Karol Szajnocha

Karol Szajnocha (1818-1868) was a Polish writer, historian and independence activist. Self-taught, he would nonetheless become a notable Polish historian of the partitions period.

Biography

Karol Szajnocha was born as "Karol Scheinoha von Wtelensky" on 20 November 1818 in Komarno, son of Germanized and Polonized Czech Wacław Scheinoh-Vtelenský and Maria Łozińska. Karol attended schools in Sambor and Lwów; in that period Szajnocha adopted the polonized version of his name (from Sheinoh to Szajnocha).pl icon Piotr Czartoryski-Sziler, [http://www.lwow.home.pl/naszdziennik/szajnocha.html Karol Szajnocha - wielki polski dziejopis] , Nasz Dziennik]

In 1834 while in gymnasium he founded a secret society, "Societ of the Ancient Times" ("Towarzystwo Starożytności"), dedicated to collecting information on the historical monuments of the partitioned Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and inspired by the Philomath Student Movement. The society was discovered and closed by the authorities and Szajnocha received a mild punishment. In 1835 he has entered the University of Lwów, philosophical department. In 1836 he was found guilty of spreading pro-Polish and anti-government leaflets and poems (on the anniversary of the recent November Uprising); he was imprisoned since January that year till mid 1837 and for the first several months he was locked in a single cell without any light. For activism related to Polish pro-independence movement he was also expelled from university and forbidden to reenlist. [Robert A. Kann, "A History of the Habsburg Empire, 1526-1918", University of CaliforniaPress, 1974, ISBN 0520042069, [http://books.google.com/books?id=w5iJ1tfLnnoC&pg=RA2-PA391&dq=%22Karol+Szajnocha%22&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=q-bNR__MJIPaygTl28DwDw&sig=sGVmbIgfSs5yOEXhi118Ri3JWVk Google Print, p.391] ] He would continue his education unofficially (he was mostly self-taught, although later he would receive some help from his mentor, August Bielowski), concentrating first on lingustics (he started in prison where by reading grammar books he learned the English language), later on literature and history.

Szajnocha would become a private tutor as well as journalist and an editor of several important Polish publications in Lwów (he would be connected, amongst others, to "Dziennik Mod Paryskich", "Tygodnik Polski", "Rozmaitości", and "Dziennik Literacki"). In 1838 he joined a new secret organization, "Sarmacja". While pro-Polish it was moderate in its views and argued against an armed struggle. In 1839 he first published his own literary works; he would write poems, novels, dramas and historical essays as well as translate (primarily from Serbian language). Around 1847 his vision started to worsen and he was advised by medical doctors to limit amount of writing and reading; he would reject their advise. By that time his fame grew so that twice (in 1850 and 1862) he was offered a position at the Jagiellonian University (which he refused). From 1853 he worked in the Ossolineum Institute, which helped him to publish some of his works. In 1855 he married Joanna Bilińska.

In 1860 he would become completely blind (he already had major problems reading since 1856) but would not give up reading and writing - he would listen to a lector and dictate his works as well as write himself with the aid of a device he designed himself (although eventually rheumatism would prevent him from that). He would die on 10 January 1868 in Lwów. He would be buried in the Łyczakowski Cemetery his funeral was well known and attended by many, becoming a Polish patriotic manifestation.

Works

He is remembered mostly for his contributions as a historian. Hist first academic work, "Pogląd na ogół dziejów polskich", was published in 1847. He wrote many works, on Polish kings Bolesław Chrobry (1849), Władysław Łokietek (between 1849 and 1854), Władysław Jagiełło (Jogaila) and Queen Jadwiga of Poland (1855-1856), Kazimierz the Great, marshal, hetman, voivode and magnate Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski and others ("Szkice historyczne" (1854—1869), "Dwa lata dziejow naszych, 1646 i1648 (1865-1869), "Obrazy lechickie", "Śmierc Czarnieckiego", "Obyczaje pierwotnych Słowian"). He was also one of the initiators of work on and the publisher of the "Monumenta Poloniae Historica" (published from 1864 to 1893), a six-tome compilation of important primary sources related to history of Poland.pl icon Stefan Kuczyński, [http://www.lwow.home.pl/szajnocha.html „JADWIGA I JAGIEŁŁO" KAROLA SZAJNOCHY NA TLE JEGO ŻYCIA I TWÓRCZOŚCI NAUKOWEJ] ]

He was recognized by his contemporaries, both Polish speaking and foreign, as a major historian of Poland. His works became known outside the academic circles, and were reportedly read, among others, by the future Nobel prize winning Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz. His most notable work "Jadwiga i Jagiełło, 1374—1413" (first edition 1855-1856; second updated edition 1861) was praised in Encyclopedia Britannica 1911 edition as a "great monograph, justly described as a pearl of historical literature... the result of twelve years of exhaustive study... our best authority on the first union between Poland and Lithuania." [See [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Poland 1911 Encyclopedia: "Poland"] ]

References

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*pl icon Polish|Karol Szajnocha|4 March 2008:Inline:

External links

* [http://books.google.com/books?as_q=&num=10&as_brr=1&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_libcat=0&as_brr=1&lr=&as_vt=&as_auth=Karol+Szajnocha&as_pub=&as_sub=&as_drrb=c&as_miny=&as_maxy=&as_isbn= Google Print: selection of public domain texts by Karol Szajnocha]