152-526: Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (24 December 1798 – 26 November 1855) was a Polish poet , dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist . He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. He also largely influenced Ukrainian literature . A principal figure in Polish Romanticism , he is one of Poland's " Three Bards " ( Polish : Trzej Wieszcze ) and
304-551: A Polish poet , Polish-Lithuanian , Lithuanian , or Belarusian . The Cambridge History of Russia describes him as Polish but sees his ethnic origins as "Lithuanian-Belarusian (and perhaps Jewish)." Poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry . Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker , songwriter , writer , or author ) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or written ), or they may also perform their art to an audience . The work of
456-581: A major depressive disorder . In December 1838, marital problems caused Mickiewicz to attempt suicide. Celina would die on 5 March 1855. Mickiewicz and his family lived in relative poverty, their major source of income being occasional publication of his work – not a very profitable endeavor. They received support from friends and patrons, but not enough to substantially change their situation. Despite spending most of his remaining years in France, Mickiewicz would never receive French citizenship, nor any support from
608-504: A "summation of Polish attitudes towards Russia in the nineteenth century" and notes that it inspired responses from Pushkin ( The Bronze Horseman ) and Joseph Conrad ( Under Western Eyes ). The drama was first staged by Stanisław Wyspiański in 1901, becoming, in Miłosz's words, "a kind of national sacred play, occasionally forbidden by censorship because of its emotional impact upon the audience." The Polish government's 1968 closing down of
760-457: A French-language newspaper, La Tribune des Peuples ( The Peoples' Tribune ), supported by a wealthy Polish émigré activist, Ksawery Branicki [ pl ] . Mickiewicz wrote over 70 articles for the Tribune during its short existence: it came out between 15 March and 10 November 1849, when the authorities shut it down. His articles supported democracy and socialism and many ideals of
912-694: A Jewish legion. He returned ill from a trip to a military camp to his apartment on Yenişehir Street in the Pera (now Beyoğlu) district of Constantinople and died on 26 November 1855. Though Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński and others have speculated that political enemies might have poisoned Mickiewicz, there is no proof of this, and he probably contracted cholera , which claimed other lives there at the time. Mickiewicz's remains were transported to France, boarding ship on 31 December 1855, and were buried at Montmorency, Val-d'Oise , on 21 January 1861. In 1890 they were disinterred, moved to Austrian Poland , and on 4 July entombed in
1064-585: A brief romance with Henrietta Ewa Ankwiczówna [ pl ] , but class differences again prevented his marrying his new love. Finally about October 1830 he took up residence in Rome, which he declared "the most amiable of foreign cities." Soon after, he learned about the outbreak of the November 1830 Uprising in Poland, but he would not leave Rome until the spring of 1831. On 19 April 1831 Mickiewicz departed Rome, traveling to Geneva and Paris and later, on
1216-517: A career as a poet, they can be helpful as training, and for giving the student several years of time focused on their writing. Lyrical poets who write sacred poetry (" hymnographers ") differ from the usual image of poets in a number of ways. A hymnographer such as Isaac Watts who wrote 700 poems in his lifetime, may have their lyrics sung by millions of people every Sunday morning, but are not always included in anthologies of poetry . Because hymns are perceived of as " worship " rather than "poetry",
1368-423: A character in works of fiction, including a large body of dramatized biographies, e.g., in 1900, Stanisław Wyspiański 's Legion . He has also been a subject of many paintings, by Eugène Delacroix , Józef Oleszkiewicz , Aleksander Orłowski , Wojciech Stattler and Walenty Wańkowicz . Monuments and other tributes (streets and schools named for him) abound in Poland and Lithuania, and in other former territories of
1520-597: A continuation of patronage of poets by royalty. Many poets, however, had other sources of income, including Italians like Dante Aligheri , Giovanni Boccaccio and Petrarch 's works in a pharmacist's guild and William Shakespeare 's work in the theater. In the Romantic period and onwards, many poets were independent writers who made their living through their work, often supplemented by income from other occupations or from family. This included poets such as William Wordsworth and Robert Burns . Poets such as Virgil in
1672-707: A conversation the Tilsit Nazi Gestapo agent Heinz Gräfe [ de ] clearly stated to Stasys Raštikis that the Provisional Government was formed without German knowledge. Such a form, although not having anything against individuals, is unacceptable to the Germans. The current Provisional Government should be transformed into a National Committee or Council under the German military authority. The Nazi Germans did not recognize
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#17327727020641824-471: A cordial reception from the writer and polymath Goethe . He then continued on through Germany all the way to Italy, which he entered via the Alps ' Splügen Pass . Accompanied by an old friend, the poet Antoni Edward Odyniec , he visited Milan , Venice , Florence and Rome . In August that same year (1830) he went to Geneva , where he met fellow Polish Bard Zygmunt Krasiński . During these travels he had
1976-694: A cosmopolitan environment, more international than provincial Vilnius and Kaunas in Lithuania. This period saw a further evolution in his writing style, with Sonety (Sonnets, 1826) and Konrad Wallenrod (1828), both published in Russia. The Sonety , mainly comprising his Crimean Sonnets , highlight the poet's ability and desire to write, and his longing for his homeland. One of his major works, Dziady (Forefathers' Eve), comprises several parts written over an extended period of time. It began with publication of parts II and IV in 1823. Miłosz remarks that it
2128-402: A cross Or between his horns. Kaunas also has a greater coat of arms, which is mainly used for purposes of Kaunas city representation. The sailor, three golden balls, and Latin text "Diligite justitiam qui judicatis terram" ( English : Cherish justice, you who judge the earth ) in the greater coat of arms refers to Saint Nicholas , patron saint of merchants and seafarers, who was regarded as
2280-577: A dedicated poem urging him to do so). Yet it is likely that Mickiewicz was no longer as idealistic and supportive of military action as he had been a few years earlier, and his new works such as Do Matki Polki [ pl ] ( To a Polish Mother , 1830), while still patriotic, also began to reflect on the tragedy of resistance. His meetings with refugees and escaping insurgents around 1831 resulted in works such as Reduta Ordona [ pl ] ( Ordon's Redoubt ), Nocleg ( Night Bivouac ) and Śmierć pułkownika [ pl ] ( Death of
2432-750: A false passport, to Germany, via Dresden and Leipzig arriving about 13 August in Poznań (German name: Posen), then part of the Kingdom of Prussia . It is possible that during these travels he carried communications from the Italian Carbonari to the French underground, and delivered documents or money for the Polish insurgents from the Polish community in Paris, but reliable information on his activities at
2584-515: A good shelf or two." Koropeckyi notes that, apart from some specialist literature, only five book-length biographies of Mickiewicz have been published in English. He also writes that, though many of Mickiewicz's works have been reprinted numerous times, no language has a "definitive critical edition of his works." A number of museums in Europe are dedicated to Mickiewicz: Adam Mickiewicz is known as
2736-654: A heavenly guardian of Kaunas by Queen Bona Sforza . According to the archeological excavations , the richest collections of ceramics and other artifacts found at the confluence of the Nemunas and the Neris rivers are from the second and first millennium BC . During that time, people settled in some territories of the present Kaunas: the confluence of the two longest rivers of Lithuania area, Eiguliai , Lampėdžiai, Linkuva, Kaniūkai, Marvelė, Pajiesys, Romainiai , Petrašiūnai , Sargėnai, and Veršvai sites. A settlement
