Ignacy Błażej Franciszek Krasicki (3 February 173514 March 1801), from 1766 Prince-Bishop of Warmia (in German, ''Ermland'') and from 1795

Archbishop of Gniezno This is a list of archbishops of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primates of Poland since 1418.Primate of Poland This is a list of archbishops of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primates of Poland since 1418.Enlightenment poet"Ignacy Krasicki", '' Encyklopedia Polski'' (Encyclopedia of Poland), p. 325. ("the Prince of Poets"), a critic of the clergy, Poland's La Fontaine, author of the first Polish novel, playwright, journalist, encyclopedist, and translator from French and Greek. His most notable literary works were his ''

Fables and Parables ''Fables and Parables'' (''Bajki i przypowieści'', 1779), by Ignacy Krasicki (1735–1801), is a work in a long international tradition of fable-writing that reaches back to antiquity. Krasicki's fables and parables have been described as bein ...

'' (1779), ''Satires'' (1779), and poetic letters and religious lyrics, in which the artistry of his poetic language reached its summit.

Life

Krasicki was born in

Dubiecko Dubiecko (; yi, דיבעצק, Dubetzk; uk, Дубецько, Dubetsʹko) is a town in Przemyśl County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in southeastern Poland. It is the seat of the ''gmina'' (administrative district) called Gmina Dubiecko. It lies ...

, on southern Poland's

San River The San ( pl, San; uk, Сян ''Sian''; german: Saan) is a river in southeastern Poland and western Ukraine, a tributary of the river Vistula, with a length of (it is the 6th-longest Polish river) and a basin area of 16,877 km2 (14,42 ...

, into a family bearing the title of

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York ...

of the Holy Roman Empire. He was related to the most illustrious families in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and spent his childhood surrounded with the love and solicitude of his own family. He attended a Jesuit school in Lwów, then studied at a Warsaw

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

seminary (1751–54). In 1759 he took holy orders and continued his education in Rome (1759–61). Two of his brothers also entered the priesthood. Returning to Poland, Krasicki became secretary to the

Primate of Poland This is a list of archbishops of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primates of Poland since 1418.Stanisław August Poniatowski. When Poniatowski was elected king (1764), Krasicki became his chaplain. He participated in the King's famous "

Thursday dinners Thursday Dinners ( pl, obiady czwartkowe, less commonly translated as Thursday Lunches) were gatherings of artists, intellectuals, architects, politicians and statesmen held by the last King of Poland, Stanislaus II Augustus during the Enlighte ...

" and co-founded the ''

Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...

'', the preeminent Polish Enlightenment periodical, sponsored by the King. In 1766 Krasicki, after having served that year as

coadjutor The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...

Prince-Bishop of Warmia This is a list of Bishops and Prince-Bishops of the Diocese of Warmia ( pl, link=no, Diecezja warmińska, la, link=no, Dioecesis Varmiensis, german: link=no, Bistum Ermland), which was elevated to the Archdiocese of Warmia in 1992. The Bisho ...

Adam Stanisław Grabowski, was himself elevated to Prince-Bishop of Warmia and ''ex officio'' membership in the Senate of the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

. This office gave him a high standing in the social hierarchy and a sense of independence. It did not, however, prove a quiet haven. The Warmia

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

welcomed its superior coolly, fearing changes. At the same time, there were growing provocations and pressures from

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

, preparatory to seizure of Warmia in the First Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Krasicki protested publicly against external intervention. In 1772, as a result of the First Partition, instigated by Prussia's King Frederick II ("the Great"), Krasicki became a Prussian subject. He did not, however, pay homage to Warmia's new master. He now made frequent visits to Berlin,

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of ...

and Sanssouci at the bidding of Frederick, with whom he cultivated an acquaintance. This created a difficult situation for the poet-bishop who, while a friend of the Polish king, maintained close relations with the Prussian king. These realities could not but influence the nature and direction of Krasicki's subsequent literary productions, perhaps nowhere more so than in the ''

'' (1779). Soon after the First Partition, Krasicki officiated at the 1773 opening of Berlin's

St. Hedwig's Cathedral St. Hedwig's Cathedral (german: St.-Hedwigs-Kathedrale) is a Catholic church on Bebelplatz in the historic centre of Berlin. Dedicated to Hedwig of Silesia, it was erected from 1747 to 1887 by order of Frederick the Great according to plans by ...

