Jan Paweł Woronicz (1757 – 1829) was a Polish clergyman, orator, and poet. He lived through major periods such as the

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

and

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, and his work included themes from these events. At the time of his death, he was concurrently the

Bishop of Kraków A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

(1815-1829), Bishop of

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 ...

(1827-1829), and

Primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

of Poland (1828-1829).

Biography

Jan Paweł Woronicz was born into the

nobility 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 ...

near Tajkury. His early education was with the Jesuits in

Ostróg Ostroh ( , ) is a city in Rivne Oblast, western Ukraine. It is situated on the Horyn, Horyn River. Ostroh was the administrative center of Ostroh Raion until 2020, but as a city of regional significance (Ukraine), city of oblast significance did ...

, and he later entered a seminary in Warsaw to become a priest by 1784. According to writer Stanisław Baczyński, Woronicz's notoriety began to grow during his time as parish priest of Liw. During the

Great Sejm The Great Sejm, also known as the Four-Year Sejm (Polish language, Polish: ''Sejm Wielki'' or ''Sejm Czteroletni''; Lithuanian language, Lithuanian: ''Didysis seimas'' or ''Ketverių metų seimas'') was a Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwea ...

(1788-1792), he became even more well known for his speeches. Pulawy Sybil Temple west side wide view

Woronicz eventually moved to a

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...

in the

Puławy Puławy (, also written Pulawy) is a city in eastern Poland, in Lesser Poland's Lublin Voivodeship, at the confluence of the Vistula and Kurówka River, Kurówka Rivers. Puławy is the capital of Puławy County. The city's 2019 population was Cen ...

region and became associated with the

Czartoryski The House of Czartoryski (feminine form: Czartoryska, plural: Czartoryscy; ) is a Princely Houses of Poland, Polish princely family of Lithuanian-Ruthenians, Ruthenian origin, also known as the Familia (political party), Familia. The family, whic ...

family. It was around this time that he produced his first notable work of poetry, ''Sybilli'', which was published much later in 1818. Woronicz's prestige grew more when he was made a state councilor during the period of Napoleon's influence in Poland. He presided over the funerals of

Tadeusz Kościuszko Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko (; 4 or 12 February 174615 October 1817) was a Polish Military engineering, military engineer, statesman, and military leader who then became a national hero in Poland, the United States, Lithuania, and ...

and

Józef Poniatowski Prince Józef Antoni Poniatowski (; 7 May 1763 – 19 October 1813) was a Polish general, minister of war and army chief, who became a Marshal of the French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. A nephew of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lit ...

in the 1810s. He was then made Bishop of Kraków in 1815 and Bishop of Warsaw in 1827. As bishop, he commissioned works for the Bishop's Palace that glorified the

Kościuszko Uprising The Kościuszko Uprising, also known as the Polish Uprising of 1794, Second Polish War, Polish Campaign of 1794, and the Polish Revolution of 1794, was an uprising against the Russian and Prussian influence on the Polish–Lithuanian Common ...

and pre-partition Poland. Woronicz died in Vienna.

Works

Historian

Piotr S. Wandycz Piotr Stefan Wandycz (September 20, 1923 – July 29, 2017) was a Polish-American historian. He was also the President of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, and professor emeritus at Yale University, specializing in Eastern ...

described Woronicz's works as favoring the classical tradition while limiting literary innovation. As such, Woronicz and his peers preferred odes and grand poems as tools to glorify the Dutchy of Warsaw, Napoleon, or other core elements of contemporary Polish patriotism. Historian also notes themes of classical antiquity in Woronicz's early poem, ''Sybilli.'' In the poem, Woronicz combines imagery of

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

with that of the fall and anticipated rise of Poland. Woronicz's poem ''Hymn do Boga'' (1805) is described by Roland Greene as a

messianic In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach' ...

version of Polish history that eventually influenced poets after Woronicz.Cushman, S. (2017). ''The Princeton handbook of world poetries'' (R. Greene, Ed.). Princeton University Press. p. 432.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woronicz, Jan Paweł 1757 births 1829 deaths Burials at Wawel Cathedral Bishops of Kraków Bishops of Warsaw Roman Catholic primates People from Rivne Oblast 18th-century Polish Jesuits 19th-century Polish Jesuits 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian poets 19th-century Polish poets 18th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Poland 18th-century Polish nobility 19th-century Polish nobility

Biography

Works

See also

References