Józef Ignacy Kraszewski

THE HISTORY OF OUR PATRON

"In Biała have I lived the best of my child years, in Biała has my soul opened itself unto the world; here have I first felt the urge to write and took a pen in my hand. Now you see why I love Biała so, and respect my memories of her..."

Józef Ignacy Kraszewski was born in Warsaw on 28th of July, 1812. He spent his childhood in Romanów. In 1822 he was accepted into school in Biała. He was given for a pension to the Biala Academy's rector, Joseph Preyss. The years spent in Biala was a time of debuts for Kraszewski. Under the teaching of his master, Adam Bartoszewicz, he got to know classics, studied rarities found in the Academy attic, wrote small poems and translations of La Fontaine. He also observed the life of Biala around him, he was fascinated with the grim ruins of the Radziwills' palace, he was terrified by the prisoners in the castle tower. One of his later works, "The Great World of a Small City" is based on his school-time memories. In 1826 he left Biala to study in Lublin and Swislocz, and in 1829 he went to Vilnius, where he studied Speech and Liberated Arts in the University of Vilnius. There he took part in the preparations to the November Uprising, later he led intensive journalist activity while traveling a lot. In 1863,in fear of being arrested he left Warsaw and settled in Dresden. On emigration he led anti-invader (anti-German, -Russian and -Austrian) activity, for which he was sent to prison many times. He was a co-founder and initiator of the educational society - Polish Matrix, which edited and popularized Polish literature. In 1879 he was commemorated with a jubilee of 50 years of creativity (this ended as a nationwide patriotic manifestation). He died in Geneva in 1887. He was a writer, journalist, historian, painter as well as a composer. His works include over 600 volumes of nearly all genres. His most known works include "The Old Fable", "The Countess Cosel", "The Child Of The Old City", "Pages From The Journey".

Change color:

Dzisiaj jest