2888-465: A kind of gospel for Polish theater directors of the twentieth century." Over the years he became increasingly possessed by religious mysticism as he fell under the influence of the Polish philosopher Andrzej Towiański , whom he met in 1841. His lectures became a medley of religion and politics, punctuated by controversial attacks on the Catholic Church , and thus brought him under censure by
3040-454: A maturing of his style from sentimentalism / neoclassicism to romanticism , first in his poetry anthologies published in Vilnius in 1822 and 1823; these anthologies included the poem Grażyna and the first-published parts (II and IV) of his major work, Dziady ( Forefathers' Eve ). By 1820 he had already finished another major romantic poem, Oda do młodości ( Ode to Youth ), but it
3192-620: A military unit, the Mickiewicz Legion , to support the insurgents, hoping to liberate the Polish and other Slavic lands. The unit never became large enough to be more than symbolic, and in the fall of 1848 Mickiewicz returned to Paris and became more active again on the political scene. In December 1848 he was offered a post at the Jagiellonian University in Austrian-ruled Kraków , but the offer
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#17327727020643344-593: A new basis in front of the whole world innocent conscience. The Lithuanian Nation, exhausted from the terror of the brutal Bolsheviks , decided to build its future on the basis of national unity and social justice." and signatures. On 24 June 1941, tank units of the Red Army in Jonava were ordered to retake Kaunas. The rebels radioed the Germans for assistance. The units were bombed by the Luftwaffe and did not reach
3496-486: A notable collection of sonnets (some love sonnets, and a series known as Crimean Sonnets , published a year later). Mickiewicz was welcomed into the leading literary circles of Saint Petersburg and Moscow, where he became a great favourite for his agreeable manners and an extraordinary talent for poetic improvisation. The year 1828 saw the publication of his poem Konrad Wallenrod . Novosiltsev, who recognized its patriotic and subversive message, which had been missed by
3648-492: A poet and author but as that of ideologue of freedom. Pan Tadeusz ( Sir Thaddeus , published 1834), another of his masterpieces, is an epic poem that draws a picture of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania on the eve of Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia . It is written entirely in thirteen-syllable couplets . Originally intended as an apolitical idyll , it became, as Miłosz writes, "something unique in world literature, and
3800-453: A poet is essentially one of communication, expressing ideas either in a literal sense (such as communicating about a specific event or place) or metaphorically . Poets have existed since prehistory , in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary greatly in different cultures and periods. Throughout each civilization and language, poets have used various styles that have changed over time, resulting in countless poets as diverse as
3952-469: A production of the play sparked the 1968 Polish political crisis . Mickiewicz's Konrad Wallenrod (1828), a narrative poem describing battles of the Christian order of Teutonic Knights against the pagans of Lithuania, is a thinly veiled allusion to the long feud between Russia and Poland. The plot involves the use of subterfuge against a stronger enemy, and the poem analyzes moral dilemmas faced by
4104-746: A result, Kaunas was an active participant in European urban life. The city also was a particularly important centre for the Lithuanian Armed Forces . In January 1919, during the Lithuanian Wars of Independence , the War School of Kaunas was established and started to train soldiers who were soon sent to the front to strengthen the fighting Lithuanian Armed Forces . Part of the Lithuanian armoured vehicles military unit
4256-566: A student, Mickiewicz, Tomasz Zan and other friends had created a secret organization, the Philomaths . The group focused on self-education but had ties to a more radical, clearly pro-Polish-independence student group, the Filaret Association . An investigation of secret student organizations by Nikolay Novosiltsev , begun in early 1823, led to the arrests of a number of students and ex-student activists including Mickiewicz, who
4408-705: A threat to the occupiers, were quickly arrested, interrogated and released to the reserve, deported to the concentration camps or executed, which made many, trying to avoid that fate, join the Lithuanian partisan forces. The army itself was initially renamed the Lithuanian People's Army but was later reorganised into the 29th Rifle Corps of the Soviet Union . In June 1940, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed Lithuania in accordance with
4560-487: A well established poet, was banished from Rome by the first Augustus for one of his poems. During the High Middle Ages , troubadors were an important class of poets. They came from a variety of backgrounds, often living and traveling in many different places and were looked upon as actors or musicians as much as poets. Some were under patronage, but many traveled extensively. The Renaissance period saw
4712-575: A wreath near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the presence of numerous audience. The Sicherheitsdienst confiscated the pictures of the wreath-laying ceremony, thinking that it could be dangerous for the German occupation policy in Lithuania . On 17 July 1941 the German civil administration was established. The government's powers were taken over by the new occupants. Nazi Germany established
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4864-474: Is קאָװנע Kovne , and the names in German include Kaunas and Kauen . On Carta Marina from 1539, the city was named Cavm . The city and its elderates also have names in other languages (see Names of Kaunas in other languages and names of Kaunas elderates in other languages ). A 16th-century legend in the Bychowiec Chronicle claims that Kaunas was established by
5016-745: Is Mickiewicz's earlier and longer 1823 poem, Grażyna , depicting the exploits of a Lithuanian chieftainess against the Teutonic Knights. Miłosz writes that Grażyna "combines a metallic beat of lines and syntactical rigor with a plot and motifs dear to the Romantics." It is said by Christien Ostrowski to have inspired Emilia Plater , a military heroine of the November 1830 Uprising . A similar message informs Mickiewicz's " Oda do młodości " (" Ode to Youth "). Mickiewicz's Crimean Sonnets (1825–26) and poems that he would later write in Rome and Lausanne, Miłosz notes, have been "justly ranked among
5168-573: Is a revered figure in Lithuania . He is also considered one of the greatest Slavic and European poets. He has been described as a "Slavic bard." He was a leading Romantic dramatist and has been compared in Poland and in Europe with Byron and Goethe . The works of Mickiewicz has also promoted the Lithuanian National Revival and the development of national self-awareness. Mickiewicz's works were began to be translated into
5320-620: Is the history of now-unrealized freedom that awaits many oppressed nations in the future. It is followed by a longer "moral catechism " aimed at Polish émigrés. The book sets out a messianist metaphor of Poland as the " Christ of nations ". Described by Wyka as a propaganda piece, it was relatively simple, using biblical metaphors and the like to reach less-discriminating readers. It became popular not only among Poles but, in translations, among some other peoples, primarily those which lacked their own sovereign states. The Books were influential in framing Mickiewicz's image among many not as that of
5472-634: Is the oldest city heraldic seal known in the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . The current emblem was the result of much study and discussion on the part of the Lithuanian Heraldry Commission, and realized by the artist Raimondas Miknevicius . An aurochs has replaced a wisent , which was depicted in the Soviet -era emblem that was used since 1969. Blazon: Gules, an aurochs passant guardant argent ensigned with
5624-584: Is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius , the fourth largest city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county [ pl ] in the Duchy of Trakai of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Trakai Palatinate since 1413. In the Russian Empire , it was the capital of
5776-519: Is twelve miles from Poseur." — Guillebert de Lannoy description of Kaunas during his trip between 1413–1414. In 1408, the town was granted Magdeburg rights by Vytautas the Great and in 1413 became the centre of Kaunas Powiat , in Trakai Voivodeship . Moreover, Vytautas ceded Kaunas the right to own the scales used for weighing the goods brought to the city or packed on the site,
