Osip Ivanovich Senkovsky (russian: О́сип Ива́нович Сенко́вский), born Józef Julian Sękowski ( in Antagonka, near

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urba ...

– in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

), was a Polish-Russian orientalist,

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

, and entertainer.

Life

Senkovsky was born into an old family of

Lithuanian nobility The Lithuanian nobility or szlachta ( Lithuanian: ''bajorija, šlėkta'') was historically a legally privileged hereditary elite class in the Kingdom of Lithuania and Grand Duchy of Lithuania (including during period of foreign rule 1795–191 ...

. During his study in the University of Vilno he became fascinated with all things oriental. Having mastered the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

, Persian, Turkish, and

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserve ...

s, he was assigned to the Russian mission in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, which occupation gave him ample opportunities to travel in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

Nubia Nubia () ( Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sud ...

, and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. In 1821 he returned to the Russian capital, where he got the chair in oriental languages at the University of St Petersburg. In the 1820s, Senkovsky started publishing in the popular periodicals of

Kondraty Ryleyev Kondraty Fyodorovich Ryleyev, also spelled Kondraty Feodorovich Ryleev (, September 29 (September 18 O.S.), 1795 – July 25 (July 13 O.S.), 1826) was a Russian poet, publisher, and a leader of the Decembrist Revolt, which attempted to over ...

and Faddei Bulgarin. He is best remembered for having edited the first Russian "thick journal," '' Library for Reading'' (1833-1856), whose lively and humorous style (as

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

put it) attracted to literary journals even those people who had never held a book in their hands. Senkovsky encouraged new writers. He had a strong influence on

Yelena Hahn Yelena Andreyevna Hahn () (russian: Елена Андреевна Ган, uk, Олена Андріївна Ган; 11 January 1814 - 6 July 1842) was a Russian writer known for her contributions to the literary journals Biblioteka Dlya Chteniya a ...

and on

Elizaveta Akhmatova Elizaveta Niklaevna Akhmatova writing as Leila (2 December 1820 – 12 April 1904) was a Russian writer, publisher and translator who published translations of English and French writers into Russian. Life Akhmatova was born in Nachalovo, Astrak ...

. In the latter case he not only developed a writer but she regarded him as a parent, Akhmatova would eventually publish her own magazines and in time her own memoir of Senkowsky. A very prolific writer, Senkovsky contributed articles on a wide range of topics, from

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

to medicine. Under the pen-name of Baron Brambeus he published a series of fantastic voyages, including one to the center of the Earth (''The Sentimental Journey to Mount Etna'') and another to an antediluvian Egyptian civilization flourishing on the now-frozen

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part ...

n plain (''The Scientific Journey to Bear Island''). As a literary critic he had few principles, his motto being "easy reading and less thought". One day he would pronounce his friend

Nestor Kukolnik Nestor Vasilievich Kukolnik (russian: Не́стор Васи́льевич Ку́кольник) (1809–1868) was a Russian playwright and prose writer of Carpatho-Rusyn origin. Immensely popular during the early part of his career, his works w ...

to be Gogol's superior, only to place Gogol higher than

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

the very next day. He dismissed ''

The Tale of Igor's Campaign ''The Tale of Igor's Campaign'' ( orv, Слово о пълкѹ Игоревѣ, translit=Slovo o pŭlku Igorevě) is an anonymous epic poem written in the Old East Slavic language. The title is occasionally translated as ''The Tale of the Campai ...

'' as a clumsy fake, derogated

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

as a second-hand imitator, and declared the ''

Tale of Bygone Years The ''Tale of Bygone Years'' ( orv, Повѣсть времѧньныхъ лѣтъ, translit=Pověstĭ vremęnĭnyxŭ lětŭ; ; ; ; ), often known in English as the ''Rus' Primary Chronicle'', the ''Russian Primary Chronicle'', or simply the ...

'' to be written in Polish. During his last years, Senkovsky turned from literature to music. He claimed to have invented a five-stringed violin and a new type of oven. He also published pioneering studies of Chinese, Mongolian, and

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken diale ...

languages. He has been referred to as the founder of Litvinism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Senkovsky, Osip 1800 births 1858 deaths People from Molėtai District Municipality People from Lithuania Governorate Journalists from the Russian Empire Male writers from the Russian Empire Russian science fiction writers Russian orientalists Litvinism 19th-century Polish writers 19th-century writers from the Russian Empire 19th-century journalists Russian male journalists Russian literary critics Russian publishers (people) Russian editors 19th-century male writers from the Russian Empire Vilnius University alumni Russian writers in Polish Polish writers in Russian