Antoni Malczewski (3 June 1793 – 2 May 1826) was a Polish
romantic poet, known for his only work, "a
narrative poem of dire
pessimism
Pessimism is a negative mental attitude in which an undesirable outcome is anticipated from a given situation. Pessimists tend to focus on the negatives of life in general. A common question asked to test for pessimism is " Is the glass half emp ...
", ''Maria'' (1825).
At the times, prominent and scandalizing was his autodestructive romance with a married woman, Zofia Rucińska, who had a mental illness.
Biography
Malczewski was born to a wealthy family in either
Volhynia
Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. The ...
or
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
, and attended school in
Krzemieniec
Kremenets ( uk, Крем'янець, Кременець, translit. ''Kremianets'', ''Kremenets''; pl, Krzemieniec; yi, קרעמעניץ, Kremenits) is a city in Ternopil Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center o ...
(modern-day Kremenets, Ukraine), but did not graduate.
He joined the army of the short-lived
Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...
during the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
in 1811,
and remained in the army of
Congress Poland under
Emperor Alexander from 1815.
He was wounded in the foot in a duel in 1816 and so had to leave the army.
After leaving the army, he spent several years traveling through western Europe, staying some time in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, climbing
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and ...
in 1818, and spending a good portion of his inherited fortune.
He returned to his estate in Volhynia in 1821, where he began an ill-fated affair with a married woman and began writing.
He moved to Warsaw in 1824, where he published the poetic novel ''Maria'' at his own expense in 1825, and died in poverty the next year in unclear circumstances.
Work
Malczewski's fame rests almost solely upon that of ''Maria'', published near the end of his life and popularized in the decade following his death (an English translation appeared in 1835). Considered a masterpiece of
Polish Romanticism
Romanticism in Poland, a literary, artistic and intellectual period in the evolution of Polish culture, began around 1820, coinciding with the publication of Adam Mickiewicz's first poems in 1822. It ended with the suppression of the January 186 ...
, it tells the tale of a young noble woman who marries above her station, and so incurs the wrath of her husband's family, who plot revenge. It is generally held to be most influenced by
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...
, whom Malczewski had met in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
during his travels around western Europe, though it is considerably more gloomy and
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
than Byron's work. Malczewski is sometimes considered part of the "
Ukrainian school" in Polish poetry, though others consider his work to stand uniquely separate. ''Maria'' was also influential on later Polish poets, especially
Adam Mickiewicz
Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...
, and on writer
Joseph Conrad.
Genealogy
See also
*
Aiguille du Midi
The Aiguille du Midi () is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif within the French Alps. It is a popular tourist destination and can be directly accessed by cable car from Chamonix that takes visitors close to Mont Blanc.
Cable car
The idea fo ...
References
External links
''Maria''with commentary (in Polish),
WolneLektury.pl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malczewski, Antoni
1793 births
1826 deaths
Polish poets
Polish mountain climbers
Romantic poets
19th-century Polish writers
19th-century poets
Polish people of German descent