Jan Kochanowski (1530 – August 22, 1584) was a Polish Renaissance
poet who established poetic patterns that would become integral to Polish
literaryPolish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. Most Polish literature has been written in the Polish language, though other languages used in Poland over the centuries have also contributed to Polish literary...
language.
http://www.instytutksiazki.pl/index.php?id=23&L=0&no_cache=1&user_autorzy_pi1%5BshowUid%5D=483
He is commonly regarded as the greatest Polish poet as well as the greatest Slavic poet prior to the 19th century.
Kochanowski was born at
SycynaSycyna Północna is a village in Poland's present-day Mazowsze Province . In 1975-98, it was part of Radom Province. It lies approximately south-east of Zwoleń and south-east of Warsaw....
, near
RadomRadom is a city in central Poland with 227,309 inhabitants. It is located on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship , having previously been the capital of Radom Voivodeship , 100 km south of Poland's capital, Warsaw.It is home to the biennial Radom Air Show, the largest and...
,
PolandThe Kingdom of Poland of the Jagiellons was the Polish state created by the accession of Jogaila , Grand Duke of Lithuania, to the Polish throne in 1386. The Union of Krewo or Krėva Act, united Poland and Lithuania under the rule of a single monarch...
.
| Jan Kochanowski |
|
|
Noble FamilySzlachta is the noble class in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the increasingly polonized territories under their control . The nobility arose in the late Middle Ages and existed through the 18th century and into the 20th century...
|
Kochanowski. |
Coat of ArmsThe history of Polish heraldry is an integral part of the history of the Szlachta, the Polish nobility.-History:Unlike the case of Western Europe, in Poland, the szlachta did not emerge from the feudal class of knights under Chivalry, but stemmed from an earlier Slavic class of Free Warriors or...
|
Korwin |
| Parents |
Piotr Kochanowski;
Anna, née Białaczowska. |
| Consorts |
Dorota, née Podlodowska. |
| Children |
Urszula, Hanna, Ewa, Poliksena, Halszka, Krystyna, Jan (posthumous) |
| Date of Birth |
1530 |
| Place of Birth |
Sycyna |
| Date of Death |
August 22 1584 |
| Place of Death |
LublinLublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,462 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
|
Jan Kochanowski (1530 – August 22, 1584) was a Polish Renaissance
poet who established poetic patterns that would become integral to Polish
literaryPolish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. Most Polish literature has been written in the Polish language, though other languages used in Poland over the centuries have also contributed to Polish literary...
language.
http://www.instytutksiazki.pl/index.php?id=23&L=0&no_cache=1&user_autorzy_pi1%5BshowUid%5D=483
He is commonly regarded as the greatest Polish poet as well as the greatest Slavic poet prior to the 19th century.
Life
Kochanowski was born at
SycynaSycyna Północna is a village in Poland's present-day Mazowsze Province . In 1975-98, it was part of Radom Province. It lies approximately south-east of Zwoleń and south-east of Warsaw....
, near
RadomRadom is a city in central Poland with 227,309 inhabitants. It is located on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship , having previously been the capital of Radom Voivodeship , 100 km south of Poland's capital, Warsaw.It is home to the biennial Radom Air Show, the largest and...
,
PolandThe Kingdom of Poland of the Jagiellons was the Polish state created by the accession of Jogaila , Grand Duke of Lithuania, to the Polish throne in 1386. The Union of Krewo or Krėva Act, united Poland and Lithuania under the rule of a single monarch...
. Little is known of his early education. At fourteen, fluent in
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
, he was sent to the
Kraków AcademyThe Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kraków...
. After graduation in 1547 at age seventeen, he attended the
University of KönigsbergThe University of Königsberg was the university of Königsberg, East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 by Albert, Duke of Prussia, and was commonly known as the Albertina....
(Królewiec), in Ducal Prussia, and
Padua UniversityThe University of Padua , located in Padua, Italy, was founded in 1222. It is among the earliest of the universities and the second oldest in Italy...
in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
. At Padua, Kochanowski came in contact with the great
humanistHumanism is a perspective common to a wide range of ethical stances that attaches importance to human dignity, concerns, and capabilities, particularly rationality. Although the word has many senses, its meaning comes into focus when contrasted to the supernatural or to appeals to authority...
scholar
Francis RobortelloFrancesco Robortello was a Renaissance humanist, nicknamed Canis grammaticus for his confrontational and demanding manner...
. Kochanowski closed his fifteen-year period of studies and travels with a final visit to
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, where he met the poet Pierre Ronsard.
In 1559 Kochanowski returned to Poland for good, where he remained active as a humanist and
RenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
poet. He spent the next fifteen years close to the court of King
Sigismund II AugustusSigismund II Augustus I was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the only son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548...
