Adam
Mickiewicz: (1798-1855) Polish Poet and
Playwright
Adam Mickiewicz
was born near Novogrodek in Lithuania
to an impoverished family with old noble lineage. He studied at the
University of Vilno where he studied German and English romantic poetry.
(New Advent, Catholic Encyclopedia)
During Mickiewicz’s
time, Poland as well
as most of Eastern Europe, was involved in costly wars for independence.
In the early 1800s, Napoleon established Warsaw as a puppet state to
serve French interests in the east. As a result, Mickiewicz grew fond of Romanticism in literature and was
strongly influenced by the French philosopher Voltaire as well as other
French writers. In 1819, he published his first poems in two volumes
and became a member of a secret society of poets. This society protested
Russian control of Poland
and in 1823, he was arrested and imprisoned. He was eventually exiled
to Russia, never to
return to his home again. (Ference, Gregory, ed. Chronology of 20th Century
Eastern European History. p.255-256.)
During his
time of exile, Mickiewicz’s writings coincided
heavily with Poland’s
struggle for independence. “His deep national and patriotic feelings
were expressed in his creative works as Dziady (Forefather’s Eve), Grazyna and Ballady
i Romanse (Ballads
and Romances).” His most famous sonnet and narrative-poem Konrad
Wallenrod influenced a whole generation
of Poles and continues to resonate in today’s times. His best know
work, Pan Tadeusz, is an epic poem about his life in Poland
during the Napoleonic conquest. (Sanford, George and Adriana Gozdecka-Sanford.
Historical Dictionary of Poland. p.124-125)
Mickiewicz love for his country resonated through not only
his writing, but political efforts to stay true to his country’s independence.
He died in Constantinople where he formed a Polish legion to assist
the Turkish army in defeating Russia.
Photographs:
Bust
of Mickiewicz
Photographs of the Garden
Further Reading:
New Advent, Catholic
Encyclopedia
Books and Writers
The Cleveland
Memory Project
culture.pl,
Warsaw/Moscow
Adam Mickiewicz
Museum of Literature, Warsaw
The Adam Mickiewicz
Foundation in Canada
The Poles,
The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
Polish National
Catholic Church, The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
Sonnets from the Crimea,
translated by Edna Worthley Underwood
Sanford, George and Adriana Gozdecka-Sanford. Historical
Dictionary of Poland. Metuchen, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. p.124-125,
1994.
Ference, Gregory, ed. Chronology of 20th
Century Eastern European History. Detroit: Gale Research Inc. p.255-25,
1994.
