Jan Andrzej Morsztyn

Jan Andrzej Morsztyn (1621-1693) was a Polish poet, member of the landed gentry, and official in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. As official he held the posts of Starost of, among other locales, Zawichost, Tymbark and Kowal. He was also a pantler of Sandomierz (1647-1658), a Royal Secretary (from 1656), a secular referandary (from 1658-1668), and a Deputy Crown Treasurer from 1668. Apart from his career at the Polish court, he is most famous as one of the leading poets of the baroque in Poland and the lead representative of the marinist style in Polish literature. He immigrated to France in 1683

Biography

He was born on 24 June in Wiśnicz near Kraków, into a wealthy Calvinist family of German originFact|date=February 2007, who had immigrated to Poland in the 14th century. His coat of arms was Leliwa. He studied at the Leiden University, and together with his brother, traveled extensively in Italy and France. After his return to Poland, he became a retainer of the Lubomirski magnate family, and through them became attached to the royal court. There he received the titles of Royal Secretary in 1656, and Deputy Crown Treasurer from 1668. During those years he took part in many diplomatic missions and negotiations, among others he was part of the mission that negotiated the Treaty of Oliwa. In 1659 he married Maria Katarzyna Gordon (d. 1691), a daughter of a Scots-born colonel Henry Gordon de Huntly, serving in the Polish army, and of a Polish noblewoman. Catherine (Katarzyna) was a lady-in-waiting at the Court of Queen Marie Louise de Gonzague. They had three daughters and a son, who all, except one daughter who became a nun, married members of high European aristocracy. In politics he represented the pro-French faction, and when king Jan III Sobieski distanced himself from France, and allied with Austria, he was accused of treason and emigrated to France in 1683, where he assumed the title of "comte de Châteauvillain" and spent the last years of his life as a royal secretary. He died on 8 January 1693 in Paris.

Works

Jan Andrzej Morsztyn was one of the leading poets of the baroque in Poland. His language was marked by the extravagant style of 16th-century Italian marinism style. He has had written most of his works before becoming the Deputy Crown Treasurer in 1668. Morsztyn, a courtier and political intriguer, he considered his writing a kind of entertainment and let most of his works circulate in manuscript rather than risk any publication damaging to his career [http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/Slavonic/staff/Polcen16c.html] . Thus most of his works were first released in print only in 19th century.

A master of poetic form, he wrote the collections of verses "Kanikuła" (Dog Days, 1647) and "Lutnia" (Lute, 1661). His chief concern in poetry was not so much "Nwordly happiness" per se as its inherent self-contradictions. In particular, the paradoxes of love are illuminated in Morsztyn's poetry by a wide variety of striking conceits, in which there is as much frivolity as metaphysical fear. [http://www.instytutksiazki.pl/index.php?id=18&L=1&user_oliteraturze_pi1%5BshowUid%5D=35&cHash=504ed01785] Nonetheless some of his other works had political subtones, like "Pospolite ruszenie" or "Pieśń w obozie pod Żwańcem" (Song in the camp near Żwaniec), which criticized szlachta unwillingness to react to potential dangers (from Tatars or Cossacks). Unlike his cousin, Zbigniew Morsztyn, few of his works can be counted as religious poetry, the notable exception being the "Pokuta w kwartanie".

He was also a known translator (of Torquato Tasso, Giambattista Marino and Pierre Corneille). His translation of Corneiile's "Le Cid" has remained the standard Polish version even today.

External links

* [http://staropolska.gimnazjum.com.pl/ang/baroque/JA_Morsztyn/index.html Selection of poems] (English)

Literature

*"Polski Słownik Biograficzny" ("Dictionary of Polish Biography"), vol. 22, Wrocław 1976

References

*Polish|Jan Andrzej Morsztyn|27 March 2006