Łukasz de Bnin Opaliński (; 1612 – June 15, 1666) was a Polish

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

, poet, political activist and one of the most important Polish political writers of the 17th century. He was Lord

Starost Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands. The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...

Pobiedziński since 1631, Podkomorzy of

Kalisz Kalisz () is a city in central Poland, and the second-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, with 97,905 residents (December 2021). It is the capital city of the Kalisz Region. Situated on the Prosna river in the southeastern part of Gr ...

1638-1640 and Podkomorzy of

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

since 1640. He was Court Marshal of the Crown since 1650. He also served as

Marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used fo ...

of the regular

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

from March 10 to May 1, 1638, in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. He was the brother of

Krzysztof Opaliński Krzysztof Opaliński (21 January 1611 – 6 December 1655) was a Polish szlachta (nobleman), politician, writer, satirist, and Voivode (Governor) of Poznań. A notable figure during the Swedish Deluge, Opaliński was a skilled diplomat who oppo ...

. Opaliński was educated at the Lubrański Academy in Poznań, and also at the University of Leuven, the

University of Orléans The University of Orléans () is a French university, in the Academy of Orléans and Tours. As of July 2015 it is a member of the regional university association Leonardo da Vinci consolidated University. History In 1230, when for a time the ...

, the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

and the

University of Padua The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...

. Marriage with Izabela Tęczyńska in 1639 allowed him to inherit the significant estates of the Tęczyński family.

Bibliophile A bookworm or bibliophile is an individual who loves and frequently reads or collects books. Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. Bibliophiles may have large, specialized book collections. They may highly value old editions, aut ...

himself, just like his brother, he expanded the library inherited from Izabela's uncle, Jan Tęczyński. His library was reckoned to be one of the largest private book collections in Europe and he had contacts with most of the printers in Europe, often receiving the first editions of many important works. He had three children with Izabela: Jan Opaliński, Stanisław Opaliński and Zofia Opalińska. At the age of 20 during the Election Sejm of 1632, he voted for king Vladislaus IV Vasa. Active politician, participant of many Sejms and Sejm commissions (military, treasury, diplomacy). He advocated criticized the shortcomings of the

Golden Liberty Golden Liberty (; , ), sometimes referred to as Golden Freedoms, Nobles' Democracy or Nobles' Commonwealth ( or ''Złota wolność szlachecka'') was a political system in the Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569), Kingdom of Poland and, after the Unio ...

and demanded political reforms, among them the reformation of Sejm deliberation procedures (in his ''Rozmowa Plebana z Ziemianinem...'' (''Conversations of a Parson with a Country Squire''), 1641), opposed

liberum veto The ''liberum veto'' (Latin for "free veto") was a parliamentary device in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was a form of unanimity voting rule that allowed any member of the Sejm (legislature) to force an immediate end to the current s ...

and abuse of power by magnates (in his ''Coś nowego...'', 1652). After the death of Vladislaus IV he supported the election of his brother, John II Casimir and supported him during the Swedish invasion The Deluge, even after his brother

defected to the Swedes in 1655. Supported the vivente rege proposals at the Sejms of 1661 and 1662. In 1652 he was the chairman of the Sejm Tribunal which banished

Hieronim Radziejowski Hieronim Radziejowski (1612 — 8 August 1667) was a Polish szlachcic, noble, politician, diplomat, scholar and a military commander. He was the starost, governor of Sochaczew since 1643 and Deputy Chancellor of the Crown, Vice-Chancellor of the ...

for collaboration with the

Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

. In 1661 he was a cofounder of the first Polish newspaper, the Merkuriusz Polski. That year he published ''Poeta nowy'' (''New Poet''), the first work in Polish on the principles of poetry. He died in Rytwiany.

Works

* ''Rozmowa plebana z ziemianinem albo Dyskurs o postanowieniu teraźniejszym Rzeczypospolitej i o sposobie zawierania sejmów'' (1641) (Conversation between plebeian and a country squire, or a discourse about current activities in Rzeczpospolita and how the Sejm's are created) - anonymously * ''Polonia defensa contra Joannem Barclaium'' (1648, in Latin) (Defense of Poland to John Barclay)- a reply to '' Icon Animorum'' of John Barclay, which Łukasz considered an unfair depiction of Poland * ''Coś nowego...'' (1652) (Something new...) * ''De officiis libri tres'' (1659) - textbook on ethics, used by many

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

schools and often reprinted * ''Poeta nowy'' (c. 1661) (New Poet)

References

External links

Fragments of works
in Polish

in Polish

in Polish {{DEFAULTSORT:Opalinski, Lukasz 1612 births 1666 deaths Lukasz Opalinski (1612-1666) People from Sieraków Polish book and manuscript collectors