Alexander Rypinski (; 10 September 1809 - 8 November 1886) was a Polish poet, translator and folklorist, participant in the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...

. Rypinski was born into a Polonised Ruthenian noble family on the Kukaviačyna estate near Viciebsk (nowadays the village of Kukaviačyna in Viciebsk district of Belarus).Арлоў, Уладзімер (2020).
ІМЁНЫ СВАБОДЫ (Бібліятэка Свабоды. ХХІ стагодзьдзе.
'' 'Uładzimir Arłou. The Names of Freedom (The Library of Freedom. ХХІ century.)''">Uładzimir_Arłou.html" ;"title="'Uładzimir Arłou">'Uładzimir Arłou. The Names of Freedom (The Library of Freedom. ХХІ century.)''(PDF) (in Belarusian) (4-е выд., дап. ed.). Радыё Свабодная Эўропа / Радыё Свабода - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. pp. 86–87. The family adhered to the Byzantine Rite, Greek rite until the late 17th century.Alexander Rypinski. Belarusian Chronicle, Autumn 1997, No 1, pp. 1-2.

Early years

Rypinski grew up in Staiki near Viciebsk, on his grandfather's estate, where he learned Belarusian folk songs and fairy tales. He acquired interest in poetry and translation at school and wrote his first poem (in Polish) at the age of 16. Two years later he translated A. Pushkin's "Mermaid" into Polish. After graduating from a Viciebsk gymnasium in 1829-30 he enrolled in a military school in Dinaburg (now

Daugavpils Daugavpils (see also other names) is a state city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city derives its name. The parts of the city to the north of the river belong to the historical Latvian region ...

, Latvia). In Dinaburg he became acquainted with W. Küchelbecker, a Russian-German Romantic poet and Decembrist.

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...
and exile in Paris

Rypinski took part in the

of 1830–31. When the uprising was suppressed by the Russian troops, he fled to Prussia and then to Paris where he lived until 1846. He was elected a member of the French Academy of Industry, Agriculture, Crafts and Trade and opened an art shop. On 21 November 1839, at a meeting of the Polish Literary Society in Paris, he read the first report on Belarusian ethnography and folklore, and in 1840, on the basis of his own lectures, published the book “Belarus”. The Parisian period includes a close acquaintance with Adam Mickiewicz, which was based on the unity of civic and aesthetic ideals. He prepared for publication his memoirs from the time of the November Uprising (fragments of which were published in Paris in 1836 - "The Uprising of Vileіka, Zavilеіка and Dzisna districts").

Life in London

In 1846 Rypinski moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where he engaged in publishing and creative activities, teaching languages, mathematics and drawing - becoming “one of the most versatile Belarusian expatriates living in England during the 19th century”. He established himself as an artist, designed his own books and became one of the pioneers of photography. In 1852 he founded a printing house in

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

, London where he published collections of his Polish poems "Poetic Works" (1853) and "Sergeant-Philosopher" (1854). Within the collections he included his Belarusian romantic ballad
Niačyścik
(''"The Little Devil") which was also published in a separate edition in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

in 1853. The well-known poem "Play, play, little boy ..." by Belarusian poet was also published in Rypinski's printing house.

Return home

In 1859, the Tsar granted amnesty to participants of the November Uprising. Rypinski abandoned his application for naturalisation as a British subject and returned to his family's Kukaviačyna estate where he lived under police surveillance. He worked on the history of Belarusian literature and wrote a number of biographies of Belarusian writers, including those of Jan Barščeŭski, and .

Death

Rypinski died on 8 November 1886. He was buried in the family cemetery of the Zablocki family.

Legacy

Because of his wor
''Niačyścik''
''("The Little Devil")'' Rypinsky is considered “one of the creators of the genre of ballads in elarusianliterature.” The ballad “about a lax farmer carried off by the devil for making sausages in Lent” was written in 1853. Rypinski is known for his efforts to streamline the norms of Belarusian orthoepy. He was also the first author and publisher to use the “ short u” (Ŭ) letter in the

Belarusian language Belarusian (, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language. It is one of the two Languages of Belarus, official languages in Belarus, the other being Russian language, Russian. It is also spoken in parts of Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Polan ...

(Latin alphabet) – until then there had been no single standard of how that sound should be conveyed in writing. This letter was later adopted in the Belarusian Cyrillic alphabet too.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rypinski, Alexander 1809 births 1886 deaths Poets from the Russian Empire Immigrants to France Immigrants to the United Kingdom November Uprising participants