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Józef Maria Hoene-Wroński (; ; ; 23 August 1776 – 9 August 1853) was a Polish messianist
philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
,
mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
,
physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...
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inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...
,
lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...
,
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 ...
and
economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
. In mathematics, he is known for introducing a novel series expansion for a function in response to
Joseph Louis Lagrange Joseph-Louis Lagrange (born Giuseppe Luigi LagrangiaWronskian In mathematics, the Wronskian of ''n'' differentiable functions is the determinant formed with the functions and their derivatives up to order . It was introduced in 1812 by the Polish mathematician Józef Wroński, and is used in the study of ...
, a
determinant In mathematics, the determinant is a Scalar (mathematics), scalar-valued function (mathematics), function of the entries of a square matrix. The determinant of a matrix is commonly denoted , , or . Its value characterizes some properties of the ...
Thomas Muir named in 1882. As an inventor, he is credited with designing some of the first caterpillar vehicles.


Life and work

He was born as ''Hoëné'' in 1776 but changed his name in 1815 to Józef Wroński. Later in life he changed his name to Józef Maria Hoene-Wroński, without using his family's original French spelling Hoëné. At no point in his life, neither in Polish or French, was he known as Hoëné-Wroński; nor was the common French transliteration, Josef Hoëné-Wronski, ever his official name in his native Poland (though it might have served as his chosen French ''nom de plume'' on some work). His father, Antoni Höhne ( pl, de), was the municipal architect 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 ...
. Antoni originally came from the small
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
n village of Leukersdorf (present-day Čermná which is now a part of Libouchec). In later life, he settled in western Poland marrying Elżbieta Pernicka in Wolsztyn in 1773. In the same place and a few years later on, in 1776, their son Józef Maria was born. Józef was educated in Poznań and
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 ...
. In 1794 he served in Poland's Kościuszko Uprising as a second lieutenant of artillery, was taken prisoner, and remained until 1797 in the Russian Army. After resigning in the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1798, he studied in the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
until 1800, when he enlisted in the Polish Legion at
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
. There he began his scientific and scholarly work and conceived the idea of a great philosophical system. Ten years later he moved to
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
where he would spend most of his life working unremittingly to the last in the most difficult material circumstances. He wrote exclusively in French, in the desire that his ideas, of whose immortality he was convinced, be accessible to all; he worked, he said, "through France for Poland." He published over a hundred works, and left many more in manuscript; at 75 years of age and nearing death, he exclaimed: "God Almighty, there's still so much more I wanted to say!" In science, Hoene-Wroński set himself an extraordinary task: the complete reform of philosophy as well as that of mathematics, astronomy and technology. He elaborated not only a system of philosophy, but also applications to politics, history, economics, law, psychology, music and
pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...
. It was his aspiration to reform human knowledge in an "absolute, that is, ultimate" manner. In 1803, Wroński joined the Marseille Observatory, and began developing an enormously complex theory of the structure and origin of the
universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...
. During this period, he took up a correspondence with nearly all of the major scientists and mathematicians of his day, and was well respected at the observatory. In 1803 Wroński "experienced a mystical illumination, which he regarded as the discovery of the Absolute." In 1810, he published the results of his scientific research in a massive tome, which he advocated as a new foundation for all of science and mathematics. His theories were strongly Pythagorean, holding numbers and their properties to be the fundamental underpinning of essentially everything in the universe. His claims were met with little acceptance, and his research and theories were generally dismissed as grandiose rubbish. His earlier correspondence with major figures meant that his writings garnered more attention than a typical crackpot theory, even earning a review from the great mathematician
Joseph Louis Lagrange Joseph-Louis Lagrange (born Giuseppe Luigi Lagrangiaequation In mathematics, an equation is a mathematical formula that expresses the equality of two expressions, by connecting them with the equals sign . The word ''equation'' and its cognates in other languages may have subtly different meanings; for ...
has an
algebra Algebra is a branch of mathematics that deals with abstract systems, known as algebraic structures, and the manipulation of expressions within those systems. It is a generalization of arithmetic that introduces variables and algebraic ope ...
ic solution, directly contradicting results which had been recently published by
Paolo Ruffini Paolo Ruffini (22 September 1765 – 10 May 1822) was an Italian mathematician and philosopher. Education and career By 1788 he had earned university degrees in philosophy, medicine/surgery and mathematics. His works include developments in a ...
; Ruffini turned out to be correct. He later turned his attention to disparate and largely unsuccessful pursuits such as a fantastical design for
caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...
-like vehicles which he intended to replace
railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
transportation, but did not manage to persuade anyone to give the design serious attention. In 1819, he travelled to
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
in an attempt to obtain financial backing from the
Board of Longitude Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard ...
to build a device to determine
longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...
at sea. After initial difficulties, he was given an opportunity to address the Board, but his pretentious address, ''On the Longitude'', contained much philosophizing and generalities, but no concrete plans for a working device, and thus failed to gain any support from the Board. He remained for several years in England and, in 1821, published an introductory text on mathematics in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, which moderately improved his financial situation. In 1822, he returned to France, and again took up a combination of mathematics and far-fetched ideas, despite being in poverty and scorned by intellectual society. Along with his continuing Pythagorean obsession, he spent much time working on several notoriously futile endeavors, including attempts to build a perpetual motion machine, to square the circle and to build a machine to predict the future (which he dubbed the ''prognometre''). In 1852, shortly before his death, he did find a willing audience for his ideas: the
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 ...
Eliphas Levi who met Wroński and was greatly impressed and "attracted by his religious and scientific utopianism." Wroński was "a powerful catalyst" for Levi's occultism. Wroński died in 1853 in
Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the ...
, France, on the outskirts of Paris.