, which Frederick had built for Catholic immigrants to

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squar ...

and Berlin. In 1786 Krasicki was called to the Prussian Academy of Sciences. His residences in the castle of the

bishops of Warmia This is a list of Bishops and Prince-Bishops of the Diocese of Warmia ( pl, link=no, Diecezja warmińska, la, link=no, Dioecesis Varmiensis, german: link=no, Bistum Ermland), which was elevated to the Archdiocese of Warmia in 1992. The Bish ...

Lidzbark Warmiński Lidzbark Warmiński (; german: Heilsberg, ), often shortened to Lidzbark, is a historical town located within the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It is the capital of Lidzbark County. Lidzbark Warmiński was once the capital o ...

(in German, ''Heilsberg'') and in the summer palace of the bishops of Warmia at Smolajny became centers of artistic patronage for all sectors of

partitioned Poland Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

. After

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...

's death, Krasicki continued relations with Frederick's successor. In 1795, six years before his death, Krasicki was elevated to

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of Gniezno (thus, to

Primate of Poland This is a list of archbishops of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primates of Poland since 1418.Stanisław August Poniatowski with the Order of the White Eagle and the Order of Saint Stanisław, as well as with a special 1780 medal featuring the Latin device, "''Dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori''" ("The Muse will not let perish a man deserving of glory"); and by Prussia's King

, with the Order of the Red Eagle. Upon his death in Berlin in 1801, Krasicki was laid to rest at St. Hedwig's Cathedral, which he had consecrated. In 1829 his remains were transferred to Poland's

Gniezno Cathedral The Royal Gniezno Cathedral (The Primatial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Shrine of St. Adalbert, pl, Bazylika Archikatedralna Wniebowzięcia Najświętszej Marii Panny i Sanktuarium św. Wojciecha) is a Bri ...

Czesław Miłosz Czesław Miłosz (, also , ; 30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004) was a Polish-American poet, prose writer, translator, and diplomat. Regarded as one of the great poets of the 20th century, he won the 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature. In its citation, ...

describes Krasicki:

Works

Ignacy Krasicki by Per Krafft the Elder ca

Ignacy Krasicki was the leading literary representative of the

Polish Enlightenment The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment in Poland were developed later than in Western Europe, as the Polish bourgeoisie was weaker, and szlachta (nobility) culture (Sarmatism) together with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth political system (G ...

—a prose writer and poet highly esteemed by his contemporaries, who admired his works for their wit, imagination, and fluid style. Krasicki's literary writings lent splendor to the reign of Poland's King Stanisław August Poniatowski, while not directly advocating the King's political program. Krasicki, the leading representative of Polish classicism, debuted as a poet with the strophe- hymn, "''Święta miłości kochanej ojczyzny''" (" O Sacred Love of the Beloved Country"), published in 1774. He was then nearing forty. It was thus a late debut that brought the extraordinary success of this strophe, which Krasicki would incorporate as part of song IX in his mock-heroic poem, '' Myszeida'' (Mouseiad, 1775). In "O Sacred Love of the Beloved Country," Krasicki formulated a universal idea of patriotism, expressed in high style and elevated tone. The strophe would later, for many years, serve as a national anthem and see many translations, including three into French. The Prince Bishop of Warmia gave excellent Polish form to all the genres of European

classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthet ...

