Polish artillery general (1794 to 1850) who fought in the November Uprising and later commanded Hungarian forces in Transylvania in 1848 to 1849.

Why is Bem a hero in Hungary?

He led the Hungarian revolutionary army in Transylvania with great success in 1849 and is remembered there as Bem apó, Father Bem.

What did Bem do in the November Uprising?

He commanded artillery, notably at the Battle of Ostrołęka in May 1831, and was promoted to general.

Why did Bem convert to Islam?

After the defeat of Hungary in 1849 he fled to the Ottoman Empire and converted, to avoid being handed over to Austria and Russia, took the name Murad Pasha and entered Ottoman service.

Where is Józef Bem buried?

His remains were brought from Aleppo to Tarnów, his home town, in 1929.

Józef Bem: the Polish general who became a Hungarian hero

Few soldiers are heroes in two countries. Józef Bem fought for Poland's freedom in 1831, and when that cause was lost he carried the fight to Vienna and then to Hungary, where he led an army in Transylvania and earned the affectionate name Father Bem¹.

An artillery officer

Born in Tarnów in 1794¹, Bem trained as an artillery officer in the army of the Duchy² of Warsaw and fought in the Napoleonic campaigns, including the defence of Danzig in 1813³. Artillery remained his passion for the rest of his life.

Ostrołęka, 1831

In the November Uprising against Russia Bem commanded artillery, and at the Battle of Ostrołęka in May 1831 his guns covered the retreat of the threatened Polish army³. He was promoted to general, and after the uprising's defeat he joined the thousands of Poles in exile in the West.

Painting of Polish uhlans with lances charging through smoke — The Battle of Ostrołęka, 26 May 1831, painted by Juliusz Kossak in 1873 (District Museum in Toruń). Public domain

Vienna and Transylvania

When revolution swept Europe in 1848, Bem helped defend revolutionary Vienna³ and then offered his sword to Hungary. Given command in Transylvania, he turned a small, ragged force into an effective army and won a string of victories in the winter and spring of 1849. The Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi served as his aide⁴ and wrote poems in his honour.

Painting of a group of mounted officers on a rise watching a battle — Bem at the Battle of Nagyszeben (Sibiu), 11 March 1849, a surviving fragment of the Transylvanian Panorama painted by Jan Styka and others in 1896 and 1897. Public domain

Defeat and exile

The arrival of a large Russian army in support of Austria turned the war. Bem was defeated in the summer of 1849 and escaped to the Ottoman Empire, where he converted to Islam, took the name Murad Pasha and served in Aleppo¹. He died there in December 1850.

Father Bem

In 1929 his remains were brought home to Tarnów⁵. In Hungary he is still remembered as Bem apó, and on 23 October 1956 the Hungarian Revolution began with a rally of solidarity with Poland at his statue in Budapest⁶.

Classical columned mausoleum on a pond surrounded by trees — The mausoleum in Strzelecki Park in Tarnów where Bem's remains have rested since they were brought home in 1929. Mach240390, CC BY 4.0

Sources and notes

Numbered notes in the text point to the works below.

dzieje.pl (Muzeum Historii Polski / PAP), “Muzeum Okręgowe w Tarnowie kupiło film z pogrzebu gen. Bema” ↩ a b c
Eligiusz Kozłowski, Generał Józef Bem 1794–1850 (Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej, 1970). ↩
dzieje.pl (Muzeum Historii Polski / PAP), “Józef Bem. „Panienka” idzie na Moskwę” ↩ a b c
István Deák, The Lawful Revolution: Louis Kossuth and the Hungarians, 1848–1849 (Columbia University Press, 1979). ↩
VisitMałopolska (official tourism portal of Małopolska), “General Bem's Mausoleum, Tarnów” ↩
European Network Remembrance and Solidarity (ENRS), “Anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution” ↩
Wikipedia, “Józef Bem”
Wikipedia, “Józef Bem”