The Philomaths, or Philomath Society ( pl, Filomaci or ''Towarzystwo Filomatów''; from the
Greek φιλομαθεῖς "lovers of knowledge"), was a secret student organization that existed from 1817 to 1823 at the
Imperial University of Vilnius
Vilnius University ( lt, Vilniaus universitetas) is a public research university, oldest in the Baltic states and in Northern Europe outside the United Kingdom (or 6th overall following foundations of Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Glasgow and ...
.
History
The society was created on 1 October 1817 in
Vilna,
Vilna Governorate,
Russian Empire, which had acquired those territories in the
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 ...
in 1794. The society was composed of students and alumni of the
Imperial University of Vilna
Vilnius University ( lt, Vilniaus universitetas) is a public research university, oldest in the Baltic states and in Northern Europe outside the United Kingdom (or 6th overall following foundations of Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Glasgow and ...
.
Notable members included
Józef Jeżowski
Józef Jeżowski (1793-1855) was a Polish classical philologist, poet, translator, founding member and former president of the Philomatic Association. He was a friend of Adam Mickiewicz and Tomasz Zan.
Józef graduated from high school in Uman, ...
(co-founder and president),
Jan Czeczot (co-founder),
Józef Kowalewski
Józef Kowalewski (russian: Иосиф Михайлович Ковалевский) (9 January 1801 – 7 November 1878) was a Polish orientalist. Founder of the Philomatic Association, in 1824 convicted by the Russian authorities for pro-indepe ...
(co-founder),
Onufry Pietraszkiewicz (co-founder),
Tomasz Zan
Tomasz Zan (21 December 1796 Miasata, Vileysky Uyezd, Minsk Governorate, Russian Empire (now Belarus) – 19 July 1855 Kakoŭčyna, Orsha, Russian Empire), was a Polish and Belarusian poet and activist.
Biography
He was born on 21 December 179 ...
(co-founder),
Adam Mickiewicz (co-founder),
Antoni Edward Odyniec,
Ignacy Domejko
Ignacy Domeyko or Domejko, pseudonym: ''Żegota'' ( es, Ignacio Domeyko, ; 31 July 1802 – 23 January 1889) was a Polish geologist, mineralogist, educator, and founder of the University of Santiago, in Chile. Domeyko spent most of his life, and ...
,
Teodor Łoziński
Teodor is a masculine given name. In English, it is a cognate of Theodore. Notable people with the name include:
*Teodor Muzaka III, Albanian nobleman who was born in 1393.
* Teodor Andrault de Langeron (19th century), President of Warsaw
* Teodor ...
,
Franciszek Malewski
Franciszek Hieronim Malewski of Jastrzębiec coat of arms (1800-1870) was a PolishAleksandr Sergeevich
Pushkin translated by Vladimir Nabokov, ''Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse'', Princeton University Press, 1991, p.522. Quote: "Franciszek Malews ...
, ,
Aleksander Chodźko
Aleksander Borejko Chodźko (30 August 1804 – 27 December 1891) was a Polish poet, Slavist, and Iranologist.
Early life
He was born in Krzywicze, in the Minsk Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Belarus) and attended the Imperial U ...
,
Michał Kulesza. Most of them were students, but some members and supported included faculty and former alumni.
Its structure was a cross between
freemason
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
organization and a
learned society. It was divided into two chapters – scientific-mathematic and literary. The members of the latter discussed literary works, and the organization aims were self-educational and didactic; however, around 1819-1820, the members became split on whether the organizations should concentrate on self-education (Jeżowski) or take a more active role in restoring Poland's independence (Mickiewicz), eventually the second faction gained dominance and new social and political goals emerged.