, serving for a time as royal secretary. In 1574, following the decampment of Poland's recently
elected Free election was the election of individual kings, rather than of dynasties, to the Polish throne between 1572 and 1791, when "free election" was abolished by the Constitution of May 3, 1791....
King
Henry of ValoisHenry III of France , was King of France from 1574 to 1589, and as Henry of Valois, first elected Monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.-Early years:Henry was born at the Royal Château de...
(whose candidacy to the Polish throne Kochanowski had supported), Kochanowski settled on a family estate at
CzarnolasCzarnolas is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Policzna, within Zwoleń County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately north-east of Zwoleń and south-east of Warsaw....
("Blackwood") to lead the life of a country squire. In 1575 he married Dorota Podlodowska, with whom he had seven children.
Kochanowski is sometimes referred to in Polish as "
Jan z
Czarnolasu" ("John of Blackwood"). It was there that he wrote his most memorable works, including
The Dismissal of the Greek Envoys and the
LamentsThe Laments are a series of nineteen threnodies by Jan Kochanowski.Written in Polish and published in 1580, they are a highlight of Polish Renaissance literature, and one of Kochanowski's signal achievements.-Composition:Jan Kochanowski was the greatest Polish poet and the greatest Slavic poet...
.
Kochanowski died, probably of a
heart attackMyocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, is the interruption of blood supply to part of the heart, causing some heart cells to die...
, in
LublinLublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,462 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
on 22 August 1584.
Works
Kochanowski never ceased to write in
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
, however his main achievement was the creation of Polish-language verse forms that made him a
classicThe word classic has several meanings. In general, these meanings refer to some past time. Something that is classical is a classic, but the word classic has more meanings, often more closely associated with popular culture and mass-produced goods....
for his contemporaries and posterity.
Kochanowski's first major masterpiece was
Odprawa posłów greckich (The Dismissal of the Greek Envoys, 1578; recently translated into English by
Indiana UniversityIndiana University, founded in 1820 as the Indiana State Seminary and renamed the Indiana College in 1846, is a nine-campus university system in the state of Indiana...
's Bill Johnston). This was a
blank-verseBlank verse is a type of poetry, distinguished by having a regular meter, but no rhyme. In English, the meter most commonly used with blank verse has been iambic pentameter ....
tragedyTragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that, paradoxically, offers its audience pleasure...
that recounted an incident leading up to the
Trojan WarIn Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
. It was the first tragedy written in Polish, and its
themeA broad idea, message, or lesson that is conveyed by a work. The message may be about life, society, or human nature. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and may be implied rather than stated explicitly...
of the responsibilities of statesmanship continues to resonate to this day. The play was performed at the wedding of
Jan ZamoyskiJan Zamoyski , was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, magnate, 1st duke/ordynat of Zamość. Royal Secretary since 1566, Lesser Kanclerz ) of the Crown since 1576, Lord Grand-Chancellor of the Crown since 1578, and Grand Hetman of the Crown since 1581...
and Krystyna Radziwiłł at
Ujazdów CastleUjazdów Castle is a castle in the historic Ujazdów district, between Ujazdów Park and the Royal Baths Park , in Warsaw, Poland.- History :...
in
WarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River roughly from both the Baltic Sea coast and the Carpathian Mountains. Its population as of 2009 was estimated at 1,709,781, and the Warsaw metropolitan area at approximately 2,785,000...
on January 12, 1578.
The masterpiece for which Kochanowski is best remembered is
TrenyThe Laments are a series of nineteen threnodies by Jan Kochanowski.Written in Polish and published in 1580, they are a highlight of Polish Renaissance literature, and one of Kochanowski's signal achievements.-Composition:Jan Kochanowski was the greatest Polish poet and the greatest Slavic poet...
(
ThrenodiesA threnody is a song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person. The term originates from the Greek word threnoidia, from threnos + oide ; ultimately, from the Proto-Indo-European root wed- that is also the precursor of such words as "ode", "tragedy", "comedy",...
, 1580, translated into English in 1995 by Stanisław Barańczak and
Seamus HeaneySeamus Heaney is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995. He currently lives in Dublin.-Early life:...
as
LamentsThe Laments are a series of nineteen threnodies by Jan Kochanowski.Written in Polish and published in 1580, they are a highlight of Polish Renaissance literature, and one of Kochanowski's signal achievements.-Composition:Jan Kochanowski was the greatest Polish poet and the greatest Slavic poet...
). It is a series of nineteen elegies upon the death of his beloved two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Urszula.
The
LamentsThe Laments are a series of nineteen threnodies by Jan Kochanowski.Written in Polish and published in 1580, they are a highlight of Polish Renaissance literature, and one of Kochanowski's signal achievements.-Composition:Jan Kochanowski was the greatest Polish poet and the greatest Slavic poet...
move the reader with their unaffected sentiments, expressed with a skill worthy, in a later generation, of a
ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
.
External links
Further reading