. He also blazed paths for new genres. Prominent among these was the first modern Polish novel, ''Mikołaja Doświadczyńskiego przypadki'' ( The Adventures of Nicholas Experience, 1776), a synthesis of all the varieties of the Enlightenment novel: the social-satirical, the adventure (''à la'' '' Robinson Crusoe''), the Utopian, and the didactic. Tradition has it that Krasicki's mock-heroic poem, '' Monachomachia'' (War of the Monks, 1778), was inspired by a conversation with Frederick II at the palace of Sanssouci, where Krasicki was staying in an apartment that had once been used by Voltaire. At the time, the poem's publication caused a public scandal. The most enduring literary monument of the Polish Enlightenment is Krasicki's fables: ''Bajki i Przypowieści'' (

, 1779) and ''Bajki nowe'' (New Fables, published posthumously in 1802). The poet also set down his trenchant observations of the world and

human nature Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or w ...

in ''Satyry'' (Satires, 1779). Other works by Krasicki include the novels, ''

Pan Podstoli ''Pan Podstoli'' (''Lord Steward'', or ''Royal Pantler'') is a novel by Polish author, Ignacy Krasicki, published in several parts (1778, 1784 and 1803). It is one of the first Polish novels, and one of the most important works by Krasicki. It se ...

'' (Lord High Steward, published in three parts, 1778, 1784 and posthumously 1803), which would help inspire works by

Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish ...

, and '' Historia'' (History, 1779); the epic, '' Wojna chocimska'' (The Chocim War, 1780, about the

Khotyn Khotyn ( uk, Хотин, ; ro, Hotin, ; see other names) is a city in Dnistrovskyi Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast of western Ukraine and is located south-west of Kamianets-Podilskyi. It hosts the administration of Khotyn urban hromada, one of ...

War); and numerous others, in homiletics, theology and heraldry. In 1781–83 Krasicki published a two-volume encyclopedia, '' Zbiór potrzebniejszych wiadomości'' (A Collection of Essential Information), the second Polish-language general encyclopedia after

Benedykt Chmielowski Benedykt Joachim Chmielowski (1700–1763) was a Polish priest born presumably in Łuck. He wrote ''Nowe Ateny,'' the first Polish-language encyclopedia. It was first published in 1745-46; the second edition was supplemented between 1754 and 176 ...

's ''Nowe Ateny'' (The New Athens, 1745–46). Krasicki wrote ''Listy o ogrodach'' (Letters about Gardens) and articles in the ''

'', which he had co-founded, and in his own newspaper, ''Co Tydzień'' (Each Week). Krasicki

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

, into Polish, Plutarch, ''

Ossian Ossian (; Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic: ''Oisean'') is the narrator and purported author of a cycle of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson, originally as ''Fingal'' (1761) and ''Temora'' (1763), and later combined under ...

'', fragments of Dante's ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature a ...

'', and works by

Anacreon Anacreon (; grc-gre, Ἀνακρέων ὁ Τήϊος; BC) was a Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and erotic poems. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets. Anacreon wrote all of his poetry in t ...

, Boileau, Hesiod and

Theocritus Theocritus (; grc-gre, Θεόκριτος, ''Theokritos''; born c. 300 BC, died after 260 BC) was a Greek poet from Sicily and the creator of Ancient Greek pastoral poetry. Life Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from h ...

. He wrote a 1772 essay "On the Translation of Books" ("''O przekładaniu ksiąg''") and another, published posthumously in 1803, "On Translating Books" ("''O tłumaczeniu ksiąg''").

Fame

Krasicki's major works won European fame and were translated into Latin, French, German, Italian, Russian, Czech, Croatian, Slovene, and Hungarian. The broad reception of his works was sustained throughout the 19th century. Krasicki has been the subject of works by poets of the Polish Enlightenment

Stanisław Trembecki Stanisław Trembecki (8 May 1739 – 12 December 1812) was a Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish br ...

Franciszek Zabłocki Franciszek Zabłocki (2 January 1754, Volhynia – 10 September 1821, Końskowola), is considered the most distinguished Polish comic dramatist and satirist of the Enlightenment period. He descends from an old aristocratic family of Poland with ...

, Wojciech Mierand in the 20th century, by

Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński (23 January 1905 – 6 December 1953), alias ''Karakuliambro'', was a Polish poet. He is well known for the "paradramatic" absurd humorous sketches of the ''Green Goose Theatre''. Biography Born to a lower-mid ...

. He has been the hero of prose works by

Wincenty Pol Wincenty Pol (20 April 1807 – 2 December 1872) was a Polish poet and geographer. Life Pol was born in Lublin (then in Galicia), to Franz Pohl (or Poll), a German in the Austrian service, and his wife Eleonora Longchamps de Berier, from a F ...