The discussions increasingly turned toward
romanticist ideas that were banned by the
Russian Empire for their pro-independence currents; history of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was studied, pro-independence works written and circulated. The organizations inspired the creation of many similar youth organizations across the former
Grand Duchy of Lithuania,
[WIEM Encyklopedia] and it established ties with similar clandestine pro-Polish organizations in
Congress Poland
Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...
and
the rest of partitioned lands, such as the
Patriotic Society (''Towarzystwo Patriotyczne'') of
Walerian Łukasiński, and even Russian organizations such as the
Decembrists.
Two closely related groups were formed:
* The Radiant Association (''Towarzystwo Promienistych'', from "'',''" the "Radiant Ones"), (1820) a legal organization created by Tomasz Zan, and disbanded under pressure from University authorities, in May 1820;
* The
Filaret Association The Filaret Association (also translated as ''filaret(e)s'', ''philaret(e)s''; pl, Zgromadzenie Filaretów, ''Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Pożytecznej Zabawy'', ''filareci''; from the Greek ''philáretos'', "lovers of virtue") was a secret student org ...
(''Zgromadzenie Filaretów'', ''Filaretai'', ''Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Pożytecznej Zabawy'', ''filareci'', from the Greek "''philáretos''," "Lovers of Virtue), (1834) a secret organization created by Zan within the Philomaths after the dissolution of the Radiants. It continued the traditions of the Radiants, but with a much clearer pro-independence goal, and was dedicated to the study of Polish and Lithuania patriotic literature. It was disbanded in 1823 after the arrests of the Philomaths.
Ignacy Domeyko
Ignacy Domeyko or Domejko, pseudonym: ''Żegota'' ( es, Ignacio Domeyko, ; 31 July 1802 – 23 January 1889) was a Polish geologist, mineralogist, educator, and founder of the University of Santiago, in Chile. Domeyko spent most of his life, and ...
described the spirit prevailing in the Philomaths and the Filaret Association as: "purely national, patriotic, Polish – but free from plots and conspiracies, free of demagogic rants". According to Theodore R. Weeks, both organizations advocated a love for Polish culture and patriotism, but avoided formulating any concrete political plans and their members generally expressed loyalty to the Russian ruler.
In 1822 the organizations went through some name changes. In 1823 the organization was discovered by Russian authorities led by
Nikolay Nikolayevich Novosiltsev. After a trial that lasted several months, in 1824, 108 people were convicted of membership in this or related organizations; 20 members of the Philomaths or related organizations were sentenced to imprisonment or ''
katorga
Katorga ( rus, ка́торга, p=ˈkatərɡə; from medieval and modern Greek: ''katergon, κάτεργον'', "galley") was a system of penal labor in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union (see Katorga labor in the Soviet Union). Prisoner ...
'' and
exiled to Siberia; over a dozen faculty members were dismissed (including historian
Joachim Lelewel
Joachim Lelewel (22 March 1786 – 29 May 1861) was a Polish historian, geographer, bibliographer, polyglot and politician.
Life
Born in Warsaw to a Polonized German family, Lelewel was educated at the Imperial University of Vilna, where in 18 ...
).
Adam Mickiewicz, one of the
Three Polish Bards, convicted of being a Philomath member and exiled into Russia, later described his experiences in that period in the third part of a major work, ''
Dziady'' (Forefathers' Eve).
Notes
References
*
Jerzy Jan Lerski, ''Historical Dictionary of Poland'', Greenwood Press, 1996,
Google Print, p.141-142* Zbigniew Wójcik
Zwoje 4/2004 (41)
*
WIEM EncyklopediaFilomaci*
Encyklopedia InternauticaFILOMACIPhilomates Association
Further reading
*J F. Gomoszyński, ''A course of three lectures on the history of Poland'', London, 1843
Google Print, p.60-65"> Google Print, p.60-65(public domain)
(Filaretes' Song)
{{Authority control
1817 establishments in Europe
1823 disestablishments in Europe
Congress Poland
History of Lithuania (1795–1918)
Collegiate secret societies
Polish independence organisations
Student organizations established in 1817
History of Vilnius
Polish messianism