- Alexander Guagnini
Alexander Guagnini or Alessandro Guagnini (1538 – 1614), was an Italian
chronicler fromVerona . He served in the Lithuanian military inVitsebsk (which was part of theGrand Duchy of Lithuania ).He is known for publishing the book titled "Sarmatiae Europeae descriptio, quae Regnum Poloniae, Lituaniam,
Samogitia m,Russia m,Masovia m,Prussia m,Pomerania m... complectitur"', usually translated as "A Description of Sarmatian Europe" (printed inCracow , 1578). It contained descriptions of the countries ofEastern Europe (history, geography, religion, traditions, etc.) inLatin .It is argued that he was not actually the author of the book, but rather stole a manuscript of the "Chronicle of Poland, Lithuania, Samogitia and all of Ruthenia" from
Maciej Stryjkowski , who was his subordinate. Stryjkowski protested before King and his claims were recognized in 1580, but the book continued to be printed under Guagnini's name and was even translated to Polish language. [ [http://kamunikat.net.iig.pl/www/czasopisy/annus/05/03.htm Oleg Łatyszonek, "From White Russia to Belarus"] //Annus Albaruthenicus", no. 5, 2004] An expanded edition appeared in 1611.The chronicle included portraits of Lithuanian dukes for the first time. Despite the images being purely fictional and having nothing to do with actual dukes, anachronistic clothes and weapons, and that some of the images illustrated multiple people, the portraits highly influenced future depictions of the GrandDukes of Lithuania. To this day they remain the most popular portraits used in many history books. [For example, [http://mkp.emokykla.lt/gimtoji/index.php Gimtoji istorija. Nuo 7 iki 12 klasės] ]
Copies of the book are preserved, among other places, in the library of
Vilnius University and in theFrancysk Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum (London ). [ [http://www.belarus-misc.org/diaspora/yurevich/articles/library.html Francysk Skaryna Museum in London] ]He died in
Krakow .References
External links
* [http://www.pbi.edu.pl/book_reader.php?p=33&s=1 Gwagnin: scan of the original book] pl icon
* [http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/rus5/Gwagnini/frametext1.htm Guagnini: The Description of Muscovy, part 1] ru icon
* [http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/rus5/Gwagnini/frametext2.htm Guagnini: The Description of Muscovy, part 2] ru icon
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