Henryk Oskar Kolberg (22 February 1814 – 3 June 1890) was a Polish
ethnographer
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
,
folklorist
Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...
, and composer active during the foreign
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...
.
[Oskar Kolberg Institute](_blank)
homepage. Poland, 2014.
Life
Kolberg was born in
Przysucha
Przysucha is a town in south-central Poland. Located in historic Lesser Poland, it is part of the Masovian Voivodeship, about 100 km southwest of Warsaw and 40 km west of Radom. It is the capital of Przysucha County, and the town 6, ...
, the son of the German Julius(z) Kolberg, a professor of the
Warsaw University
The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...
, and Fryderyka ''
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 ...
'' Mercoeur, Warsaw-born while being of French descendance. His family's acquaintances included
Samuel Linde
Samuel Gottlieb Linde (polonised ''Samuel Bogumił Linde''; 11 or 24 April 1771, in Toruń – 8 August 1847, in Warsaw) was a linguist, librarian, and lexicographer of the Polish language. He was director of the Prussian-founded Warsaw Lyceum d ...
, Nicolas (Mikołaj) Chopin (father of
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...
), and
Kazimierz Brodziński.
He is best known for his work titled ''Lud'' (re-published as ''Dzieła Wszystkie''), a compilation of folk traditions from all the Polish regions. Between 1857–1890 he published 33 volumes, and after his death, a further 3 volumes were published. The compilation contains 12,000 folk songs, 1,250 folk tales, 670 fairy tales, 2,700 proverbs, 350 riddles, 15 folk spectacles and many other ethnographic documents.
Kolberg also compiled some ethnographic information on neighboring regions. He died in
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...
.
Works
*Pieśni ludu polskiego (Songs of Polish Folklore) - vol. 1 (Supplement vol. 70)
:*
Sandomierskie - vol. 2 (Supplement vol. 71)
:*
Kujawy - vol. 3, 4 (Supplement in vol. 72)
:*
Krakowskie – vol. 5 – 8 (Supplement part I in Vol. 73)
:*
Poznań
Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...
skie - vol. 9 – 15 (Supplement vol. 74)
:*
Lubelskie - vol. 16, 17 (Supplement vol. 75)
:*
Kieleckie – vol. 18, 19 (Supplement vol. 76)
:*
Radom
Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975� ...
skie – vol. 20, 21 (Supplement part I of vol. 77)
:*
Łęczyckie - vol. 22 (Supplement vol. 78)
:*
Kaliskie - vol. 23 (Supplement vol. 79)
:*
Mazowsze – vol. 24–28, 41-42 (Supplement vol. 80)
:*
Pokucie – vol. 29–33 (Supplement vol. 81)
:*
Chełmskie - part II of vol. 34 (Supplement vol. 82)
:*
Przemyskie - vol. 35 (Supplement vol. 83)
:*
Wołyń - vol. 36 (Supplement vol. 84)
:*''Miscellanea - vol. 37 - 38''
:*
Pomorze
Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
- vol. 39
:*
Mazury Pruskie - vol. 40
:*
Śląsk - vol. 43
:*
Góry i Podgórze - vol. 44, 45
:*
Kaliskie i
Sieradz
Sieradz ( la, Siradia, yi, שעראַדז, שערעדז, שעריץ, german: 1941-45 Schieratz) is a city on the Warta river in central Poland with 40,891 inhabitants (2021). It is the seat of the Sieradz County, situated in the Łódź Voivode ...
kie - vol. 46
:*
Podole - vol. 47
:*
Tarnowskie-
Rzeszowskie - vol. 48
:*
Sanockie-
Krośnieńskie - vol. 49-51
:*
Białoruś-Polesie - vol. 52
:*Litwa - vol. 53
:*Ruś Karpacka - vol. 54, 55
:*Ruś Czerwona - vol. 56, 57
:*''Materiały do etnografii Słowian wschodnich - vol. 58''
:*Materiały do etnografii Słowian zachodnich i południowych cz.I Łużyce - vol. 59/I
:*Materiały do etnografii Słowian zachodnich i południowych cz.II Czechy, Słowacja - vol. 59/II
:*Materiały do etnografii Słowian zachodnich i południowych cz.III Słowiańszczyzna południowa - vol. 59/III
:*Przysłowia - vol. 60
:*Pisma muzyczne - vol. 61-62
:*Studia, rozprawy i artykuły - vol. 63
:*Korespondencja Oskara Kolberga - vol. 64-66
:*Pieśni i melodie ludowe w opracowaniu fortepianowym - vol. 67
:*Kompozycje wokalno-instrumentalne - vol. 68
:*Kompozycje fortepianowe - vol. 69
:*''Biografia Oskara Kolberga - vol. 85''
:*''Indeksy - vol. 86''
See also
*
List of Poles
This is a partial list of notable Polish or Polish-speaking or -writing people. People of partial Polish heritage have their respective ancestries credited.
Science
Physics
* Czesław Białobrzeski
* Andrzej Buras
* Georges Charpa ...
(Social sciences)
References
Further reading
* ANTYBORZEC, Ewa. Extraordinary archive of Oskar Kolberg. NAUKA,
.l. n. 1, Feb. 2016. ISSN 1231-8515. Available at:
. Date accessed: 10 Oct. 2020.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolberg, Oskar
Polish ethnographers
Polish folklorists
Polish ethnomusicologists
Burials at Rakowicki Cemetery
1814 births
1890 deaths
Polish people of German descent
Polish people of French descent
People from Przysucha County
19th-century musicologists