
Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz
'Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz' (
Skoki, near
Brest, Belarus,
February 6,
1757 –
May 21,
1841,
Paris) was a
Polish scholar, playwright, poet, patriot and statesman. His family
coat-of-arms was ''
Rawicz''.
Niemcewicz served as adjutant to
Tadeusz Kościuszko during the
Kościuszko Uprising, was taken prisoner with him at the
Battle of Maciejowice (1794), and shared his captivity at
St. Petersburg. On release, they went together to the
United States, where Niemcewicz married. Niemcewicz was disconsolate when Kościuszko subsequently decamped for Europe without giving him any notice.
After the
Congress of Vienna, Niemcewicz was secretary of state and president of the constitutional committee in Poland, but in 1830-1831 he was again driven into exile. He died in 1841 in
Paris.
As a writer, Niemcewicz tried many styles of composition. His political comedy, ''The Return of the Deputy'' (1790), enjoyed great acclaim; and his novel, ''John of Tenczyn'' (1825), written in the style of
Sir Walter Scott, gives a vigorous picture of old Poland. He also wrote a ''History of the Reign of Sigismund III'' (3 vols., 1819), and a collection of memoirs for ancient Polish history (6 vols., 1822-1823). But he is now best remembered for his ''Historical Songs of the Poles'' (Warsaw, 1816), a series of lyrical compositions whose main heroes hark back to the Golden Age of
Sigismund I and to the reigns of
Stefan Batory and
Jan III Sobieski.
His collected works were published in 12 vols. at Leipzig,1838-1840.
Works
★ WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw pod WarnÄ… - (
1788)
★ Kazimierz Wielki - (
1792)
★ Powrót posÅ‚a ''(The Deputy's Return) - (
1791)
★ Na hersztów targowieckich
★ Podróże historyczne po ziemiach polskich
★ Åšpiewy historyczne
★ Dzieje panowania
References
★ Mechie J. Budka, ''Under Your Vine and Fig Tree''.
★