Wincenty Terencjusz Jakub
Pol was born 20 April 1807 in Lublin, as the third child
of Franciszek Ksawery Pol and Eleonora Longchamps de Berier.
His father was a lawyer and came from German family settled
on Warmia and was the owner of the Firlejowszczyzna farm
near Lublin, mother came from polonised French family.
He had good memory as a child and alive imagination, his
mother was fond of poetry and taught him various poems,
which he quickly memorized. In 1809 Wincenty Pol arrived
with parents to Lvov. He learnt at the local high school.
In 1822 Pol began studies on philosophical department
of Lvov University, which he broke in the first half of
1823, because his father died and his family were in bad
material condition. Till 1826 his brother Franciszek looked
after him. In school year 1823/4 Wincenty was going to
Jesuits' secondary school in Tarnopol, and in 1824 enrolled
on the second year of philosophy at Lvov University which,
studying with pauses, he finished finally in 1827. Then
he undertook first attempts in writing.
Three years later Pol became the deputy of lector of German
language and literature at Wilno University.
In April 1831 he enlisted to uprising
guerrilla warfare. Pol was wounded and received Virtuti
Militari cross for bravery as well as promotion on Second
Lieutenant. After defeat of the rise on Lithuania he emigrated
for a short time to Dresden where he put together oneself
nearer with Adam Mickiewicz, but he did not break patriotic
activity. He co-operated with general Józef Bem and after
he settled down in Galicja he entered secret "Związek
Dwudziestu Jeden" organization, and after this probably
"Związek Węglarzy Polskich" organization. In 1833 in Paris
his work appeared as " Pieśni Janusza" (Janusz's Songs").
It is the poetical chronicle of rise fights especially
on Lithuania, describing simple soldier's patriotism and
bravery.
In 1832 Pol returned to Galicja, and
in 1833 traveled and visited Wołyń, Podole and Ukrain.
In summer 1835 he stopped for longer at Tadeusz Skrzyński's
home in Zagórzany near Gorlice. There he met Józef Kremer,
who he knew from Kraków and who had large influence on
his mentality and interest in geography. "Pieśń o Ziemi
Naszej"(Song about the our land) came into being here-
the most popular Pol's work, where romantic "Obrazy z
podróży" (Paintings from the trip)- the description of
individual regions of Poland, was consolidated with presentation
of work and life of peasant as well as sharp and violent
accents of social criticism, and also cycle of poems including
descriptions of some Polish lands which he visited till
then. In May 1836 Pol settled as administrator in Kalenica
near Sanok, possession of Krasicki. In Kalenica he grew
socio - educational activity among peasants, it didn't
find however understanding and gratitude. Disappointed
and discouraged, he gave oneself up to natural, and particularly
geographical studies. Here began the peak period of the
investigations and realization of paper. Here the larger
part of poetry about mountain subject came into being
and also he began to write a work about geography and
ethnography of Poland. On 8 April 1837 he got married
with Kornelia Olszewska. In spring 1839 he settled in
Lesko, and since August in rebuilt, according to his own
plans, Piotr Kmita's old castle. For many years till autumn
1839, Pol wandered through Karpaty, making instrumental
meteorological observations, he studied springs and streams,
geological building of the ground.
In the beginning of 1840 Pol settled
in Mariampol, called by him Maryipol, a tiny farm near
Gorlice. Teofil Łętowski gave Pol the small scrap of the
ground in Glinik near Gorlice, near the road from Gorlice
to Biecz. There, count Tadeusz Skrzyński, the inheritor
of Zagórzany raised a house on his own, which was finished
in 1839 year. In January 1840, visiting Pol in his little
house, count Skrzyński's cousin, painter and diarist Ksawery
Prek recorded in his diary:
"there is the charming
flat of Wincenty Pol about a quarter of a mile near the
road. The small little house, but very neat contains the
poet and his family. I visited him very often and he was
so kind that he showed me all his manuscripts. He worked
on a map of the whole Poland which he intended just for
enlightenment of the youth of his own country".
One-storeyed, brick little house consisted of four rooms
as well as the lobby. The spacious veranda adhered to
him, covered with creeping plants. Next to the little
house there were great, old, extensive oaks. Mister Wincenty
used to come back from his Carpathian expeditions late
in autumn to the small house near Gorlice. His sweetheart
Kornelia waited for him there with the growing group of
children. After Wincenty born in Lesko, in Glinik two
daughters Julie and Zofia were born in turn. Winter months
he used to spend on working out with expeditions materials,
drawing maps, leading scientific correspondence, and also
on literary work. In "mariampolski" period, Wincenty often
visited Iwonicz, where his brother was the spa surgeon-general.
