The Philomaths, or Philomath Society ( or ''Towarzystwo Filomatów'', or ''Filomatų draugija''; from the Greek φιλομαθεῖς "lovers of knowledge"), was a secret student organization that existed from 1817 to 1823 at the Imperial University of Vilnius.

History

The society was created on 1 October 1817 in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, Vilna Governorate,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, which had acquired those territories in the

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

in 1794. The society was composed of students and alumni of the Imperial University of Vilnius. Notable members included Józef Jeżowski (co-founder and president), Jan Czeczot (co-founder), Józef Kowalewski (co-founder), Onufry Pietraszkiewicz (co-founder), Tomasz Zan (co-founder), Adam Mickiewicz (co-founder), Antoni Edward Odyniec, Ignacy Domejko, Teodor Łoziński, Franciszek Malewski, , Aleksander Chodźko, Michał Kulesza. Most of them were students, but some members and supporters included faculty and former alumni. Its structure was a cross between freemason organization and a

learned society A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...

. It was divided into two chapters – scientific-mathematic and literary. The members of the latter discussed literary works, and the organization aims were self-educational and didactic; however, around 1819-1820, the members became split on whether the organizations should concentrate on self-education (Jeżowski) or take a more active role in restoring Poland's independence (Mickiewicz), eventually the second faction gained dominance and new social and political goals emerged. The discussions increasingly turned toward romanticist ideas that were banned by the

for their pro-independence currents; history of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

was studied, pro-independence works written and circulated. The organizations inspired the creation of many similar youth organizations across the former

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

,WIEM Encyklopedia and it established ties with similar clandestine pro-Polish organizations in Congress Poland and the rest of partitioned lands, such as the Patriotic Society (''Towarzystwo Patriotyczne'') of Walerian Łukasiński, and even Russian organizations such as the Decembrists. Two closely related groups were formed: * The Radiant Association (''Towarzystwo Promienistych'', from "'',''" the "Radiant Ones"), (1820) a legal organization created by Tomasz Zan, and disbanded under pressure from University authorities, in May 1820; * The Filaret Association (''Zgromadzenie Filaretów'', ''Filaretai'', ''Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Pożytecznej Zabawy'', ''filareci'', from the Greek "''philáretos''," "Lovers of Virtue), (1834) a secret organization created by Zan within the Philomaths after the dissolution of the Radiants. It continued the traditions of the Radiants, but with a much clearer pro-independence goal, and was dedicated to the study of Polish and Lithuania patriotic literature. It was disbanded in 1823 after the arrests of the Philomaths. Ignacy Domeyko described the spirit prevailing in the Philomaths and the Filaret Association as: "purely national, patriotic, Polish – but free from plots and conspiracies, free of demagogic rants". According to Theodore R. Weeks, both organizations advocated a love for Polish culture and patriotism, but shied away from developing any concrete political program and their members generally declared loyalty to the Russian ruler. In 1822 the organizations went through some name changes. In 1823 the organization was discovered by Russian authorities led by Nikolay Nikolayevich Novosiltsev. After a trial that lasted several months, in 1824, 108 people were convicted of membership in this or related organizations; 20 members of the Philomaths or related organizations were sentenced to imprisonment or '' katorga'' and exiled to Siberia; over a dozen faculty members were dismissed (including historian Joachim Lelewel). Adam Mickiewicz, one of the Three Polish Bards, convicted of being a Philomath member and exiled into Russia, later described his experiences in that period in the third part of a major work, '' Dziady'' (Forefathers' Eve).

Notes

References

* Jerzy Jan Lerski, ''Historical Dictionary of Poland'', Greenwood Press, 1996,
Google Print, p.141-142
* Zbigniew Wójcik

Zwoje 4/2004 (41) * WIEM Encyklopedia
Filomaci
* Encyklopedia Internautica
FILOMACIPhilomates Association

History

Notes

References

Further reading