5928-500: Is widely regarded as Poland's greatest poet. He is also considered one of the greatest Slavic and European poets and has been dubbed a "Slavic bard". A leading Romantic dramatist, he has been compared in Poland and Europe to Byron and Goethe . He is known chiefly for the poetic drama Dziady ( Forefathers' Eve ) and the national epic poem Pan Tadeusz . His other influential works include Konrad Wallenrod and Grażyna . All these served as inspiration for uprisings against
6080-575: The Aeneid and John Milton in Paradise Lost invoked the aid of a Muse . Poets held an important position in pre-Islamic Arabic society with the poet or sha'ir filling the role of historian, soothsayer and propagandist. Words in praise of the tribe ( qit'ah ) and lampoons denigrating other tribes ( hija' ) seem to have been some of the most popular forms of early poetry. The sha'ir represented an individual tribe's prestige and importance in
6232-1009: The Arabian Peninsula , and mock battles in poetry or zajal would stand in lieu of real wars. 'Ukaz, a market town not far from Mecca , would play host to a regular poetry festival where the craft of the sha'irs would be exhibited. Poets of earlier times were often well read and highly educated people while others were to a large extent self-educated. A few poets such as John Gower and John Milton were able to write poetry in more than one language. Some Portuguese poets, as Francisco de Sá de Miranda , wrote not only in Portuguese but also in Spanish. Jan Kochanowski wrote in Polish and in Latin, France Prešeren and Karel Hynek Mácha wrote some poems in German, although they were poets of Slovenian and Czech respectively. Adam Mickiewicz ,
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6384-788: The Byelorussian SSR border. In the morning, the Lithuanian Government resigned, and the president left the country to avoid the fate of the Soviets' puppets and in the hope of forming a government-in-exile . Soon the Red Army flooded Lithuania through the Belarus–Lithuania border with more than 200,000 soldiers and took control of the most important cities, including Kaunas where the heads of state resided. The Lithuanian Armed Forces were ordered not to resist, and
6536-678: The Crimean War . In 1890, his remains were repatriated from Montmorency, Val-d'Oise , in France, to Wawel Cathedral in Kraków , Poland. Adam Mickiewicz was born on 24 December 1798, either at his paternal uncle's estate in Zaosie (now Zavosse) near Navahrudak (in Polish , Nowogródek ) or in Navahrudak itself in what was then part of the Russian Empire and is now Belarus . The region
6688-527: The Crypts of the Bards [ pl ] of Kraków's Wawel Cathedral , a place of final repose for a number of persons important to Poland's political and cultural history. Mickiewicz's childhood environment exerted a major influence on his literary work. His early years were shaped by immersion in folklore and by vivid memories, which he later reworked in his poems, of the ruins of Navahrudak Castle and of
6840-786: The French Revolution and of the Napoleonic era , though he held few illusions regarding the idealism of the House of Bonaparte . He supported the restoration of the French Empire in 1851. In April 1852 he lost his post at the Collège de France, which he had been allowed to keep up to that point (though without the right to lecture). On 31 October 1852 he was hired as a librarian at the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal . There he
6992-690: The French invasion of Russia in 1812, the Grand Army of Napoleon passed through Kaunas twice, devastating the city both times. A hill fort mound in Kaunas is named Napoleon's Hill. To prevent possible easy access through the city and protect the western borders of Russia, the Kovno Fortress was built. It is still visible throughout the town. Kovno Governorate , with a centre in Kovno (Kaunas),
7144-640: The Hanseatic League , and Hansa merchant office Kontor was opened – the only one in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. By the 16th century, Kaunas also had a public school and a hospital and was one of the most firmly established towns in the whole country. Furthermore, in the 16th century Grand Duchess Bona Sforza achieved that the Kaunas Eldership should become a property of the Jagiellonian dynasty ; starting in 1533, she carried out
7296-515: The Kaunas Governorate from 1843 to 1915. During the interwar period , it served as the temporary capital of Lithuania , when Vilnius was seized and controlled by Poland between 1920 and 1939. During that period Kaunas was celebrated for its rich cultural and academic life, fashion, construction of countless Art Deco and Lithuanian National Revival architectural-style buildings as well as popular furniture, interior design of
7448-565: The Kraków Uprising of February 1846. Mickiewicz criticized Towiański's passivity and returned to the traditional Catholic Church. In 1847 Mickiewicz befriended American journalist, critic and women's-rights advocate Margaret Fuller . In March 1848 he was part of a Polish delegation received in audience by Pope Pius IX , whom he asked to support the enslaved nations and the French Revolution of 1848 . Soon after, in April 1848, he organized
7600-618: The Lithuanian Air Force remained on the ground. At the time, the Lithuanian Armed Forces had 26,084 soldiers (of which 1,728 officers) and 2,031 civil servants. While the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union , subordinate to the army commander, had over 62,000 members, of which about 70% were farmers and agricultural workers. After the occupation, the Soviets immediately took brutal action against
7752-441: The Lithuanian Air Force to be an example for other military units. The ANBO 41 was far ahead of the most modern foreign reconnaissance aircraft of that time in structural features, and most importantly in speed and in rate of climb. At the time, Kaunas had a Jewish population of 35,000–40,000, about one quarter of the city's total population. Jews made up much of the city's commercial, artisan, and professional sectors. Kaunas
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#17327727020647904-482: The Lithuanian language when he was still alive (e.g. Simonas Daukantas , one of the pioneers of the Lithuanian National Revival, translated and retold a story Żywila / Živilė in 1822, Kiprijonas Nezabitauskis translated Litania pielgrzyma / Piligrimų litanija and it was published in Paris in ~1836, Liudvikas Adomas Jucevičius translated a ballad Trzech Budrysów / Trys Budriai in 1837). Moreover, Mickiewicz's works has influenced
8056-414: The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact . Vladimir Dekanozov , a Soviet emissary from Moscow, gained effective power in Lithuania. Shortly afterwards, on 17 June 1940 the puppet People's Government of Lithuania was formed, which consistently destroyed Lithuanian society and political institutions and opened the way for the Communist Party to establish itself. To establish the legitimacy of the government and design
8208-454: The Nemunas and Neris rivers and the city that grew up there was named after him. A suburban region in the vicinity is named "Palemonas". According to historian Teodor Narbutt the Lithuanians previously worshiped god Kaunis whose statue was located in the current Kaunas Old Town near Neman River. In 1408 Vytautas the Great granted Kaunas the city rights and himself chose the coat of arms of Kaunas with aurochs . On 30 June 1993,
8360-404: The Reichskommissariat Ostland in the Baltic states and much of Belarus, and the administrative centre for Lithuania ( Generalbezirk Litauen ) was in Kaunas ruled by a Generalkommissar Adrian von Renteln . Jews began settling in Kaunas in the second half of the 17th century. They were not allowed to live in the city, so most of them stayed in the Vilijampolė settlement on the right bank of
8512-485: The Second Polish Republic , Kaunas became the temporary capital of Lithuania . It would hold this position until 28 October 1939, when the Red Army handed Vilnius over to Lithuania after its invasion of Poland . The Constituent Assembly of Lithuania first met in Kaunas on 15 May 1920. It passed some important laws, particularly on land reform, on the national currency, and adopted a new constitution. The military coup d'état took place in Kaunas on 17 December 1926. It
