Józef Baka (; died 1780) was a late

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

poet, Jesuit priest and missionary. Born in March of either 1706 or 1707, probably in Nowogrodek, Baka is regarded as one of the most prominent poets of the 18th century

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

Life

Early years

Little is known about early days of his life, furthermore, no portrait of Baka has been found so far. He was born into a wealthy family living in the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

and his father Adam Baka was a treasurer of the Mscislaw Voivodeship. Baka entered the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

on July 16, 1723 and in 1735 he was ordained a priest, five years later becoming a monk. He studied at the Vilna Academy, but little is known about his curriculum. It has only been established that Baka passed a theology exam on May 7, 1736. Also, in late 1730s, he lectured rhetorics at the Academy. Some time in late 1730s or early 1740s, Baka left

Vilna 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 ...

for the town of Kraslaw (now

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, then

Inflanty Voivodeship The Inflanty Voivodeship (), or Livonian Voivodeship (), also known as Polish Livonia, was an administrative division and local government in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, since it was formed in the 1620s out of the Wenden Voivodeship and ...

). There, he worked as a priest and a missionary, in the Jesuit office ''Missio Plateriana''. It was most likely in Kraslaw that he wrote his first works. Later on, Baka moved to the village of Blonie (also

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

), where he opened his own office, which he called ''Missio Bakana''. He often traveled across the area, trying to be in touch with local population.

Late years and death

Baka spent final years of his life in Vilna, where he moved for unknown reasons. Since 1756 or 1768, he lived in so-called House of Professors near Jesuit Church of Saint Casimirius. He was very active, sometimes visiting other places, such as Nowogrodek. His sermons were very popular, and in 1773 he was named Doctor of Theology by the Vilna Academy. He died unexpectedly on June 2, 1780 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 ...

. It is unknown why he visited the capital of the Commonwealth, according to available sources, he had never left the Grand Duchy of Lithuania before. His death was mentioned by local daily Gazeta Warszawska. Baka was buried in Warsaw, in a Jesuit church on Świętojańska Street.

External links

BAKA Józef
short bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baka, Jozef 1707 births 1780 deaths 18th-century Polish Jesuits Neo-Latin poets 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian poets