Antoni Malczewski (3 June 1793 – 2 May 1826) was an influential Polish romantic poet, known for his only work, "a narrative poem of dire pessimism", Maria (1825).
At the times, prominent and scandalizing was his autodestructive romance with married woman, Zofia Rucińska, who suffered from mental illness.
Malczewski was born to a wealthy family in either Volhynia or Warsaw, and attended school in Krzemieniec (modern-day Kremenets, Ukraine), but di...
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Antoni Malczewski (3 June 1793 – 2 May 1826) was an influential Polish romantic poet, known for his only work, "a narrative poem of dire pessimism", Maria (1825).
At the times, prominent and scandalizing was his autodestructive romance with married woman, Zofia Rucińska, who suffered from mental illness.
Malczewski was born to a wealthy family in either Volhynia or Warsaw, and attended school in Krzemieniec (modern-day Kremenets, Ukraine), but didn't graduate. He joined the army of the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw during the Napoleonic Wars in 1811, and remained in the army of Congress Poland under Emperor Alexander from 1815. He was wounded in the foot in a duel in 1816 and so had to leave the army.
After leaving the army, he spent several years traveling through western Europe, staying some time in Paris, climbing Mont Blanc in 1818, and spending a good portion of his inherited fortune. He returned to his estate in Volhynia in 1821, where he began an ill-fated affair with a married...
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