8664-406: The Slovak Republic ), was seeking the protection of its citizens and did not support the Nazis ' Holocaust policy. However, the Provisional Government did little to stop the anti-Jewish violence encouraged by the Nazis and the anti-Semitic leadership of the Lithuanian Activist Front . Minister of National Defence General Stasys Raštikis met personally with the Wehrmacht generals to discuss
8816-422: The Virgin Mary for saving him from almost drowning in the river, during the Battle of the Vorskla River , in 1399. Following the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, Kaunas Castle became a residence of the elder of Kaunas, and its military significance decreased. "After leaving Poseur , I arrived in a large fortified city of Kaunas. It has a very beautiful large castle standing on a cliff of the Nemunas River. Kaunas
8968-414: The Volok Reform . The greatest economic boom of Kaunas was in the late 16th – early 17th century, which led to construction of many brick masonry buildings throughout the city. In the early 17th century, the prosperity of Kaunas led to the beginning of the construction of the Wall of Kaunas , which, however, was not completed, due to later wars and economic reasons. In 1665, the Russian army attacked
9120-415: The ancient Lithuania and especially its earthwork mounds. Later, many of the Seminary students were active in Lithuanian book smuggling ; its chief main objective was to resist the Russification policy . Kaunas Spiritual Seminary finally became completely Lithuanian when in 1909 professor Jonas Mačiulis-Maironis became the rector of the Seminary, and replaced use of the Polish language for teaching with
9272-407: The literature that (since the advent of writing systems) they have produced. The civilization of Sumer figures prominently in the history of early poetry, and The Epic of Gilgamesh , a widely read epic poem, was written in the Third Dynasty of Ur c. 2100 BC; copies of the poem continued to be published and written until c. 600 to 150 BC. However, as it arises from an oral tradition ,
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#17327727020649424-488: The restoration of Lithuania's statehood in 1918. Mickiewicz's importance extends beyond literature to the broader spheres of culture and politics; Wyka writes that he was a "singer and epic poet of the Polish people and a pilgrim for the freedom of nations." Scholars have used the expression "cult of Mickiewicz" to describe the reverence in which he is held as a "national prophet." On hearing of Mickiewicz's death, his fellow bard Krasiński wrote: For men of my generation, he
9576-405: The tertiary education institutions of Kaunas attract thousands of students annually. The city's name is of Lithuanian origin and most likely derives from a personal name , however the exact person is unknown and it is believed that he was the ruler of Kaunas Castle. The personal name Kaunas is derived from an adjective kaunus which means "who likes to fight". Other possible meaning of
9728-416: The unsuccessful coup attempt in June 1934 , Voldemaras was imprisoned for four years and received an amnesty on condition that he leave the country. During the interwar period , Kaunas was nicknamed the Little Paris because of its rich cultural and academic life, fashion, Art Deco architecture, Lithuanian National Romanticism architectural style buildings as well as popular furniture, interior design of
9880-473: The 1819 Kartofla [ pl ] ( Potato ), were classical in style, influenced by Voltaire . His Ballads and Romances and poetry anthologies published in 1822 (including the opening poem Romantyczność [ pl ] , Romanticism ) and 1823 mark the start of romanticism in Poland . Mickiewicz's influence popularized the use of folklore , folk literary forms, and historism in Polish romantic literature. His exile to Moscow exposed him to
10032-489: The 1830s (as early as 1830; as late as 1837) he worked on a futurist or science-fiction work, A History of the Future [ pl ] . ( Historia przyszłości , or L’histoire d’avenir ) It predicted inventions similar to radio and television, and interplanetary communication using balloons . Written partially in French, it was never completed and was partly destroyed by the author, but parts of its seven versions survive. Other French-language works by Mickiewicz include
10184-614: The British-French victory over Russia at the Battle of Bomarsund in Åland in August 1854. Polish émigrés associated with the Hôtel Lambert persuaded him to become active again in politics. Soon after the Crimean War broke out (October 1853), the French government entrusted him with a diplomatic mission. He left Paris on 11 September 1855, arriving in Constantinople , in the Ottoman Empire , on 22 September. There, working with Michał Czajkowski (Sadyk Pasha), he began organizing Polish forces to fight under Ottoman command against Russia. With his friend Armand Lévy he also set about organizing
10336-456: The Colonel ). Wyka notes the irony that some of the most important literary works about the 1830 Uprising were written by Mickiewicz, who never took part in a battle or even saw a battlefield. His Księgi narodu polskiego i pielgrzymstwa polskiego [ pl ] ( Books of the Polish Nation and the Polish Pilgrimage , 1832) opens with a historical-philosophical discussion of the history of humankind in which Mickiewicz argues that history
10488-456: The Commander of the Armed Forces Vincas Vitkauskas , Divisional General Stasys Raštikis , Kazys Bizauskas , Antanas Merkys and most of the Lithuanian government members decided that it would be impossible, especially the previously stationed Soviet soldiers, and accepted the ultimatum. On that night before officially accepting the ultimatum, the Soviet forces executed the Lithuanian border guard Aleksandras Barauskas [ lt ] near
10640-417: The French government. By the late 1830s he was less active as a writer, and also less visible on the Polish émigré political scene. In 1838 Mickiewicz became professor of Latin literature at the Lausanne Academy , in Switzerland. His lectures were well received, and in 1840 he was appointed to the newly established chair of Slavic languages and literatures at the Collège de France . Leaving Lausanne, he
10792-415: The French government. The messianic element conflicted with Roman Catholic teachings, and some of his works were placed on the Church's list of prohibited books , though both Mickiewicz and Towiański regularly attended Catholic mass and encouraged their followers to do so. In 1846 Mickiewicz severed his ties with Towiański, following the rise of revolutionary sentiment in Europe, manifested in events such as
10944-526: The German border. After realizing this, NKVD started terror against the Raštikis family. His wife was separated from their one-year-old daughter and brutally interrogated at Kaunas Prison , his old father Bernardas Raštikis, three daughters, two brothers and sister were deported to Siberia . Soldiers, officers , senior officers and generals of the Lithuanian Army and LRU members, who were seen as
11096-669: The Lithuanian delegation departed to Moscow , where it later had to sign the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty because of the unfavorable situation. The treaty resulted in five Soviet military bases with 20,000 troops established across Lithuania in exchange for Lithuania's historical capital Vilnius. According to the Lithuanian Minister of National Defence Kazys Musteikis , Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Juozas Urbšys initially told that Lithuanians refused Vilnius Region as well as
11248-432: The Lithuanian language, although some Polish commentators describe it as limited. In the poem Grażyna , Mickiewicz quoted one sentence from Kristijonas Donelaitis ' Lithuanian-language poem Metai . In Pan Tadeusz , there is a un- Polonized Lithuanian name Baublys. Furthermore, due to Mickiewicz's position as lecturer on Lithuanian folklore and mythology in Collège de France, it can be inferred that he must have known
11400-582: The Lithuanian language. Prior to the Second World War , Kaunas, like many cities in Eastern Europe , had a significant Jewish population. According to the Russian census of 1897 , Jews numbered 25,500, 35.3% of the total of 73,500. The population was recorded as 25.8% Russian, 22.7% Polish, 6.6% Lithuanian. It established numerous schools and synagogues and were important for centuries to
11552-745: The Lithuanian-American Holocaust historian Saulius Sužiedėlis, "none of this amounted to a public scolding which alone could have persuaded at least some of the Lithuanians who had volunteered or been co-opted into participating in the killings to rethink their behavior." Lithuanian police battalions formed by the Provisional Government were eventually enlisted by the Nazis to help carry out the Holocaust . In
