Jan Edward Aleksander Matuszyński (

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, 14 December 1808 – 20 April 1842,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

) was a Polish physician and close friend, in Warsaw and Paris, of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin.

Life

Jan Matuszyński's father, Jan Fryderyk Matuszyński (1768–1831), was a physician and surgeon and head of

's Lutheran Hospital.Sikorski (n.d.) Jan Matuszyński, a native of Warsaw, befriended Chopin whilst attending the Warsaw Lyceum, where he was taught by Chopin's father,

Nicolas Chopin Nicolas Chopin (in pl, Mikołaj Chopin; 15 April 17713 May 1844) was a teacher of the French language in History of Poland (1795–1918), Partitioned Poland, and father of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin#Childhood, Frédéric Chopin.Łopaciń ...

. Matuszyński came from a musical family; he himself played the flute, and his brother Leopold (1820–93) became an opera

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

and director. From 1827 Jan studied medicine at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields o ...

. During the November 1830–31 Uprising he served as a medic with the Polish forces, in the 5th Mounted Rifles, and won the order of

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King St ...

. Following the suppression of the Uprising he went into exile in Germany, eventually graduating in medicine at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

. Emigrating to Paris in 1834, he for more than two years shared Chopin's apartment in the Chaussée d'Antin and gave him medical advice. He took a further medical degree in Paris, specializing in

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

, and married a Frenchwoman, Caroline Boquet. In 1837 he published a treatise, ''De l'influence du nerf sympathique sur les fonctions des sens'' (On the Influence of the Sympathetic Nervous System on the Functions of the Senses).Atwood (1999), p. 333. Matuszyński died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

. In his last days, Chopin and

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. One of the most popular writers in Europe in her lifetime, bein ...

cared for him at the rooms they shared in the rue Pigalle. Sand wrote that he "died in our arms after a slow and cruel agony, which caused Chopin as much suffering as if it had been his own. He hopinwas strong, courageous and devoted... but when it was over he was shattered." Matuszyński was buried in the Cemetery of Montmartre.

Notes

References

* Attwood, William G. (1999), ''The Parisian Worlds of Frédéric Chopin'', New Haven and London, Yale University Press, . * Sikorski, Andrzej (n.d.),
Jan Matuszyński
'' (in Polish), website of Fryderyk Chopin Institute, accessed 14 February 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Matuszynski, Jan 1808 births 1842 deaths Physicians from Warsaw 19th-century Polish scholars University of Warsaw alumni University of Tübingen alumni Polish expatriates in France Polish physiologists Frédéric Chopin 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Burials at Montmartre Cemetery Recipients of the Virtuti Militari 19th-century composers Polish military doctors Tuberculosis deaths in France