Paulin Święcicki (, Pavlyn Svientsitskyi;Markovits, A. S.
Nationbuilding and the Politics of Nationalism: Essays on Austrian Galicia
'.

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

. 1982 1841–1876) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

- Ukrainian writer, journalist, playwright and translator. He was writing under such pseudonyms like "Павло Свій", "Сєльський", "Sorjan", and others. In Kiev he belonged to those who were known as "Polish Rusyns" () and were looking to find a common ground between Ruthenia and Poland. Active in Austro-Hungarian Galicia, Święcicki was one of key figures in Ukrainian

national revival National revival or national awakening is a period of ethnic self-consciousness that often precedes a political movement for national liberation but that can take place at a time when independence is politically unrealistic. In the history of Euro ...

. He is mostly known as a founder and editor-in-chief of a Polish-Ukrainian '' Sioło'' monthly. His fascination with Ukrainian

folk lore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as tales, myths, legends, proverbs, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also includes material ...

also earned him the title of a precursor of the '' chłopomania'' trend in Galician culture of late 19th century. Born in Varshytsia (today, a neighborhood of Kalynivka) in the

Kiev Governorate Kiev Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire (1796–1917), Ukrainian People's Republic (1917–18; 1918–1921), Ukrainian State (1918), and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919–19 ...

of the

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(present-day

Vinnytsia Oblast Vinnytsia Oblast (, ), also referred to as Vinnychchyna (), is an oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in central Ukraine. Its capital city, administrative center is Vinnytsia. The oblast has a population of History Vinnytsia Oblast, first established on ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

), he was an heir to an old family of lesser

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

, or Polish landed gentry. He graduated from a prestigious gymnasium at Kamenets-Podolsk and then the St. Vladimir Imperial University (Kiev). An ethnic Pole, early in his youth he became interested in

Ukrainian language Ukrainian (, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language, spoken primarily in Ukraine. It is the first language, first (native) language of a large majority of Ukrainians. Written Ukrainian uses the Ukrainian alphabet, a variant of t ...

, culture and folk traditions. Following the crushing of the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

of 1863 he fled from Russian repressions to

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, also known as Austrian Galicia or colloquially Austrian Poland, was a constituent possession of the Habsburg monarchy in the historical region of Galicia (Eastern Europe), Galicia in Eastern Europe. The Cr ...

(Galicia, in brevity) and settled in its capital city of Lemberg (modern Lviv, Ukraine). In contrast to the Russian-held part of

partitioned Poland Partition may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Partition'' (1987 film), directed by Ken McMullen * ''Partition'' (2007 film), directed by Vic Sarin * '' Partition: 1947'', or ''Viceroy's House'', a 2017 film Music * Par ...

, in Galicia neither Polish nor Ukrainian languages were being suppressed or banned. Thanks to that Święcicki could devote himself to extensive studies of Ukrainian language and also became a teacher at one of local Ukrainian colleges. A fan of

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (; ; 9 March 1814 – 10 March 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist, and ethnographer. He was a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts and a member of the Brotherhood o ...

's poetry since his student years, Święcicki became one of the first to translate his poems to Polish language. Already in 1864 Święcicki started working for the local Ukrainian Theatre. He wrote numerous Ukrainian-language fables and dramas. He also tried to fill in the cultural gap in Ukrainian culture by translating to that language many foreign screenplays, notably

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' and Józef Korzeniowski's (1797–1863) play ''Cyganie'' (''Gypsies''). Also in 1864 he founded the '' Sioło'' journal. A social, literary and historical magazine, Sioło was published in both Polish and Ukrainian. The journal promoted the idea of Polish-Ukrainian cooperation, promotion of Ukrainian culture and fight for freedom of the Ukrainians (whose culture and language were at that time considered by the tsarist authorities to be '' Lesser Russian'', that is but a sub-group of the Russian nation). The magazine also published also historical documents, notably the

Nestor's Chronicle The ''Primary Chronicle'', shortened from the common ''Russian Primary Chronicle'' (, commonly transcribed ''Povest' vremennykh let'' (PVL), ), is a chronicle of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110. It is believed to have been originally compile ...

. Although ''Sioło'' existed only for four years (until 1867), it was highly influential in promotion of Ukrainian national revival, notably among the

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

of Lwów, at that time one of the major academic centres of Central Europe. In later years he published three novels in both Polish and Ukrainian versions: ''Przed laty'', ''Opowieści stepowe'' and ''Wspomnienia''. According to Serhiy Yefremov, Święcicki's treatise on ''Ukrainian literature in 19th century'' is considered to be the first review of modern Ukrainian language literature. However, it were his Ukrainian language fables that earned him his name in contemporary literature. In 1869 Święcicki became an instructor of Middle Ukrainian (Ruthenian) language in Lviv Academic Gymnasium.

Publications

* ''Odmiana Zaimkow; Rzecz Jeczykowo-Porownawcza ''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swiecicki, Paulin 1841 births 1876 deaths People from Kalynivka People from Kiev Governorate Polish participants of the January Uprising People from the Russian Empire of Polish descent Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Austrian Empire Writers from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Journalists from Austria-Hungary Polish journalists Ukrainian male writers 19th-century Ukrainian journalists Male journalists 19th-century Polish male writers Prosvita Burials at Lychakiv Cemetery 19th-century Polish journalists

Publications

See also

References