Legacy

His grave in the Old Neuilly-sur-Seine community cemetery. During his lifetime, nearly all his work was dismissed as nonsense. However, some of it came to be regarded in a more favourable light in later years. Although most of his inflated claims were groundless, his mathematical work contains flashes of deep insight and many important intermediary results, the most significant of which was his work on
series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...
. He had strongly criticized
Lagrange Joseph-Louis Lagrange (born Giuseppe Luigi Lagrangiadeterminant In mathematics, the determinant is a Scalar (mathematics), scalar-valued function (mathematics), function of the entries of a square matrix. The determinant of a matrix is commonly denoted , , or . Its value characterizes some properties of the ...
now known as the
Wronskian In mathematics, the Wronskian of ''n'' differentiable functions is the determinant formed with the functions and their derivatives up to order . It was introduced in 1812 by the Polish mathematician Józef Wroński, and is used in the study of ...
(the name which Thomas Muir had given them in 1882). The level of Wroński's scientific and scholarly accomplishments and the amplitude of his objectives placed Wroński in the first rank of European metaphysicians in the early 19th century. But the abstract formalism and obscurity of his thought, the difficulty of his language, his boundless self-assurance and his uncompromising judgments of others alienated him from most of the scientific community. He was perhaps the most original of the Polish metaphysicians, but others were more representative of the Polish outlook.


Works

Books * 1801 - ''Mémoires sur l'aberration des astres mobiles, et sur l'inégalité dans l'apparence de leur mouvement'', par J. Hoehné * 1803 - ''Philosophie critique découverte par Kant, fondée sur le dernier principe du savoir'', par J. Hoehne * 1811 - ''Introduction à la philosophie des mathématiques, et technie de l'algorithmie'', par M. Hoëné de Wronski * 1811 - ''Programme du cours de philosophie transcendantale'', par M. Hoëné Wronski * 1812 - ''Résolution générale des équations de tous les degrés''], par Hoëné Wronski * 1812 - ''Réfutation de la théorie des fonctions analytiques de Lagrange'', par Hoëné Wronski * 1814 - ''Philosophie de l'Infini'', par Hoëné Wronski * 1818 - ''Introduction à un ouvrage intitulé Le Sphinx, ou la Nomothétique séhélienne'', par Hoëné Wronski * 1821 - ''A Course of mathematics'', by Höené Wronski. Translated from the original French under the inspection of the author. London, 1821. * 1827 - ''Canons de logarithmes de H. W.'' * 1828 - ''Loi téléologique du hasard. Deuxième aperçu.'' Signé : Hoëné Wronski. Paris, le 13 avril 1828. * 1831 - ''Messianisme, union finale de la philosophie et de la religion constituant la philosophie absolue'' (1831-1839) * 1831 - ''Prodrome du Messianisme; Révélation des destinées de l’humanité'' * 1832 - ''Réflexions philosophiques sur un miroir parabolique'' * 1833 - ''Loi téléologique du Hasard: réimpression de trois pièces rarissimes (1833); précédée d'une autobiographie et d'un inventaire de l'œuvre'' Hoëné Wronski * 1833 - ''Resolution of equation polynomials of tous les degries (in anglishe)'' * 1837 - ''Rails mobiles, ou chemins de fer mouvans'', de Hoëné Wroński * 1840 - ''Secret politique de Napoléon comme base de l'avenir moral du monde'', par Hoëné Wronski * 1844 - ''Urgente réforme des Chemins de fer et de toute la locomotion terrestre'', par Hoëné Wronski * 1853 - ''Secret politique de Napoléon'', par Hoëné Wronski, comme introduction à sa récente "Philosophie de l'histoire". Nouvelle édition Letters * 1851 - ''Épître à Sa Majesté l'Empereur de Russie, pour compléter les "Cent pages décisives", et pour accomplir la réforme de la mécanique céleste". Signé : Hoëné Wroński. Metz, 1851'' * 1851 - ''Épitre secrète a Son Altesse le prince Louis-Napoléon président de la République Française sur les destinées de la France''''Épitre secrète a Son Altesse le prince Louis-Napoléon président de la République Française sur les destinées de la France''
par l'auteur de la "Réforme du savoir humain. Signé : Hoëné Wroński. Metz, 1851


See also

* List of Poles#Philosophy, List of Poles * Timeline of Polish science and technology


References


Sources

* Władysław Tatarkiewicz, ''Historia filozofii'' (History of Philosophy), 3 vols., Warsaw, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1978.


Further reading

* Lazare Augé: ''Notice sur Hoené Wronski''; suivi du portr. de Wronski par Mme Wronski, née s. de Montferrier de plus. acad. Paris : Libr. philos. de Ladrange, 1865. * Samuel Dickstein: ''Hoene Wroński : jego życie i prace'' (Hoene Wronski: His Life And Works), Jagiellonian University Press Cracow, 1896. * Francis Warrain: ''L'œuvre philosophique de Hoené Wronski'', Textes, commentaires et critique. (Three volumes), Paris, Éditions Véga, 1933, 1936, 1938.


External links

* * * Piotr Pragacz
Notes on the life and work of Jozef Maria Hoene-Wronski
preprint (March 2007) * J. Hoëné de Wronski
''Introduction à la philosophie des mathématiques, et technie de l'algorithmie''
1811 * Roman Murawski
"The Philosophy of Hoene-Wronski"
in: Organon 35, 2006, pp. 143–150 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoene-Wronski, Jozef 1778 births 1853 deaths 19th-century Polish mathematicians Kościuszko insurgents Philosophers of mathematics Polish mathematicians Polish inventors People from Wolsztyn Polish occultists Burials at Neuilly-sur-Seine community cemetery 19th-century Polish philosophers Polish messianism