Aleksander Fredro (20 June 1793 – 15 July 1876) was a Polish poet,

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

active during Polish Romanticism in the period of partitions by neighboring empires. His works including plays written in the octosyllabic verse ('' Zemsta'') and in prose (''Damy i Huzary'') as well as fables, belong to the

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

Polish literature Polish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. Most Polish literature has been written in the Polish language, though other languages used in Poland over the centuries have also contributed to Polish literary traditions, including Latin, ...

. Fredro was harshly criticized by some of his contemporaries for light-hearted humor or even alleged immorality (

Seweryn Goszczyński Seweryn Goszczyński (4 November 1801, Illintsi – 25 February 1876, Lviv) was a Polish Romantic prose writer and poet. Life He was born on 4 November 1801 in Ilińce, Russian Empire and hailed from a Polish noble family Nobility is a so ...

, 1835) which led to years of his literary silence. Many of Fredro's dozens of plays were published and popularized only after his death. His best-known works have been translated into English, French, German, Russian, Czech, Romanian, Hungarian and Slovak.

Biography

Count Aleksander Fredro, of the Bończa coat of arms, was born in the village of Surochów near

Jarosław Jarosław (; , ; ; ) is a town in southeastern Poland, situated on the San (river), San River. The town had 35,475 inhabitants in 2023. It is the capital of Jarosław County in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. History Jarosław is located in the ...

, then a crown territory of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. A landowner's son, he was educated at home. He entered the Polish army at age 16 and saw action in the Napoleonic wars, including the Moscow campaign. His memoir ''Topsy Turvy Talk'', which echoes the style of

Laurence Sterne Laurence Sterne (24 November 1713 – 18 March 1768) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and Anglican cleric. He is best known for his comic novels ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'' (1759–1767) and ''A Sentimental Journey Thro ...

's ''

Tristram Shandy Tristram may refer to: Literature * the title character of ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'', a novel by Laurence Sterne * the title character of '' Tristram of Lyonesse'', an epic poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne *"Tristr ...

'', recounts his military experiences during Bonaparte's last campaign. While in France in 1814, he took an active interest in French drama. After leaving the army he settled on his estate and began as a writer. Fredro made his literary debut in 1817, but he was not interested in the problems of

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

. His first work was „Mąż i żona”. He wrote social comedies about the lifestyle of the

Polish nobility 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 ...

and is known for his skill in characterization and plot, as well as the flexibility of his language. His work also features

humor Humour ( Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids i ...

typical of folk theatre from the Romantic period, and a fast-paced

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical comedy, physical humor; the use of delibe ...

with varying degrees of sophistication. Two of Fredro's fables, ''The Monkey in the Bath'' (''Małpa w kąpieli'') and ''Paul and Gawel'' (''Paweł i Gaweł''), belong to the most popular

children's stories A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

in the country. His best-known comedy, '' Zemsta'' (The Revenge), was adapted for the screen in Poland by eminent film director

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the "P ...

in 2002. Fredro was the maternal grandfather of the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, Metropolitan

Andrey Sheptytsky Andrey Sheptytsky, OSBM (; ; 29 July 1865 – 1 November 1944) was the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Metropolitan of Galicia and Archbishop of Lviv from 1901 until his death in 1944. His tenure in office spanned two world wars and six political r ...

. He was commemorated on a Polish postage stamp issued in 1978. He died on 15 July 1876 in Lviv and was buried in a family grave in Catholic Church of the Assumption of Rudky.

Comedies

* ''Mr. Geldhab'' (''Pan Geldhab'', written in 1818 and first performed in 1821) * ''Man and Wife'' (''Mąż i żona'', performed 1812 or 1822) * ''Ladies and Husars'' (''Damy i Huzary'', written in 1825) * ''Mr. Jovial'' (''Pan Jowialski'', written and performed in 1832) * ''Maidens' Vows, or the Magnetism of the Heart'' (''Śluby panieńskie, czyli magnetyzm serca'', performed 1833) * ''The Revenge'' ('' Zemsta'', written in 1833, first performed in 1834) * ''The Annuity'' (''Dożywocie'', written and performed in 1835)

References

* *

External links

Aleksander Fredro
at Culture.pl
Aleksander Fredro
collected works (Polish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fredro, Aleksander 1793 births 1876 deaths People from Jarosław County Polish Roman Catholics Polish male poets Polish male dramatists and playwrights Knights of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Virtuti Militari Aleksander 19th-century Polish poets 19th-century Polish dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Polish male writers Members of the Diet of Galicia and Lodomeria Dramatists and playwrights from the Austrian Empire Polish humorists Polish humorous poets