6th President of the Polish National Alliance.

The son of a judge in Poznan, Brodowski studied at the Universities of Breslau (Wroclaw) and Lipsk and came to America in 1876 after completing his education.

 

Originally employed as an editor of the New York Kuryer, he won some notoriety by writing an article condemning a shabby history of Poland which had earlier appeared in Gazeta Polska.

 

Traveling to California where he worked in the construction of the San Francisco cable car line, Brodowski knew a number of Polish personalities of the day including the actress Helena Modrzejewska (Modjeska), General Krzyzanowski (a civil war veteran, Polish patriot and himself a member of the Polish National Alliance), and the novelist Henryk Sienkiewicz.

 

His writing won much praise and Brodowski's stories appeared in Polish and American newspapers.In 1884, he traveled to Chicago where he first edited the Gazeta Chicagoska From 1885 to 1889 he was editor of Zgoda.

 

At this time he wrote a memorandum calling for Poland's independence which was sent to Berlin and Vienna. As a commissioner of the Chicago Parks in 1890, Brodowski found employment for hundreds of Polish immigrants. In 1895 he was elected president of the Alliance but served less than two years. In August, 1897 he resigned to accept the post of U.S. Consul in Breslau.

 

However, because of his previous work on behalf of Polish reunification and independence, the German government refused to accept his appointment. Eventually, Brodowski was reassigned to American consulates in southern and western Germany. He died during an outbreak of influenza.