Julian Leopold Ochorowicz (Polish pronunciation: ; outside Poland also known as Julien Ochorowitz;

Radzymin Radzymin is a town in Poland and is one of the distant suburbs of the city of Warsaw. It is located in the powiat of Wołomin of the Masovian Voivodeship. The town has 8,818 inhabitants (as of 2008, but the surrounding commune is heavily pop ...

, 23 February 1850 – 1 May 1917,

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 ...

) was a Polish

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

(precursor of

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, publicist, and leading exponent of

Polish Positivism Polish Positivism was a social, literary and philosophical movement that became dominant in late-19th-century partitioned Poland following the suppression of the January 1863 Uprising against the Russian Empire. The Positivist period lasted until ...

Life

Julian Ochorowicz was the son of Julian and Jadwiga, ''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Sumińska. Ochorowicz studied

natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

at Warsaw University, graduating in 1871. He subsequently studied at Leipzig University under

Wilhelm Wundt Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (; ; 16 August 1832 – 31 August 1920) was a German physiologist, philosopher, and professor, known today as one of the fathers of modern psychology. Wundt, who distinguished psychology as a science from philosophy and ...

; in 1874 he received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

there with a thesis ''On Conditions of Consciousness''. Returning to Warsaw, in 1874-75 he was

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the popular Polish-language periodical, ''

Niwa The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research or NIWA ( mi, Taihoro Nukurangi), is a Crown Research Institute of New Zealand. Established in 1992, NIWA conducts research across a broad range of disciplines in the environmental scienc ...

'' (The Field) and ''Opiekun Domowy'' (The Home Companion). From 1881 he was assistant professor (''docent'') of

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

and

natural philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior throu ...

Lwów University The University of Lviv ( uk, Львівський університет, Lvivskyi universytet; pl, Uniwersytet Lwowski; german: Universität Lemberg, briefly known as the ''Theresianum'' in the early 19th century), presently the Ivan Franko Na ...

. In 1882 he was sent to

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, where he spent several years. Later, from 1907, he would be co-director of the Institut General Psychologique. Returning to Warsaw, from 1900 Ochorowicz was president of Kasa Literacka (the Literary Fund). He published

pedagogical Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and Developmental psychology, psychological development of le ...

papers in ''Encyklopedia Wychowawcza'' (The Encyclopedia of Education). Ochorowicz was a pioneer of

empirical research Empirical research is research using empirical evidence. It is also a way of gaining knowledge by means of direct and indirect observation or experience. Empiricism values some research more than other kinds. Empirical evidence (the record of one ...

and conducted studies into

occultism The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism an ...

Spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) ...

, hypnosis and

telepathy Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic W ...

. His most popular works included ''Wstęp i pogląd ogólny na filozofię pozytywną'' (An Introduction to and Overview of Positive Philosophy, 1872) and ''Jak należy badać duszę?'' (How Should One Study the Soul?, 1869). Ochorowicz the

published in ''Przegląd Tygodniowy'' (The Weekly Review) under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Julian Mohort. He wrote the poem, "''Naprzód''" ("Forward," 1873), regarded as the Polish Positivists'

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

. Ochorowicz, a trained philosopher with a doctorate from the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

, became the leader of the Positivist movement in Poland. In 1872 he wrote: "We shall call a Positivist, anyone who bases assertions on verifiable evidence; who does not express himself categorically about doubtful things, and does not speak at all about those that are inaccessible." In 1877 he elaborated the theory for a monochromatic

, to be constructed as a screen comprising bulbs that would convert transmitted images into groups of light points. In 1878 Ochorowicz published an article
O możności zbudowania przyrządu do przesyłania obrazów optycznych na dowolną odległość
(The possibility of making an instrument for transmitting visual images to distant places)'' which predicted the basic principle of television. In 1885, on several occasions, he demonstrated his own improved

telephones A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into el ...

. In

, he connected the building of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraph with the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

, 4 kilometers away. Ochorowicz received French patent for his technolog
(168,569. Brevet de quinze ans , 29 avril 1885 ; docteur Ochorowicz, à Paris , boulevard Saint-Germain , nº 24. - Système téléphonique reproduisant la parole à voie haute.)
and the enterprise of Bruno Abakanowicz had been producing his telephones for about 20 years. At the

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

, he set up a connection with

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, 45 km distant. He linked St. Petersburg,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, with

Bologoye Bologoye () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities *Bologoye, Tver Oblast, a town in Bologovsky District of Tver Oblast ;Rural localities * Bologoye, Omsk Oblast, a '' selo'' in Rozovsky Rural Okrug of Russko-P ...

