- Mikołaj Chopin
Mikołaj Chopin (born "Nicolas Chopin";
April 15 ,1771 –May 3 ,1844 ) was a teacher in Prussian and Russian-ruled Poland, and the father of the Polish pianist and composer Fryderyk Chopin.Life
Nicolas Chopin was born in the French village of
Marainville , in the Vosges department. He was the son of François, a village wheelwright, and Marguerite, "née " Deflin.Arriving in Poland at the end of 1787, he began his teaching career at female
boarding school s and in private households. For an extended period until July 1810, he was a private tutor in the household of Countess Ludwika Skarbek atŻelazowa Wola . In October 1810 he was appointed "collaborator" ("kollaborant"), and in June 1814 regular professor, ofFrench language at theWarsaw Lyceum . He held this post until the Lyceum's closure in 1833.Apart from these positions, in 1812 he was appointed professor of French language at an Elementary Artillery and Engineers School ("Szkoła Elementarna Artylerii i Inżynierów"), and in 1820 at a Military Training School ("Szkoła Aplikacyjna Wojskowa"), where he was active until the School was closed down in 1831.
In 1833, with the reorganization of the educational system following the November 1830 Uprising, Chopin was to have received a position at a planned Pedagogical Institute. While awaiting the new appointment, he received half-wages and was used for examining French-teacher candidates and for evaluating French works proposed for use in
public school s. In 1837, when the Institute failed to materialize, Chopin retired. Nevertheless, he continued on the Examining Committee till 1841. In addition, he was briefly in 1837 lecturer in French language at theRoman Catholic Clerical Academy ("Adademia Duchowna") inWarsaw .Mikołaj Chopin died of
tuberculosis onMay 3 ,1844 , at the age of 73.On
June 2 ,1806 , Chopin had married Justyna, "née " Krzyżanowska. The couple had produced four children: Ludwika (in English, "Louise"), born 1807, who had married Józef Jędrzejewicz; Fryderyk Franciszek, born 1810, pianist and composer; Izabella, born 1811, who had married Antoni Barciński; and Emilia, born 1813, who had died of tuberculosis in 1827, aged 14.Assessment
Mikołaj Chopin was, according to Wincenty Łopaciński, a man of great intelligence and culture, universally esteemed, a model teacher, solicitous of his brilliant son Fryderyk. Though he had come from a foreign country, with time he became completely Polonized and "undoubtedly considered himself a Pole." [Łopaciński, "Chopin, Mikołaj," p. 427.]
Notes
References
* Wincenty Łopaciński, "Chopin, Mikołaj," "
Polski słownik biograficzny ", vol. III,Kraków , Polska Akademia Umiejętnosści, 1937, pp. 426–27.
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