Michał Joachim Alojzy Węsławski (Lithuanian: Mykolas Venslauskis;[1] 17 September 1849 – 22 August 1917) was a Polish lawyer and politician who served as the Vilnius city councillor from 1897 to 1905, then mayor (president) from 1905 to 1916, and deputy to the 2nd Russian State Duma.

[4] Antoni Węsławski was a landowner, and in his youth fought in the November Uprising as an aide-de-camp to Onufry Jacewicz [pl], commander of the Telšiai troops.

In that year he was released with a ban on returning to his homeland, so the family settled in the Courland Governorate town of Libava, located only 40 versts (roughly 43 kilometers) from the former estate.

[20] He probably also took part in the defense of Emilia Węsławska, the wife of his brother Witold, who was accused of violating the law, because she was speaking Polish publicly in a store.

[17] In 1905, Michał Węsławski became a contributor to the first Polish daily newspaper published in Vilnius in years, Kurier Litewski, founded by Hipolit Korwin-Milewski.

[22] In 1900, he and his friends: Restytut Sumorok, Michał Minkiewicz and Tadeusz Wróblewski renewed the Towarzystwo Szubrawców [pl] fraternal organization that had existed in Vilnius at the beginning of the 19th century.

Węsławski adopted the nickname "Wadwicz" and the dignity of "Grand Warden of the Shovel," which gave him the right to interrupt anyone who referred to an issue or led a polemic.

On 6 and 7 December 1906, a convention of delegates of Polish electoral committees from Western Krai took place in Vilnius, in the apartment of Aleksander Chomiński.

Equality for all without distinction of nationality and religion is a slogan to which I have never embezzled.He also advocated enfranchisement reform, but on the condition that it be carried out by local authorities, not St. Petersburg.

[38] During the Duma, he took part in work on the reform of local courts, the introduction of zemstvo in the Western Krai and supported the rejected proposal to introduce autonomy for the Congress Poland.

[40] The 1905 elections were held under new conditions: 971 people were eligible to vote, they were mostly Poles and Jews, and a small group of Russians, the number of councillors was increased by 10.

[42] 29 October saw the shooting of Governor Konstantin von Pahlen [ru] at a General Jewish Labour Bund rally; in response, police and Cossacks began firing into the crowd; 40 people were wounded, five died, including three on the spot.

[44] The October Manifesto introduced freedom of language, therefore the councilors submitted a request to the governor for the use of Polish during the swearing-in, as well as in the ongoing work of the magistrate and the introduction of bilingual signs on municipal buildings and with street names.

[47] The new authorities began preparatory work for the construction of a municipal gas plant, a water supply system, an electric tramway, and to sort out the city's waste disposal.

Same year the issue of an electric tramway moved forward, a decision was made to build a city slaughterhouse, and a traffic law was passed.

[56] In 1907 Society of National Education Oświata was registered and was able to function fully legal, but such state lasted only about year, because soon it was disbanded by the Russian authorities.

In January 1908, Deputy Minister of Education Osip Gerasimov [ru], who was in Vilnius, gave preliminary approval for the opening of the Polytechnic.

[73] In the fall of 1912, the city donated a plot of land for the erection of a church dedicated to the Sacred Heart, the author of the project of which was Antoni Wiwulski.

In addition to him, the delegation consisted of the gubernial nobility marshal Szymon Krassowski, Count Wiktor Starżeński, district clerk Janusz Jagmin, Grodno mayor Edward Listowski [pl], Lida mayor Leon Wismont, peasant representative Piotr Wituszka from Nowa Wilejka, Karaite delegate Izaak Firkowicz, Old Believers Arseniusz Pimonow, and Rabbi Izaak Rubinsztejn [pl].

[81] A large number of refugees, primarily from East Prussia, swept through the city, it was more than 55,000 people in 1914, the second wave came in mid 1915, mainly from Suwałki Governorate.

Pohl's importance grew while the role of Michał Węsławski and the City Board continued to diminish, mainly through their fear of the imminent return of the Russians.

[95] On 24 October, the German authorities invited representatives of the city council, the Civic Committee and the Catholic Diocese, all Poles, to a courtesy meeting.

According to Czeslaw Jankowski: "Mayor Węsławski most completely lost his resonance; he settled down, grew dim; during meetings, in front of representatives of German authorities, he usually did not even raise his voice.

"[96] The City Administration was ordered to conduct on 1 November 1915 a limited census of Vilnius residents to determine the number who were eligible for food ration cards.

[102] One of the successful endeavours of the time of occupation was the erection of the Three Crosses monument on the Bald Hill, designed by Antoni Wiwulski; Michał Węsławski was one of the initiators.

[104] The situation was compounded by the indifferent attitude of the German authorities, interested in looting the city of militarily usable metals; streetcar tracks, among other things, were pillaged.

The document was signed, in addition to Węsławski: Władysław Zawadzki, Samuel Rosenbaum, Andrius Domaševičius, Anton Luckievich and Franciszek Eidukewicz, representing the labor unions.

[108] In view of the increasing promotion of Lithuanians and Belarusians, and the restriction of the rights of Poles, the Committee decided to fight for the Polishness of the city and the country.

In November 1916, they informed the German chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg that the Poles of Lithuania and Belarus were only interested in a settlement that would ensure their territorial unity with Poland.

[107] At the time, Michał Węsławski also prepared an extensive Memorial on Food Matters (Polish: Memoriał w sprawach żywnościowych), in which he described the social, economic and political situation of the city and Lithuania.