Tekla Teresa Łubieńska ( Bielińska; 6 June 1767,

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 ...

– August 1810,

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

) was a Polish playwright, poet and translator.

Biography

Łubieńska was the daughter of Polish nobles, Franciszek Bieliński (nephew and adopted son of

Franciszek Bieliński Franciszek Bieliński of Junosza coat of arms (1683–1766) was a Polish statesman. A Crown Grand Marshal, Marshal of Prussia and a voivode of Chełmno, he is best remembered as a strong proponent of the expansion and the modernisation of the c ...

), court writer and senator for

Czersk Czersk (; ; formerly , (1942-5): ) is a town in northern Poland in Chojnice County, Pomeranian Voivodeship. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 9,844. Today the center of the city of Czersk in is the Village Square. The infrastructu ...

and his wife, Krystyna Justyna

Sanguszko The House of Sanguszko is a Polish and Lithuanian noble and aristocratic family of Lithuanian and Ruthenian origin, connected to the Gediminid dynasty. Like other princely houses of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, its origins are considered m ...

. She was taught at home. At age of 11 in 1778 she lost her mother. From then on, she was in the care of the duchess,

Barbara Sanguszko file:POL COA Sanguszko.svg, 200px, Arms of Pogoń Litewska Barbara Urszula Sanguszko, ''née'' Dunin (pseudonym: ''A Dame; A definite Polish dame; definitely a worthy dowager''; 4 February 1718 – 2 October 1791 in Warsaw) was a Polish noblewoma ...

, her maternal grandmother who gave her a French education. She later married, as his second wife,

Feliks Łubieński Feliks Walezjusz Władysław Łubieński (born 22 November 1758 Minoga near Olkusz, died 2 October 1848 Guzów) was a Polish politician, jurist, Minister of Justice in the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, starosta of Nakieł, a member of the Friend ...

, a future Minister of Justice in

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

. They had ten children, among them,

Tomasz Tomasz is a Polish given name, the equivalent of Thomas in English. Notable people with the given name include: * Tomasz Adamek (born 1976), Polish heavyweight boxer * Tomasz Arciszewski (1877–1955), Polish socialist politician and Prime Mi ...

and Henryk. While Tekla's husband was involved in the turbulent politics of the

Targowica Confederation The Targowica Confederation (, , ) was a confederation established by Polish and Lithuanian magnates on 27 April 1792, in Saint Petersburg, with the backing of the Russian Empress Catherine II. The confederation opposed the Constitution of 3 May ...

, she left pregnant for

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

with her children. On her return to Poland in 1785, she settled in the family estate in Guzów and devoted herself to family life, child-bearing and her writing. She died suddenly at the early age of just 43, in Kraków in August 1810. She is an ancestor of British actor,

Rula Lenska Rula Lenska (born Roza Maria Leopoldyna Lubienski 30 September 1947) is an English actress. She mainly appears in British stage and television productions and is known in the United States for a series of television advertisements in the 1970s ...

Writings

At the time of the

Four-Year Sejm The Great Sejm, also known as the Four-Year Sejm ( Polish: ''Sejm Wielki'' or ''Sejm Czteroletni''; Lithuanian: ''Didysis seimas'' or ''Ketverių metų seimas'') was a Sejm (parliament) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that was held in W ...

she wrote patriotic verse. Initially, she devoted herself to writing chiefly comedies, including dramatic diversions for children. She later produced historical dramas such as: ''Wanda, queen of Poland'' (1806), ''

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

and Wedekind'' (1807), a two-act drama in verse. She translated works by

Jean Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ; ; 22 December 1639 – 21 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille, as well as an important literary figure in the Western tr ...

and

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

Notable works

* Lyrical poetry, as yet unpublished but referenced by H. Skimborowicz, "Zorza" 1843; S. z Ż. P. (Pruszakowa), "Tygodnik Ilustrowany" 1863, nr 191-192, (according to Skimborowicz: ''Many prayers written by her in verse appear in recently published devotional literature but without her signature.'') * ''Wanda. A tragedy in 5 Acts'', published 2 March 1806, and produced on stage in Warsaw on 17 April 1807, * ''

and Wedekind'', an historical drama set to music by J. Elsner, first produced in the National Theatre on 5 December 1807...'', Warsaw 1808 (2 editions) * A response in verse to Ludwik Osiński, in answer to his poem addressed to Countess Lubienska as a

paean A paean () is a song or lyric poem expressing triumph or thanksgiving. In classical antiquity, it is usually performed by a chorus, but some examples seem intended for an individual voice ( monody). It comes from the Greek (also or ), "song ...

on her patron saint's day

Translations

* ''Elfryda. Tragedia na wzór dramatów greckich, z angielskiego'' – Elfreda. A tragedy in the mode of Greek dramas, from the English, unpublished * P. A. Metastasio: ''Siroe'', unpublished * J. Racine: ''Andromaque'', unpublished * ''Wzór męża i ojca. Komedia z francuskiego'', The example of a husband and father, a farce from the French, unpublished * Voltaire: ''Candide'', unpublished. According to Skimborowicz: ''Polish theatre owes eklaseveral translations of Voltaire's plays'', but he fails to mention which ones. An extract of a translated poem by Frenchman, A. Deshoulières is acknowledged as Tekla's by the Warsaw ''Illustrated weekly'' in 1863.

Letters

* To her son,

, from 14 June 1806.

Bibliography

* Polski Słownik Biograficzny Vol. XVIII (1973) * Bibliografia Literatury Polskiej – Nowy Korbut Vol. 5: Oświecenie, published by Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, Warsaw, 1967 pages 276–277 – A Bibliography of Polish Literature, vol. 5. The Enlightenment.

References

External links

Marek Jerzy Minakowski – ''Genealogia Potomków Sejmu Wielkiego'' – Polish genealogy service
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lubienska, Tekla Teresa 1767 births 1810 deaths 19th-century Polish women writers Polish children's writers Polish women children's writers Writers from Warsaw 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian poets 18th-century Polish translators 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian women writers

Tekla Teresa Łubieńska Tekla Teresa Łubieńska ( Bielińska; 6 June 1767, Warsaw – August 1810, Kraków) was a Polish playwright, poet and translator. Biography Łubieńska was the daughter of Polish nobles, Franciszek Bieliński (nephew and adopted son of Fran ...

Dramatists and playwrights from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth