Poturzyn - pomnik pamięci Fryderyka Chopina - (1)

Tytus Sylwester Woyciechowski (31 December 1808 – 23 March 1879) was a Polish political activist,

agriculturalist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the U ...

, and patron of art. He was an early friend of the Polish composer

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 ...

. The spelling of Woyciechowski's surname is an archaic version of the more common " Wojciechowski", with a "j" instead of a "y".

Life

Woyciechowski was born in

Lemberg Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

, Galicia (now Lviv, Ukraine).

Friend of Chopin

In his youth Woyciechowski was a fellow student of Chopin's at the

Warsaw Lyceum The Warsaw Lyceum ( pl, Liceum Warszawskie; german: Königlich-Preußisches Lyzäum zu Warschau) was a secondary school that existed in Warsaw, under the Kingdom of Prussia and under the Kingdom of Poland, from 1804 to its closing in 1831 by Imper ...

, boarding with the Chopin family. He went on to study law at

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 ...

. Chopin dedicated to him his Op. 2 '' Variations on "Là ci darem la mano"''. Woyciechowski wrote on the front page of the Variations “J’accepte avec plaisir“ (“I accept with pleasure“).. In October 1829 Chopin sent him the Waltz Op. 70,3 together with a letter. In July 1830 Chopin visited Woyciechowski at his estate in Poturzyn, which Woyciechowski had inherited from his mother. Chopin recalled this visit in a letter: Many biographers believe that Woyciechowski acted as a confidant for Chopin during an alleged infatuation with the singer Konstancja Gładkowska. Chopin's correspondence with Tytus in this period has given rise to conjecture that Chopin's friendship with Tytus may have been

homoerotic Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be temporary, whereas "homose ...

, at least on Chopin's part. Woyciechowski accompanied Chopin in his 1830 journey to Austria but, on learning of the November 1830 Uprising, returned to Warsaw to take part in the fighting. He became a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

and was awarded the highest Polish military decoration, the

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King Stan ...

. While the two never met thereafter, they continued to correspond.

Later life

In 1838, Woychiechowski married Countess Aloysia Poletylo, by whom he had four children – their second son being named Fryderyk, after Chopin. Woyciechowski dedicated himself to agriculture, pioneered the introduction of

crop rotation Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons. It reduces reliance on one set of nutrients, pest and weed pressure, and the probability of developing resistant ...

in Poland, and in 1847 founded one of the first sugar factories in the country. In 1861–62 he was an active member of the White Party, which took part in the failed

January 1863 Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

. He died in Poturzyn, now Poland. The Woyciechowski collection of Chopin memorabilia was destroyed by fire in 1914: It contained a piano made by the Buchholtz company, on which Chopin played and composed, copies of his compositions (the piano Variations à quatre mains ending in a

fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...

, written on 17 pages, and a contredanse), Chopin's letters to Tytus Woyciechowski and a pen in the shape of a column, with a head and base in gold and a core in coloured

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

. The base, decorated with the

initials In a written or published work, an initial capital, also referred to as a drop capital or simply an initial cap, initial, initcapital, initcap or init or a drop cap or drop, is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph that ...

T.W., served at the same time as a

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

. A card with Chopin's dedication lay in a special case. The family manor house at Poturzyn was destroyed during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Notes

Sources

"Tytus Woyciechowski" (a)
on Chopin Institute website (in Polish), accessed 12.2.2014
"Tytus Woyciechowski" (b)
on Chopin Kalejdoskop website, accessed 12.2.2014. * Walker, Alan (2018). ''Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times''. London: Faber and Faber. * Zamoyski, Adam (2010). ''Chopin, Prince of the Romantics'', London: HarperPress. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Woyciechowski, Tytus 1808 births 1879 deaths Businesspeople from Lviv Polish agriculturalists Frédéric Chopin 19th-century Polish politicians