11704-514: The Moscow censors, unsuccessfully attempted to sabotage its publication and to damage Mickiewicz's reputation. In Moscow, Mickiewicz met the Polish journalist and novelist Henryk Rzewuski and the Polish composer and piano virtuoso Maria Szymanowska , whose daughter, Celina Szymanowska , Mickiewicz would later marry in Paris, France. He also befriended the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin and Decembrist leaders including Kondraty Ryleyev . It
11856-639: The Nemunas River (in Kaunas and Grodno ), which was the main front line of fights between the Crusaders and Lithuanians . Consequently, Kaunas Castle had a strategic importance, as it prevented the Crusaders from intruding deeper into Lithuania and its capital, Vilnius . In 1362, the castle was captured after a siege of several weeks and destroyed by the Teutonic Order. Lithuanian rulers Kęstutis and Grand Duke Algirdas arrived to help
12008-612: The Neris and Nemunas rivers. All of the city's streets were paved, horse-drawn transportation was replaced with modern bus lines, new suburbs were planned and built ( Žaliakalnis neighbourhood in particular), and new parks and squares were established. The foundations of a social security system were laid, three new schools were built, and new public libraries , including the Vincas Kudirka library, were established. Vileišis maintained many contacts in other European cities , and as
12160-414: The Polish insurgents who would soon launch the November 1830 Uprising . Controversial to an older generation of readers, Konrad Wallenrod was seen by the young as a call to arms and was praised as such by an Uprising leader, poet Ludwik Nabielak [ pl ] . Miłosz describes Konrad Wallenrod (named for its protagonist) as "the most committed politically of all Mickiewczi's poems." The point of
12312-493: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth: Ukraine and Belarus. He has also been the subject of many statues and busts by Antoine Bourdelle , David d'Angers , Antoni Kurzawa [ pl ] , Władysław Oleszczyński , Zbigniew Pronaszko [ pl ] , Teodor Rygier , Wacław Szymanowski and Jakub Tatarkiewicz . In 1898, the 100th anniversary of his birth, a towering statue by Cyprian Godebski
12464-460: The Romans in ancient times . These Romans were supposedly led by a patrician named Palemon, who had three sons: Barcus, Kunas and Sperus. Palemon fled from Rome because he feared the mad Emperor Nero . Palemon, his sons and other relatives travelled to Lithuania. After Palemon's death, his sons divided his land. Kunas got the land where Kaunas now stands. He built a fortress near the confluence of
12616-625: The Russian Empire and, like many of his compatriots , lived out the rest of his life abroad. He settled first in Rome, then in Paris, where for a little over three years he lectured on Slavic literature at the Collège de France . He was an activist, striving for a democratic and independent Poland. He died, probably of cholera , at Istanbul in the Ottoman Empire , where he had gone to help organize Polish forces to fight Russia in
12768-581: The Russian garrisons, but the nervous Joseph Stalin replied, "No matter if you take Vilnius or not, the Russian garrisons will enter Lithuania anyway". He also informed Juozas Urbšys about the Soviet–German secret protocols and showed maps of the spheres of influence. Two of the military bases with thousands of Soviet soldiers were established close to Kaunas in Prienai and Gaižiūnai . Despite regaining
12920-619: The Soviet Union. After the occupation, the Lithuanian Diplomatic Service did not recognize the new occupiers' authority and started the diplomatic liberation campaign of Lithuania. In 1941, Kazys Škirpa , Leonas Prapuolenis , Juozas Ambrazevičius and their supporters, including the former Commander of the Lithuanian Army General Stasys Raštikis , whose whole family was deported to Siberia , began organizing an uprising. After realizing
13072-586: The Teutonic Knights in the 14th century against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . The Lithuanians constructed a new wooden castle on the island of Virgalė, which stood at the confluence of the Nemunas and Nevėžio rivers; however in 1363 the Crusaders burned the castle. The wooden castle was rebuilt, but in 1368 the Crusaders attacked once again, destroyed the castle and, according to the chronicles, killed 600 pagan defenders, while they themselves suffered only three casualties. The Lithuanians attempted to rebuild
13224-600: The beloved historical capital, the Presidency and the Government remained in Kaunas. On 14 June 1940, just before midnight, the last meeting of the Lithuanian government was held in Kaunas. During it, the ultimatum presented by the Soviet Union was debated. President Antanas Smetona categorically declined to accept most of the ultimatum's demands, argued for military resistance and was supported by Kazys Musteikis, Konstantinas Šakenis , Kazimieras Jokantas , however
13376-597: The brutal 1st Motor Rifle Division NKVD responsible for the June deportation , and the puppet Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic regime commanders were forced to flee into the Latvian SSR through the Daugava River. The commander of the Red Army's 188th Rifle Division colonel Piotr Ivanov reported to the 11th Army Staff that during the retreat of his division through Kaunas "local counterrevolutionaries from
13528-483: The brutal might of reactionary empires." Mickiewicz has been written about or had works dedicated to him by many authors in Poland ( Asnyk , Gałczyński , Iwaszkiewicz , Jastrun , Kasprowicz , Lechoń , Konopnicka , Teofil Lenartowicz , Norwid , Przyboś , Różewicz , Słonimski , Słowacki, Staff , Tetmajer , Tuwim , Ujejski , Wierzyński , Zaleski and others) and by authors outside Poland ( Bryusov , Goethe, Pushkin, Uhland , Vrchlický and others). He has been
13680-548: The castle with masonry and higher, wider walls, four flanking towers , and surrounded by a moat , but before its completion the Crusaders attacked in the summer of 1369, expelled the Lithuanians from the island of Virgalė and with their masonry built Gotteswerder Castle . Gotteswerder Castle was captured after a five-week siege by the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army , led by Algirdas and Kęstutis, and two wooden castles were built close to it. Nevertheless,
13832-473: The castle's defenders, but the castle was already surrounded by the fortifications of the Crusaders, and they could only watch the collapse of the castle. Most of the 400 castle's defenders were killed in action, and commander Vaidotas of the Kaunas Castle garrison tried to break through with 36 men, but was taken and made a prisoner . It was one of the largest and most important military victory of
13984-494: The castle, and it turned into ruins. Subsequently, a jail was established in one part of the castle, in the middle of the 18th century. At the end of the 18th century, the castle was sometimes used to hold meetings of noble families of Kaunas Powiat. After the third and final partition of the Polish–Lithuanian state in 1795, the city was taken over by the Russian Empire and became a part of Vilna Governorate . During
14136-485: The city from the inside (secure organizations, institutions, enterprises) and declare independence. By the evening of 22 June, the Lithuanians had controlled the Presidential Palace , post office, telephone and telegraph, and radio station. Control of Vilnius and most of the rest of Lithuanian territory was also shortly taken over by the rebels. Multiple Red Army divisions stationed around Kaunas, including
14288-544: The city several times, and in 1701 the city was occupied by the Swedish Army , during the Great Northern War . The bubonic plague struck the area in 1657 and 1708, killing many residents. Fires destroyed parts of the city in 1731 and 1732. In the first half of the 18th century, the northern wall and two towers of the Kaunas Castle collapsed, due to damage from river water, and this led to abandonment of
14440-631: The city. It was the first coordinated Lithuanian–German action. The first German scouts, lieutenant Flohret and four privates, entered Kaunas on 24 June and found it in friendly hands. A day later the main forces marched into the city without obstruction and almost as if they were on parade. On 26 June 1941 the German Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ordered the rebel groups to disband and disarm. Two days later Lithuanian guards and patrols were also relieved of their duties. Already in July, in