, Adolf Nowaczyński and Henryk Sienkiewicz.

Literary reflection

Scholars have viewed Krasicki's ''Fables'' and ''Satires'' as adaptive to the culture for which they were written, and as politically charged.Shaffer, E. S. (2002). ''Comparative Criticism, Vol24, Fantastic Currencies in Comparative Literature: Gothic to Postmodern''. Cambridge University Press. p. 73. . The characterizations were not based on reconstructions of individuals from direct observation, but were fictional constructs that reflected society's actual values. Krasicki held that Poles, and humanity generally, were governed by greed, folly, and vice.

Target audience

Evidence for this is found in the preface, " To the Children,", targeted not to children but to villagers, congregations, and the commonalty. The fables were meant to bring attention to major questions of the day, and to advocate for social reforms. Although the ''New Fables'', the sequel to the ''Fables and Parables'', were published posthumously in 1803, the better known ''Fables and Parables'' found their audience between 1735 and Krasicki's death in 1801, most of them being published after the First Partition of Poland, of 1772. The fables usually find their meaning in the final line, through the symbology of the tale rather than through a complex presentation of ideology, thereby readily conveying even to the illiterate the moral and the Enlightenment ideal behind it.

Enlightenment contributions

Katarzyna Zechenter argues in ''

The Polish Review ''The Polish Review'' is an English-language academic journal published quarterly in New York City by the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America. ''The Polish Review'' was established in 1956. Editors-in-chief The following persons have ...

'' that Western historians have generally overlooked Krasicki's works, and that the publisher of ''Polish Fables'' overlooked the importance of the "political and social context contributing to he fable'sorigin." However, it is easy to see Krasicki's influence on his contemporaries and on the early 19th century, as in the case of Gabriela Puzynina, a Polish princess, poet, and diarist. In 1846 she started a newspaper for the intelligentsia of Vilnius and Warsaw, and furthered the establishment of Krasicki's ''Fables'' in Poland's suppressed political life. In her ''Diary of the Years 1815–1843'', Puzynina focuses on the fable, "Birds in a Cage", as a commentary on the Partitions of Poland.

Notes

References

* Edward Balcerzan, ed., ''Pisarze polscy o sztuce przekładu, 1440–1974: Antologia'' (Polish Writers on the Art of Translation, 1440–1974: an Anthology), Poznań, Wydawnictwo Poznańskie, 1977. * Jan Zygmunt Jakubowski, ed., ''Literatura polska od śreniowiecza do pozytywizmu'' (Polish Literature from the Middle Ages to Positivism), Warsaw, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1979, , pp. 245–54. * '' Encyklopedia Polski'' (Encyclopedia of Poland), Kraków, Wydawnictwo Ryszard Kluszczyński, 1996, . * Julian Krzyżanowski, ''Historia literatury polskiej: Alegoryzmpreromantyzm'' (A History of Polish Literature: AllegorismPreromanticism), Warsaw, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1974, pp. 435–54. * Zbigniew Landowski, Krystyna Woś, ''Słownik cytatów łacińskich: wyrażenia, sentencje, przysłowia'' (A Dictionary of Latin Citations: Expressions, Maxims, Proverbs), Kraków, Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2002, . *

, ''The History of Polish Literature'', 2nd ed., Berkeley, University of California Press, 1983, , pp. 176–81.

External links

* *
Polish Forum

Catholic Online

Collected works

Other works

List of Primates of Poland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krasicki, Ignacy 1735 births 1801 deaths People from Przemyśl County Ecclesiastical senators of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian novelists 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian poets Polish male novelists Polish translators Polish translation scholars French–Polish translators Translators from French Translators from Greek Translators to Polish 18th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Archbishops of Gniezno Bishops of Warmia Roman Catholic writers Fabulists Burials at Gniezno Cathedral Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Ignacy Polish male poets Age of Enlightenment 18th-century male writers 18th-century translators Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) Catholic clergy of the Prussian partition Polish Enlightenment