, 320 km away. His microphone impressed International Society of Electricians and the French Society of Physics. He experimented with microphones and with apparatus for sending sound and light over distances, and so is regarded as a precursor of radio and television. Ochorowicz conducted experiments at a psychological laboratory that he established at Wisła.

Prus

Stanislawa-Tomczyk-levitating-scissors-1909

Julian Ochorowicz was a former

Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...

secondary-school and Warsaw University schoolmate of Bolesław Prus, who portrayed him in his 1889 novel, '' The Doll'', as the scientist "Julian Ochocki." Ochorowicz, after returning to Warsaw from Paris, in 1893 delivered several public lectures on ancient Egyptian

knowledge Knowledge can be defined as awareness of facts or as practical skills, and may also refer to familiarity with objects or situations. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is often defined as true belief that is distinc ...

. These evidently helped inspire Prus to write (1894–95) his sole

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

, ''

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...

''. Ochorowicz provided Prus books on

Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...

that he had brought back from

. Also in 1893, Ochorowicz introduced Prus to the Italian

Spiritualist Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century The ''long nineteenth century'' i ...

Eusapia Palladino Eusapia Palladino (alternative spelling: ''Paladino''; 21 January 1854 – 16 May 1918) was an Italian Spiritualist physical medium. She claimed extraordinary powers such as the ability to levitate tables, communicate with the dead through he ...

, whom he had brought to

from her

medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

istic tour in St. Petersburg,

. Prus attended a number of séances conducted by Palladino and incorporated several prominent

spiritualist Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century The ''long nineteenth century'' i ...

-inspired scenes into his 1895 novel ''

''. Ochorowicz hosted Palladino in Warsaw from November 1893 to January 1894. Regarding the phenomena demonstrated at Palladino's séances, he concluded against the spirit hypothesis and for a

hypothesis A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous obse ...

that these phenomena were caused by a "fluidic action" and were performed at the expense of the

's own powers and those of the other participants in the séances. Ochorowicz, with Frederic William Henry Myers,

Charles Richet Charles Robert Richet (25 August 1850 – 4 December 1935) was a French physiologist at the Collège de France known for his pioneering work in immunology. In 1913, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "in recognition of his work on ...

and Oliver Lodge, investigated Palladino in the summer of 1894 at Richet's house on the Île du Grand Ribaud in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

. Myers and Richet claimed that furniture moved during the séances and that some of the phenomena were the result of a supernatural agency.Walter Mann. (1919)
''The Follies and Frauds of Spiritualism''
Rationalist Association. London: Watts & Co. pp. 115-130 However,

Richard Hodgson Richard Hodgson (born 1 October 1979) is an English former professional footballer. Hodgson began his career as a trainee with Nottingham Forest, turning professional in October 1996. He was released in March 2000, having failed to break into ...

claimed there was inadequate control during the séances and that the precautions described did not rule out trickery. Hodgson wrote that all the phenomena "described could be accounted for on the assumption that Eusapia could get a hand or foot free." Lodge, Myers and Richet disagreed, but Hodgson was later proven correct in the Cambridge sittings as Palladino was observed to have used tricks exactly the way he had described them. After Ochorowicz's wife left him, he decided to make some changes in his life: he bought a piece of land at Wisła in Poland's mountains, built himself a villa as well as four additional houses for tourists, and proceeded to live on the rentals. About 20 June 1900, Prus and his household arrived to visit. In July Prus traveled to nearby

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, where until the beginning of September he underwent treatments for his multifarious medical complaints by an ophthalmologist, a neurologist, and a physician who treated his thyroid. Monika Piątkowska, ''Prus: Śledztwo biograficzne'' (Prus: A Biographical Investigation),

Wydawnictwo Znak Społeczny Instytut Wydawniczy „Znak” (English, "Znak Social Publishing Institute") is one of the largest Polish book publishing companies.Herbert R. LottmanPW: Publishing in Poland ''Publishers Weekly'', publishersweekly.com, 1 May 1998. Retr ...

, 2017, , p. 385. In 1908–9, at Wisła, Ochorowicz studied the

ship of

Stanisława Tomczyk Stanisława Janina Tomczyk (c 1885 – 2 April 1975) was a Polish spiritualist medium in the early 20th century known for her alleged demonstrations of psychokinesis and psychic photography. Magicians and skeptics have dismissed Tomczyk as a fra ...

. In the latter half of the 19th century,

was not an unusual subject of study for noted

s. A prominent

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

psychologist who looked favorably on Spiritualism was

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...

