Background
He was born at Warsaw, Poland on the 28th of July 1812, of an aristocratic family. The oldest son of Jan Kraszewski and Zofia Kraszewska née Malska. He spent his childhood in his grandmother's mansion in Romanów in the Podlasie region.
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Xibrarp. Edited by EDMUND GOSSE. Croivn Bve, tit pa er covers, zs. 6d.t or cloth lim ,y. 6d. 1. IN GODS WAY. From the Norwegian of BjORNSTJERNE BjORNSON. 2. PIERRE AND JEAN. From the French of GUY DE MAUPASSANT. 3. THE CHIEF JUSTICE. From the German of KARL EMIL FRANZOS. 4. WORK WHILE YE HAVE THE LIGHT. From the Russian of COUNT LYOF TOLSTOI. 5. FANTASY. From the Italian of MATILDE SERAO. 6. FROTH. From the Spanish of DON ARMANDO PALACIO VALDES. 7. FOOTSTEPS OF FATE. From the Dutch Of LOUIS COUPERUS. 8. PEPITA JIMENEZ. From the Spanish of JUAN VALERA. 9. THE COMMODORES DAUGHTERS. From the Norwegian of JONAS LIE. 10. THE HERITAGE OF THE KURTS. From the Norwegian of BJORNSTJERNE BJORNSON. 11. LOU. From the German of BARON VON ROBERTS. 12. DONA LUZ. From the Spanish of JUAN VALERA. 13. THE JEW. From the Polish of JOSEPH I. KRASZEWSKI. 14. UNDER THE YOKE. From the Bulgarian of IVAN VAZOFF. the Press. Each Volume contains a specially written Introduction by the Editor. LONDON: W. HEINEMANN, 21 BEDFORD ST., W.C. (Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.) About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology. Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the aged text. Read books online for free at www.forgottenbooks.org
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He was born at Warsaw, Poland on the 28th of July 1812, of an aristocratic family. The oldest son of Jan Kraszewski and Zofia Kraszewska née Malska. He spent his childhood in his grandmother's mansion in Romanów in the Podlasie region.
From 1822 he went to schools in Biała Podlaska, Lublin and Świsłocz. Kraszewski studied at the University of Vilna between 1829 and 1830.
He showed a precocious talent for authorship, beginning his literary career with a volume of sketches from society as early as 1829, and for more than half a century scarcely ever intermitting his literary production, except during a period of imprisonment upon a charge of complicity in the insurrection of 1830. He narrowly escaped being sent to Siberia, but, rescued by the intercession of powerful friends, he settled upon his landed property near Grodno, and devoted himself to literature with such industry that a mere selection from his fiction alone, reprinted at Lemberg from 1871 to 1875, occupies 102 volumes. He was thus the most conspicuous literary figure of his day in Poland.
His extreme fertility was suggestive of haste and carelessness, but he declared that the contrivance of his plot gave him three times as much trouble as the composition of his novel. His copious invention is nevertheless combined with real truth to nature, especially evinced in the beautiful little story of Jermola the Potter (1857), from which George Eliot appears to have derived the idea of Silas Marner, though she can only have known it at second hand. Compared with the exquisite art of Silas Marner, Jermola appears rude and unskilful, but it is not on this account the less touching in its fidelity to the tenderest elements of human nature.
Kraszewski's literary activity falls into two well-marked epochs, the earlier when, residing upon his estate, he produced romances like Jermola, Ulana (1843), Kordecki (1852), devoid of any special tendency, and that after 1863, when the suspicions of the Russian government compelled him to settle in Dresden. To this period belong several political novels published under the pseudonym of Boleslawila, historical fictions such as Countess Cosel, and the "culture" romances Morituri (1874 - 1875) and Resurrecturi (1876), by which he is perhaps best known out of his own country. In 1884 he was accused of plotting against the German government and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment in a fortress, but was released in 1886, and withdrew to Geneva, where he died in 1887.
Kraszewski was also a poet and dramatist; his most celebrated poem is his epic Anafielas (3 vols. , 1840 - 1843) on the history of Lithuania. He was indefatigable as literary critic, editor and translator, wrote several historical works, and was conspicuous as a restorer of the study of national archaeology in Poland.
(This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 18...)
(This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 18...)
(This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 18...)
(Xibrarp. Edited by EDMUND GOSSE. Croivn Bve, tit pa er co...)
Throughout his adult life he took an active part in political activities, which resulted in him being sent to prison twice. He participated in dozens of social events, and more than once he had to stand up against public opinion.
Apart from his gifts as a story-teller, he did not possess extraordinary mental powers; the " profound thoughts " culled from his writings by his admiring biographer Bohdanowicz are for the most part mere truisms.
In 1838 he married Zofia Woroniczówna. He did this against the will of his father, who thought his son wanted to reach too high. Once married, the couple settled in Wołyń. In 1853 – already parents to four children – they moved to Żytomierz.