Living in Mariampol he often visited Gorlice, and also
Zagórzany, where the new palace of count Skrzyński has
already been built. In Zagórzany Pol often delivered lectures
on historical, geographical and literary subjects. Wincenty
Pol and his family spent in Glinik Mariampolski six years.
It was very significant period in his life. He used to
leave from here on expedition to Tatry, and Karpaty Wschodnie,
Beskidy as well as to Wielkopolska, to Kujawy and Gdańskie
Pomorze and on other expeditions. In Mariampol, being
still poet, he became scholar. Here, in Mariampol, he
made his maps and he wrote geographical works. Several
years he spent in "the little house under oaks" made him
in the future a geographer, ethnographer, naturalist,
what opened him the road to the cathedral of the Jagellonian
University. Here at last three of his children were born.
Nothing odd, that he granted this place with great fondness.
In years 1840-46 he began the cycle
of trips to Karpaty Wschodnie, Pokucie, Wołyń and Polesie.
In this period also it comes into being "The glance on
Northern slopes of Karpaty", the expedition on Kujawy,
Żuławy as well as to Beskidy and Tatry. With more and
more larger criticism he treated the conspiratory work.
In the rise of 1846 he did not take part. In Polanka,
where he briefly stayed he found himself in the center
of Jakub Szela's peasant foray. During the assault in
Polanka the whole Pol's literary property burned. In 1847
he was imprisoned and compulsorily he lived under supervision
of police in Lvov. He was suspected that he took part
in the rise. It turned out however that he had exact information
about the rise but he did not take part in it and the
investigation was abandoned. In the same year he started
editing of "Biblioteka Naukowego Zakładu im. Ossolińskich"
in Lvov. For the last time engaged oneself in fight for
independence of the country during springtide of nations,
he became then for a short time the adjunct of staff of
National Guard in Lwów. He became the spokesman of legal
activity since then in the policy as well as the advocate
of conservative social program.
There in 1849 he became the professor
of geography at Jagellonian University. He organized the
row of trips in neighbourhoods of Cracow, Tatry as well
as in Beskidy. He was interested in geography during his
whole life. The material he gathered:
"shape and surface of the country, relative and ruthless
relations level", geological building, water net, vegetable
cover, flora, ethnographical relations, served him to
write "The geography of Poland". He belonged to many learned
societies, e.g. in Królewiec, Leipzig, Lvov, Tyrol, Prague.
In 1853 he was dismissed from the university under a pretext
of disloyalty to the principals.
In 1853 the period of his intensive
literary work begun. "Mohort jako rapsod rycerski z podania"
and also "Wit Stwosz" appeared then. In 1855 his sweetheart
wife Kornelia died.
After that sad event he moved to Pokucie. Next he wandered
to Lvov, then to Warszawa and to Lubelszczyzna. On 2 October
1860 the manor-house on Firlejowszczyzna in Lublin was
delivered to Pol's daughter - Julia. Years 1861-62 he
spent in Lvov, Przemyśl, on Ziemia Przemyska and the work
entitled "Pachole Hetmańskie" came into being there.
In 1864 Wincenty Pol received Saint
Gregory's Krzyż Kawalerski Orderu granted by pope Gregory
Pius IX for "Geography of the Holy Land" in two tomes.
Work about "January rise" came into being as well entitled
"Kilka kart z krwawego rocznika" ("Several cards of bloody
generation"). In 1866 he finished writing "Pieśń o naszym
domu"("The Song about our house") and "Pamiętnik do literatury
polskiej XIX wieku" ("Diary to Polish literature of XIX
century". In September 1867 Pol moved to Kraków. His aggravated
sight made his work far more difficult to him. Since his
birth or after childhood disease, he has not been able
to see with one eye. In 1868 he went blind completely
however he was still active in scientific area. In 1871
he married Aniela Roociszewska, and a year later he was
appointed the member of Akademia Umiejętności.
He died in Kraków on 2 December 1872.
The funeral took place on the Rakowicki Cemetery in Kraków.
In 1882 Pol's funeral urn was moved to Krypta Zasłużonych
(Crypt of meritorious) in undergrounds of Paulites church
on Skałka.
Opracował mgr
inż. Marek Potempa |