14592-551: The confluence of the two largest Lithuanian rivers, the Nemunas and the Neris , and is near the Kaunas Reservoir , the largest body of water in the whole of Lithuania. As defined by Eurostat, the population of Kaunas functional urban area , is estimated at 391,153 (as of 2021), while according to statistics of Kaunas territorial health insurance fund, there are 447,946 permanent inhabitants (as of 2022) in Kaunas and Kaunas district municipalities combined. Moreover,
14744-667: The culture and business of the city. During the Imperial Russian Army 's Great Retreat of World War I , Paul von Hindenburg 's German Tenth Army occupied Kaunas in August 1915. After Vilnius was occupied by the Red Army in 1919, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania established its main base in Kaunas during the Lithuanian Wars of Independence . Later, after the capital, Vilnius, had been annexed by
14896-459: The dramas Konfederaci barscy [ pl ] ( The Bar Confederates ) and Jacques Jasiński, ous les deux Polognes [ pl ] ( Jacques Jasiński, or the Two Polands ). These would not achieve much recognition, and would not be published till 1866. Adam Mickiewicz did not write any poems in Lithuanian. However, it is known that Mickiewicz did have some understanding of
15048-812: The end of his most productive literary period. Mickiewicz would create further notable works, such as Lausanne Lyrics [ pl ] , 1839–40) and Zdania i uwagi ( Thoughts and Remarks , 1834–40), but neither would achieve the fame of his earlier works. His relative literary silence, beginning in the mid-1830s, has been variously interpreted: he may have lost his talent; he may have chosen to focus on teaching and on political writing and organizing. On 22 July 1834, in Paris, he married Celina Szymanowska, daughter of composer and concert pianist Maria Agata Szymanowska . They would have six children (two daughters, Maria [ pl ] and Helena; and four sons, Władysław [ pl ] , Aleksander, Jan and Józef). Celina later became mentally ill, possibly with
15200-537: The fighting between the Crusaders and the Lithuanians for the area went on until the Lithuanians eventually took control in 1404; it was an important point during the 1409 Samogitian Rebellion and the 1410 war with the Crusaders . Grand Duke Vytautas the Great funded Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kaunas (the construction was completed in 1400) to show his gratitude to
15352-566: The first issue of the daily Į laisvę (Towards Freedom) newspaper, the Independence Restoration Declaration was published, which had been previously announced on the radio. It stated that "The established Provisional Government of revived Lithuania declares the restoration of the Free and Independent State of Lithuania. The young Lithuanian state enthusiastically pledges to contribute to the organization of Europe on
15504-548: The former Bernardine Monastery Palace and St. George the Martyr Church . Only selected noblemen were permitted to study in the Seminary, with the only exception being peasant son Antanas Baranauskas , who illegally received the nobleman documents from Karolina Praniauskaitė . He began lectures using the Lithuanian language , rather than Russian, and greatly influenced the spirit of the seminarians by narrating about
15656-440: The foundations of [many] parties and ideologies" in Poland from the 19th century to this day, "down to the rappers in Poland's post-socialist blocks, who can somehow still declare that 'if Mickiewicz was alive today, he'd be a good rapper .'" While Mickiewicz's popularity has endured two centuries in Poland, he is less well known abroad, but in the 19th century he had won substantial international fame among "people that dared resist
15808-445: The greatest poet of Polish language, wrote a Latin ode for emperor Napoleon III . Another example is Jerzy Pietrkiewicz , a Polish poet. When he moved to Great Britain, he ceased to write poetry in Polish, but started writing a novel in English. He also translated poetry into English. Many universities offer degrees in creative writing though these only came into existence in the 20th century. While these courses are not necessary for
15960-849: The high-ranking officials of the state. Both targets of the ultimatum, Minister of the Interior Kazys Skučas and the Director of the State Security Department of Lithuania Augustinas Povilaitis , were transported to Moscow and later executed. Antanas Gustaitis , Kazys Bizauskas , Vytautas Petrulis , Kazimieras Jokantas , Jonas Masiliūnas , Antanas Tamošaitis also faced that fate, and President Aleksandras Stulginskis , Juozas Urbšys , Leonas Bistras , Antanas Merkys , Pranas Dovydaitis , Petras Klimas , Donatas Malinauskas and thousands of others were deported . Stasys Raštikis , persuaded by his wife, secretly crossed
16112-497: The highest achievements in Polish [lyric poetry]." His 1830 travels in Italy likely inspired him to consider religious matters, and produced some of his best religiously themed works, such as Arcymistrz ( The Grand Master ) and Do Marceliny Łempickiej ( To Marcelina Łempicka ). He was an authority to the young insurgents of 1830–31, who expected him to participate in the fighting (the poet Maurycy Gosławski [ pl ] wrote
16264-405: The historical coat of arms of Kaunas city was re-established by a special presidential decree. The coat of arms features a white aurochs with a golden cross between its horns , set against a deep red background. The aurochs was the original heraldic symbol of the city, established in 1400. The heraldic seal of Kaunas, introduced in the early 15th century during the reign of Grand Duke Vytautas,
16416-628: The interwar period and versatile modernism architecture . Kaunas was selected as the European Capital of Culture for 2022, together with Esch-sur-Alzette and Novi Sad . The city is the capital of Kaunas County , and the seat of the Kaunas city municipality and the Kaunas District Municipality . It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kaunas . Kaunas is located at
16568-570: The interwar period from ~18,000 to ~154,000 residents. Between the World Wars , industry prospered in Kaunas, which was the largest city in Lithuania. Under the direction of Mayor Jonas Vileišis (1921–1931) Kaunas grew rapidly and was extensively modernised. A water and waste water system, costing more than 15 million Lithuanian litas, was put in place, the city expanded from 18 to 40 square kilometres (6.9 to 15.4 sq mi), more than 2,500 buildings were built, plus three modern bridges over
16720-654: The language sufficiently to lecture about it. It is known that Adam Mickiewicz often sang Lithuanian folk songs with the Samogitian Ludmilew Korylski. For example, in the early 1850s when in Paris, Mickiewicz interrupted a Lithuanian folk song sung by Ludmilew Korylski, commenting that he was singing it wrong and hence wrote down on a piece of paper how to sing the song correctly. On the piece of paper, there are fragments of three different Lithuanian folk songs ( Ejk Tatuszeli i bytiu darża , Atjo żałnieros par łauka , Ej warneli, jod warneli isz ), which are
16872-559: The meeting in which the ministers participated together with the former President Kazys Grinius , Bishop Vincentas Brizgys and others. Ministers expressed distress at the atrocities being committed against the Jews but advised only that "despite all the measures which must be taken against the Jews for their Communist activity and harm done to the German Army , partisans and individuals should avoid public executions of Jews". According to
17024-584: The mother of Juliusz Słowacki . (In 1975 this poem was set to music in Polish and Russian by Soviet composer David Tukhmanov .) Mickiewicz crossed the border into Russia about 11 November 1824, arriving in Saint Petersburg later that month. He would spend most of the next five years in Saint Petersburg and Moscow, except for a notable 1824 to 1825 excursion to Odessa , then on to Crimea . That visit, from February to November 1825, inspired
17176-564: The name of the city of Kaunas is that it is derived from an old adjective which is not in use anymore and which meant "deep", "low", "located in the valley". Before Lithuania regained independence, the city was generally known in English as Kovno , the traditional Slavicized form of its name. The Polish name is Kowno [ˈkɔvnɔ] , and the names in Belarusian include Koўна ( Kowna [ˈkou̯nɐ] ) and Каўнас ( Kawnas [ˈkau̯nɐs] ). The Yiddish name
17328-610: The new Provisional Government, but they did not take any action to dissolve it. The Provisional Government, not agreeing to continue to be an instrument of the German occupiers, disbanded itself on 5 August 1941 after signing a protest for the Germans action of suspending the Lithuanian Government powers. Members of the Provisional Government then went as a body to the Garden of the Vytautas the Great War Museum , where they laid