Bibliography

*
Jak należy badać duszę? Czyli o metodzie badań psychologicznych
' (How Should One Study the Soul? On the Method of Psychological Studies), 1869. * ''Miłość, zbrodnia, wiara i moralność. Kilka studiów z psychologii kryminalnej'' (Love, Crime, Faith and Morality: Several Studies in the Psychology of Crime), 1870. *
Wstęp i pogląd ogólny na filozofię pozytywną
' (An Introduction to and Overview of Positive Philosophy), 1872. *
Z dziennika psychologa
' (From a Psychologist's Journal), 1876. * ''O twórczości poetyckiej ze stanowiska psychologii'' (On Poetic Creativity from the Standpoint of Psychology), 1877. * ''De la Suggestion mentale'', ''deuxieme édition'' (second edition), Paris, Doin, 1889. *
Psychologia, pedagogika, etyka. Przyczynki do usiłowań naszego odrodzenia narodowego
' (Psychology, Pedagogy, Ethics: Contributions toward Our National Rebirth), 1917. Translations:
Ochorowicz, J., ''Mental suggestion, by Dr. J. Ochorowicz ... with a preface by Charles Richet, translated from the French by J. Fitzgerald, M.A.'', New York, Humboldt Publishing Co, 1891.
* J. Ochorowicz, ''Mental Dominance'', New York, Instant Improvement, Inc., 1990. (From the page facing the title page: "This book,

irst An infrared search and track (IRST) system (sometimes known as infrared sighting and tracking) is a method for detecting and tracking objects which give off infrared radiation, such as the infrared signatures of jet aircraft and helicopters. IR ...

published in French by Idégaf

n 1988 N, or n, is the fourteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet# ...

is a newly revised edition and was brought up to date by a group of psychologists.")

Notes

References

* "Ochorowicz, Julian Leopold," ''

Polski słownik biograficzny ''Polski Słownik Biograficzny'' (''PSB''; Polish Biographical Dictionary) is a Polish-language biographical dictionary, comprising an alphabetically arranged compilation of authoritative biographies of some 25,000 notable Poles and of foreigners ...

'', vol. 23, pp. 499–505. * T. Cienciała, "''Julian Ochorowicz (1850-1917)''," ''Kalendarz Cieszyński 2002'', Cieszyn, 2001, pp. 222–24. * "Ochorowicz Julian," ''

Encyklopedia Polski This is a list of encyclopedias by language. Albanian Encyclopedias written in Albanian. * '' Albanian Encyclopedic Dictionary'' ( sq, Fjalori Enciklopedik Shqiptar): published by Academy of Sciences of Albania; ** First Edition (1985; ''FESH'') ...

'', Kraków, Wydawnictwo Ryszard Kluszczyński, 1996, p. 453. * Krystyna Tokarzówna and Stanisław Fita, ''Bolesław Prus,1847-1912: Kalendarz życia i twórczości'' ( Bolesław Prus: Calendar of Life and Works), edited by

Zygmunt Szweykowski Zygmunt Szweykowski (7 April 1894 in Krośniewice – 11 February 1978 in Poznań) was a historian of Polish literature who specialized in 19th-century Polish prose. Life In 1932-39, Szweykowski held a professorship at the Free Polish University ( ...

, Warsaw, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1969, pp. 445–53 ''et passim''. * Stanisław Fita, ed., ''Wspomnienia o Bolesławie Prusie'' (Reminiscences about Bolesław Prus), Warsaw, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1962. *

Christopher Kasparek Christopher Kasparek (born 1945) is a Scottish-born writer of Polish descent who has translated works by numerous authors, including Ignacy Krasicki, Bolesław Prus, Florian Znaniecki, Władysław Tatarkiewicz, Marian Rejewski, and Władysław K ...

, "Prus' ''Pharaoh'': Primer on Power", '' The Polish Review'', 1995, no. 3, pp. 331–34. * Monika Piątkowska, ''Prus: Śledztwo biograficzne'' (Prus: A Biographical Investigation),

, 2017, . *

Władysław Tatarkiewicz Władysław Tatarkiewicz (; 3 April 1886, Warsaw – 4 April 1980, Warsaw) was a Polish philosopher, historian of philosophy, historian of art, esthetician, and ethicist. Early life and education Tatarkiewicz began his higher education at War ...

, ''Historia filozofii'' (History of Philosophy), 3 vols., Warsaw,

Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN (''Polish Scientific Publishers PWN''; until 1991 ''Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe'' - ''National Scientific Publishers PWN'', PWN) is a Polish book publisher, founded in 1951, when it split from the Wydawnictwa Szkolne i P ...

, 1978.

External links