Lucjan Rydel, also known as Lucjan Antoni Feliks Rydel (17 May 1870 in

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 ...

– 8 April 1918 in

Bronowice Małe Bronowice Małe is a neighborhood (''osiedle'') of Kraków, part of the Bronowice district. History Since 1294 the location was recorded to be a property of St. Mary's Basilica, Kraków. In 1934–1941 it was part of rural gmina and was its ...

), was a Polish

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

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

from the

Young Poland Young Poland ( ) was a modernist period in Polish visual arts, literature and music, covering roughly the years between 1890 and 1918. It was a result of strong aesthetic opposition to the earlier ideas of Positivism. Young Poland promoted tre ...

movement.

Life

Rydel was the son of Lucjan Rydel, a surgeon, ophthalmologist, professor and Rector of

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

in Kraków, and of Helena Kremer. In 1904, Rydel wrote a nativity play, ''Polish Bethlehem'' (''Betlejem polskie''), and staged its production in two suburbs of Kraków,

Tonie Tonie is a Swedish unisex given name and a nickname that is a diminutive form of Antonia in Sweden. It is also a Dutch unisex given name that is a diminutive form of Antonia, Antonius, Anton, Antoon, Anthonis, and Anthoon in use in Suriname, ...

and Bronowice, with local villagers as actors. It was an expression of his profound respect for rural Poland as well as the result of his flair for theatrical experimentation. Rydel left the third and the final act of his play open. In the course of history, new characters, including contemporary Polish politicians and celebrities, were added to it by various producers to make the play appeal to new audiences. An open end play like ''Betlejem polskie'' is a tradition originating with Kraków's only '' Szopka'' (pronounced ''shopka'', "The Nativity Scene", or "The Christmas Crib", commonly translated as "The Christmas Creche") to which new characters are added every year. Rydel became the director of the renowned

Juliusz Słowacki Theatre Juliusz Słowacki Theatre () is a 19th-century Eclectic-style theatre and opera house located in the Old Town of Kraków, Poland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Erected in 1893, it was modeled after some of the best European Baroque and Ecle ...

in Kraków for one season, 1915-1916. His marriage to Jadwiga Mikołajczykówna, a peasant daughter from Bronowice, took place at the Rydlówka Manor, on Tetmajera Street. The event inspired Rydel's

pen pal Pen pals (or penfriends, penpals, pen-pals) are people who regularly write to each other, particularly via postal mail. Pen pals are usually strangers whose relationship is based primarily, or even solely, on their exchange of letters. Occasion ...

and friend

Stanisław Wyspiański Stanisław Mateusz Ignacy Wyspiański (; 15 January 1869 – 28 November 1907) was a Polish playwright, painter, poet, and interior and furniture designer. A patriotic writer, he created symbolic national dramas accordant with the artisti ...

to write what became known as the defining Polish independence drama, '' Wesele'' ("The Wedding", or "The Wedding Reception"). Rydel's historical place of residence, the Rydlówka Manor, houses a museum of the

period in the outskirts of Kraków. Polish composer

Jadwiga Sarnecka Jadwiga Sarnecka (1877 or 1883 – 29 December 1913) was a Polish composer and pianist whose composition ''Ballade'' for piano won second place in a 1910 competition in Lviv (today in Ukraine) commemorating Chopin’s centenary. She also composed w ...

used Rydel’s text for her song “Szumny wichrze gluchych pol.”

Selected plays

*''Zaczarowane koło'' (1900) *''Betlejem polskie'' (1904) *''Ferenike i Pejsidoros'' (1909) *''Zygmunt August – trylogia dramatyczna'' (1912)

Notes

External links

*
About Lucjan Rydel at www.slowtrav.com

Collected works

Lucjan Rydel mentioned
alongside

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rydel, Lucjan 20th-century Polish dramatists and playwrights Polish male dramatists and playwrights 1870 births 1918 deaths 20th-century Polish poets Polish male poets People from Austria-Hungary

Life

Selected plays

See also

Notes

External links