17480-546: The pioneers of the Lithuanian National Revival in the 19th century (e.g. Antanas Baranauskas , Jonas Basanavičius , Stasys Matulaitis , Mykolas Biržiška , Petras Vileišis ). Furthermore, the beginning of Vincas Kudirka 's Tautiška giesmė (1898), the national anthem of Lithuania since 1919 and since 1988, is a paraphrase of the beginning of a poem Pan Tadeusz . The translation into Lithuanian and publishing of Mickiewicz's works has continued after
17632-691: The plans of Lithuania's "legal accession to the USSR", on 1 July, the Seimas of Lithuania was dismissed, and elections to the puppet People's Seimas were announced. The controlled (passports had imprints) and falsified elections to the People's Seimas were won by the Lithuanian Labour People's Union, which obeyed the occupiers' proposal to "ask" the Soviet authorities to have Lithuania admitted to
17784-495: The poem, though obvious to many, escaped the Russian censors, and the poem was allowed to be published, complete with its telling motto drawn from Machiavelli : "Dovete adunque sapere come sono due generazioni di combattere – bisogna essere volpe e leone." ("Ye shall know that there are two ways of fighting – you must be a fox and a lion.") On a purely literary level, the poem was notable for incorporating traditional folk elements alongside stylistic innovations. Similarly noteworthy
17936-535: The poet is unknown. The Story of Sinuhe was a popular narrative poem from the Middle Kingdom of Egypt , written c. 1750 BC, about an ancient Egyptian man named Sinuhe , who flees his country and lives in a foreign land until his return, shortly before his death. The Story of Sinuhe was one of several popular narrative poems in Ancient Egyptian . Scholars have conjectured that Story of Sinuhe
18088-659: The problem of how to classify it has remained the crux of a constant quarrel among scholars"; it "has been called 'the last epos' in world literature". Pan Tadeusz was not highly regarded by contemporaries, nor by Mickiewicz himself, but in time it won acclaim as "the highest achievement in all Polish literature." The occasional poems that Mickiewicz wrote in his final decades have been described as "exquisite, gnomic, extremely short and concise". His Lausanne Lyrics , (1839–40) are, writes Miłosz, "untranslatable masterpieces of metaphysical meditation. In Polish literature, they are examples of that pure poetry that verges on silence." In
18240-624: The reality of the repressive and brutal Soviet rule, in the early morning of 22 June 1941 (the first day when the Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union ), Lithuanians began the June Uprising , which was organized by the Lithuanian Activist Front , in Kaunas, where its main forces were concentrated. The uprising soon expanded to Vilnius and other locations. Its main goal was not to fight the Soviets but to secure
18392-581: The rebellion was taking place in the country, the insurgents took Kaunas and the Proclamation of the Independence Restoration of Lithuania and the list of the Provisional Government were announced by Leonas Prapuolenis . The message was being repeated several times in different languages. The Provisional Government hoped that Nazi Germany would re-establish Lithuanian independence or at least allow some degree of autonomy (similar to
18544-431: The shelters deliberately fired on the Red Army, the detachments suffering heavy losses of soldiers and military equipment". About 5,000 occupants were killed in Lithuania. On 23 June 1941 at 9:28 am Tautiška giesmė , the national anthem of Lithuania, was played on the radio in Kaunas. Many people listened to the Lithuanian national anthem with tears in their eyes. From Kaunas radio broadcasts, Lithuania learned that
18696-697: The situation. He approached the Kaunas War Field Commandant General Oswald Pohl and the Military Command Representative General Karl von Roques by trying to plead for him to spare the Jews, but they replied that the Gestapo is handling those issues and that they could not help. Furthermore, in the beginning of the occupation, the prime minister of the Provisional Government of Lithuania, Juozas Ambrazevičius , convened
18848-521: The sole, as of now, known Lithuanian writings by Adam Mickiewicz. The folk songs are known to have been sung in Darbėnai . A prime figure of the Polish Romantic period , Mickiewicz is counted as one of Poland's Three Bards (the others being Zygmunt Krasiński and Juliusz Słowacki ) and the greatest poet in all Polish literature . Mickiewicz has long been regarded as Poland's national poet and
19000-441: The term "artistic kenosis" is sometimes used to describe the hymnographer's success in "emptying out" the instinct to succeed as a poet. A singer in the pew might have several of Watts's stanzas memorized, without ever knowing his name or thinking of him as a poet. Kaunas Kaunas ( / ˈ k aʊ n ə s / ; Lithuanian: [ˈkɐʊ̯ˑnˠɐs] ; previously known in English as Kovno / ˈ k ɒ v n oʊ / )
19152-608: The third part of his Dziady (smuggled into partitioned Poland), as well as of The Books of the Polish People and of the Polish Pilgrimage [ pl ] , which Mickiewicz self-published. During this time, he made acquaintances with his compatriot the composer Frederic Chopin who would be one of Mickiewicz‘s closest friends in Paris. In 1834 he published another masterpiece, his epic poem Pan Tadeusz . Pan Tadeusz , his longest poetic work, marked
19304-467: The third part of his poem Dziady . On 31 July 1832 he arrived in Paris, accompanied by a close friend and fellow ex-Philomath, the future geologist and Chilean educator Ignacy Domeyko . In Paris, Mickiewicz became active in many Polish émigré groups and published articles in Pielgrzym Polski [ pl ] ( The Polish Pilgrim ). The fall of 1832 saw the publication, in Paris, of
19456-658: The three imperial powers that had partitioned the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth out of existence . Mickiewicz was born in the Russian-partitioned territories of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania , which had been part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , and was active in the struggle to win independence for his home region. After, as a consequence, spending five years exiled to central Russia, in 1829 he succeeded in leaving
19608-567: The time and widespread café culture. The interim capital and the country itself also had a Western standard of living with sufficiently high salaries and low prices. At the time, qualified workers there were earning very similar real wages to workers in Germany , Italy , Switzerland and France , the country also had a high natural increase in population of 9.7 and the industrial production of Lithuania increased by 160% from 1913 to 1940. The population of Kaunas increased 8,6 times during
19760-760: The time is scarce. Ultimately he never crossed into Russian Poland , where the Uprising was mainly happening; he stayed in German Poland (historically known to Poles as Wielkopolska , or Greater Poland), where he was well received by members of the local Polish nobility. He had a brief liaison with Konstancja Łubieńska [ pl ] at her family estate in Śmiełów . Starting in March 1832, Mickiewicz stayed several months in Dresden, in Saxony , where he wrote
19912-437: The time, and a widespread café culture. The city interwar architecture is regarded as among the finest examples of European Art Deco and has received the European Heritage Label . It contributed to Kaunas being designated as the first city in Central and Eastern Europe as a UNESCO City of Design , and also to becoming a World Heritage Site in 2023 as the only European city representing large scale urbanization during
20064-405: The triumphant entry and disastrous retreat of Polish and Napoleonic troops during Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia , when Mickiewicz was just a teenager. The year 1812 also marked his father's death. Later, the poet's personality and subsequent works were greatly influenced by his four years of living and studying in Vilnius . His first poems, such as the 1818 Zima miejska ( City Winter ) and
20216-519: The wax processing, and woolen cloth-trimming facilities. The power of the self-governing Kaunas was shared by three interrelated major institutions: vaitas (the Mayor ), the Magistrate (12 lay judges and 4 burgomasters ), and the so-called Benchers ' Court (12 persons). Kaunas began to gain prominence, since it was at the intersection of trade routes and a river port . At the time, Kaunas became an important port and centre of trade with Western Europe , thus rapidly growing. In 1441, Kaunas joined
