Eliza Orzeszkowa

Eliza Orzeszkowa
Born	6 June 1841(1841-06-06) Milkowszczyzna, Russian Empire
Died	18 May 1910(1910-05-18) (aged 68) Grodno, Russian Empire
Occupation	novelist, essayist, publisher
Notable work(s)	Meir Ezofowicz, Nad Niemnem, Cham, Bene nati
Spouse(s)	Piotr Orzeszko Stanisław Nahorski

Eliza Orzeszkowa (June 6, 1841 – May 18, 1910), was a Polish novelist and a leading writer of the Positivism in Poland during foreign Partitions. She was born to a noble Pawłowski family in Milkowszczyzna, and died in Grodno (now Hrodna, Belarus) nearby.^[1] At the age of sixteen, Eliza married Piotr Orzeszko, a Polish nobleman twice her own age, who was exiled to Siberia after the January Uprising of 1863. They were legally separated in 1869.^[2] She married again in 1894, after a 30-year-long loving relationship with Stanisław Nahorski who died a few years later.^[3]

Bust of Eliza Orzeszkowa, Warsaw

Orzeszkowa wrote a series of 30 novels and 120 powerful sketches, dramas and novellas, dealing with the social conditions of her occupied country. Her novel Eli Makower (1875) describes the relations between the Jews and the Polish nobility; and Meir Ezofowicz (1878), the conflict between Jewish orthodoxy and modern liberalism. In 1888 Orzeszkowa wrote two novels about the Niemen River (now part of Belarus): Cham (The Boor) focused on the life of fishermen; and her most famous novel, Nad Niemnem (On the Niemen) – often compared to Pan Tadeusz – dealing with the issues of Polish aristocracy against the backdrop of political and social order. Her study on patriotism and cosmopolitanism appeared in 1880.^[2] A uniform edition of her works was published in Warsaw between 1884–1888. Much of her output is available also in German translation.

In 1905 together with Henryk Sienkiewicz and Lev Tolstoy, Eliza Orzeszkowa was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. The prize was awarded to Sienkiewicz. According to official records of the Nobel Prize committee, the idea of dividing the prize was rejected as an act of disparagement, and only the latter ended up as the laureate.^[4]

Selected works

Obrazek z lat głodowych 1866 Ostatnia miłość, 1868 Z życia realisty, 1868 Na prowincji, 1870 W klatce, 1870 Cnotliwi, 1871 Pamiętnik Wacławy, 1871 Pan Graba, 1872 Na dnie sumienia, 1873 Marta, 1873 Eli Makower, 1875 Rodzina Brochwiczów, 1876 Pompalińscy, 1876 Maria, 1877 Meir Ezofowicz, 1878 Z różnych sfer, 1879–1882 Widma, 1881 Sylwek Cmentarnik, 1881 Zygmunt Ławicz i jego koledzy, 1881 Bańka mydlana, 1882–1883 Pierwotni, 1883 Niziny, 1885 Dziurdziowie, 1885

Mirtala, 1886 Nad Niemnem (On the Niemen), 1888 Cham (The Boor), 1888 Panna Antonina (collection of novels), 1888 W zimowy wieczór (collection of novels), 1888 Czciciel potęgi, 1891 Jędza, 1891 Bene nati, 1891 Westalka, 1891 Dwa bieguny, 1893 Melancholicy, 1896 Australczyk, 1896 Iskry (collection of novels), 1898 Argonauci (The Argonauts),[5] 1900 Ad astra. Dwugłos, 1904 I pieśń niech zapłacze, 1904 Gloria victis (collection of novellas), 1910 Journalism for social justice Kilka słów o kobietach (On women),[6] 1870 Patriotyzm i kosmopolityzm, 1880 O Żydach i kwestii żydowskiej, 1882

References

1. ^ "Eliza Orzeszkowa" from the Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
2. ^ ^{a b} Prof. dr hab. Józef Bachórz, Eliza Orzeszkowa. Virtual Library of Polish Literature. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
3. ^ Eliza Orzeszkowa. Słownik pisarzy polskich. Brykowisko. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
4. ^ The Nobel Prize in Literature: Nominations and Reports 1901–1950
5. ^ Project Gutenberg's "The Argonauts" by Eliza Orzeszko (aka Orzeszkowa). Translator: Jeremiah Curtin, 1901.
6. ^ "Kilka słów o kobietach" by E. Orzeszkowa. Kujawsko-Pomorska Digital Library. Retrieved September 23, 2011.

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links

• Works by Eliza Orzeszkowa (small sample) at Project Gutenberg

Persondata
Name	Orzeszkowa, Eliza
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	6 June 1841
Place of birth	Milkowszczyzna, Russian Empire
Date of death	18 May 1910
Place of death	Grodno, Russian Empire