Ignacy Żagiell ( Lithuanian: ''Ignotas Žagelis''; 14 February 1826 - 21 June 1891) was a physician, traveler, and Polish-language writer descended from

Lithuanian nobility The Lithuanian nobility () or ''szlachta'' of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (, ) was historically a legally privileged hereditary elite class in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth (including during period of foreign r ...

Life

Ignacy Żagiell was born on 14 February 1826 in either the manor of Pavirinčiai or Kelpšiškiai, then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. Żagiell's brother Adam, would become a poet. He attended school in

Ukmergė Ukmergė (; previously ''Vilkmergė''; ) is a city in Vilnius County, Lithuania, located northwest of Vilnius. It is the administrative center of the Ukmergė District Municipality. Ukmergė (Vilkmergė) was mentioned for the first time as a ...

. He studied medicine at the

University of Kyiv The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...

, graduating in 1850. After briefly working as a physician in

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

, Żagiell traveled to Western Europe, where he continued learning about medicine in Paris, Berlin, Dresden, Prague, and Vienna. He gained a

doctor's degree A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''Licentiate (degree), licentia docendi' ...

in Paris in 1856. From 1859, Żagiell worked as an army physician in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, briefly studying at Oxford and Paris. A famous

occultist The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mystic ...

, Żagiell was made an honorary member of

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. After joining the British Army, he traveled to India, and from 1860 lived in Egypt, where he was the occultist of the court of

Sa'id of Egypt Mohamed Sa'id Pasha (, , March 17, 1822 – January 17, 1863) was the Wāli of Egypt Eyalet, Egypt and Turco-Egyptian Sudan, Sudan from 1854 until 1863, officially owing fealty to the Ottoman Sultan but in practice exercising virtual independence ...

. He participated in excavations of Thebes and

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (), comprises a vast mix of temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I (reigned 1971–1926 BC) in the ...

with Michał Tyszkiewicz. From 1864, Żagiell worked as a civilian physician in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

from 1864. Żagiell returned to Lithuania in 1876. He lived in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

and became the city's sanitary commission's president. He married countess Maria Broel-Pliater, with whom he had two sons. Żagiell died on 21 June 1891 in either Warsaw or Vilnius.

Works

* ''Historja starożytnego Egiptu'' (History of Ancient Egypt, 1880); * ''Podróż historyczna po Abissynii, Adel, Szoa, Nubii, u źródeł Nilu, z opisaniem jego wodospadów, oraz po krajach podrównikowych; do Mekki i Medyny, Syryi i Palestyny, Konstantynopolu i po Archipelagu'' (1884; reprint published in 2012; some of the descriptions in this book are probably not authentic).

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zagiell, Ignacy Polish male writers Polish military doctors 1826 births 1891 deaths Writers from the Russian Empire

Life

Works

See also

References