20368-406: Was "Mickiewicz's major theatrical achievement", a work which Mickiewicz saw as ongoing and to be continued in further parts. Its title refers to the pagan ancestor commemoration that had been practiced by Slavic and Baltic peoples on All Souls' Day . The year 1832 saw the publication of part III: much superior to the earlier parts, a "laboratory of innovative genres, styles and forms". Part III
20520-402: Was Barbara Mickiewicz, née Majewska. Adam was the second-born son in the family. Mickiewicz spent his childhood in Navahrudak, initially taught by his mother and private tutors. From 1807 to 1815 he attended a Dominican school following a curriculum that had been designed by the now-defunct Polish Commission of National Education , which had been the world's first ministry of education . He
20672-510: Was a centre of Jewish learning, and the yeshiva in Slobodka ( Vilijampolė ) was one of Europe's most prestigious institutes of higher Jewish learning. Kaunas had a rich and varied Jewish culture . There were almost 100 Jewish organizations, 40 synagogues, many Yiddish schools, 4 Hebrew high schools , a Jewish hospital , and scores of Jewish-owned businesses. It was also an important Zionist centre. Initially prior to World War II , Lithuania declared neutrality . However, on 7 October 1939,
20824-515: Was a mediocre student, although active in games, theatricals, and the like. In September 1815, Mickiewicz enrolled at the Imperial University of Vilnius , studying to be a teacher. After graduating, under the terms of his government scholarship, he taught secondary school at Kaunas from 1819 to 1823. In 1818, in the Polish-language Tygodnik Wileński [ pl ] (Wilno Weekly), he published his first poem, Zima miejska [ pl ] ( City Winter ). The next few years would see
20976-436: Was actually written by an Ancient Egyptian man named Sinuhe, describing his life in the poem; therefore, Sinuhe is conjectured to be a real person. In Ancient Rome , professional poets were generally sponsored by patrons , including nobility and military officials. For instance, Gaius Cilnius Maecenas , friend to Caesar Augustus , was an important patron for the Augustan poets, including both Horace and Virgil . Ovid ,
21128-461: Was considered to be too patriotic and revolutionary for publication and would not appear officially for many years. About the summer of 1820, Mickiewicz met the love of his life, Maryla Wereszczakówna [ pl ] . They were unable to marry due to his family's poverty and relatively low social status; in addition, she was already engaged to Count Wawrzyniec Puttkamer [ pl ] , whom she would marry in 1821. In 1817, while still
21280-428: Was erected in Warsaw. Its base carries the inscription, "To the Poet from the People." In 1955, the 100th anniversary of his death, the University of Poznań adopted him as its official patron. Much has been written about Mickiewicz, though the vast majority of this scholarly and popular literature is available only in Polish. Works devoted to him, according to Koropeckyi, author of a 2008 English biography, "could fill
21432-427: Was established on the site of the current Kaunas Old Town, at the confluence of two large rivers, by at latest the 10th century AD and more settlements developed in the 11th century AD. Kaunas was first mentioned in written sources in 1361 and at the end of the 13th century the brick Kaunas Castle was constructed to defend the residents from attacks by the Teutonic Order . At the time only two brick castles stood near
21584-536: Was formed in 1843. In 1862, a railway connecting the Russian Empire and Imperial Germany was built, making Kaunas a significant railway hub with one of the first railway tunnels in the Empire, completed in 1861. In 1898 the first power plant in Lithuania started operating. After the unsuccessful January Uprising in 1863 against the Russian Empire, the tsarist authority moved the Catholic Seminary of Varniai , prominent bishop Motiejus Valančius and Samogitian diocese institutions to Kaunas, where they were given
21736-436: Was largely organized by the military, especially general Povilas Plechavičius , and resulted in the replacement of the democratically elected Government and President Kazys Grinius with a conservative nationalist authoritarian Government led by Antanas Smetona . Shortly afterwards, tension between Antanas Smetona and Augustinas Voldemaras , supported by the Iron Wolf Association , arose seeking to gain authority. After
21888-450: Was largely written over a few days; the "Great Improvisation" section, a "masterpiece of Polish poetry", is said to have been created during a single inspired night. A long descriptive poem, Ustęp ( Digression ), accompanying part III and written sometime before it, sums up Mickiewicz's experiences in, and views on, Russia, portrays it as a huge prison, pities the oppressed Russian people, and wonders about their future. Miłosz describes it as
22040-406: Was made an honorary Lausanne Academy professor. Mickiewicz would, however, hold the Collège de France post for little more than three years, his last lecture being delivered on 28 May 1844. His lectures were popular, drawing many listeners in addition to enrolled students, and receiving reviews in the press. Some would be remembered much later; his sixteenth lecture, on Slavic theater, "was to become
22192-494: Was milk and honey, gall and life's blood: we all descend from him. He carried us off on the surging billow of his inspiration and cast us into the world. Edward Henry Lewinski Corwin described Mickiewicz's works as Promethean , as "reaching more Polish hearts" than the other Polish Bards, and affirmed Danish critic Georg Brandes ' assessment of Mickiewicz's works as "healthier" than those of Byron , Shakespeare , Homer , and Goethe. Koropeckyi writes that Mickiewicz has "informed
22344-445: Was moved to Žaliakalnis , armed with advanced and brand new tanks, including the famous Renault FT , Vickers-Armstrong Model 1933 and Model 1936. In May 1919, the Lithuanian Aircraft State Factory was founded in Freda to repair and to supply the army with military aircraft . It was considerably modernized by Antanas Gustaitis and started to build Lithuanian ANBO military aircraft. The exceptional discipline and regularity caused
22496-415: Was on the periphery of Lithuania proper and had been part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until the Third Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1795). Its upper class, including Mickiewicz's family, were either Polish or Polonized . The poet's father, Mikołaj Mickiewicz, a lawyer, was a member of the Polish nobility ( szlachta ) and bore the hereditary Poraj coat-of-arms ; Adam's mother
22648-399: Was soon withdrawn after pressure from Austrian authorities. In the winter of 1848–49, Polish composer Frédéric Chopin , in the final months of his own life, visited his ailing compatriot soothed the poet's nerves with his piano music. Over a dozen years earlier, Chopin had set two of Mickiewicz's poems to music (see Polish songs by Frédéric Chopin ). In the winter of 1849 Mickiewicz founded
22800-428: Was taken into custody and imprisoned at Vilnius' Basilian Monastery in late 1823 or early 1824 (sources disagree as to the date). After investigation into his political activities, specifically his membership in the Philomaths, in 1824 Mickiewicz was banished to central Russia . Within a few hours of receiving the decree on 22 October 1824, he penned a poem into an album belonging to Salomea Bécu [ pl ] ,
22952-489: Was thanks to his friendships with many influential individuals that he was eventually able to obtain a passport and permission to leave Russia for Western Europe . After serving five years of exile to Russia, Mickiewicz received permission to go abroad in 1829. On 1 June that year, he arrived in Weimar in Germany. By 6 June he was in Berlin , where he attended lectures by the philosopher Hegel . In February 1830 he visited Prague , later returning to Weimar, where he received
23104-472: Was visited by another Polish poet, Cyprian Norwid , who wrote of the meeting in his work Czarne kwiaty. Białe kwiaty [ pl ] ; and there Mickiewicz's wife Celina died. Mickiewicz welcomed the Crimean War of 1853–1856, which he hoped would lead to a new European order including a restored independent Poland. His last composition, a Latin ode Ad Napolionem III Caesarem Augustum Ode in Bomersundum captum , honored Napoleon III and celebrated
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