Karolina Proniewska
Encyclopedia
Karolina Proniewska or Karolina Praniauskaitė (1828 - 1859) was a romantic
Polish
-Lithuania
n poet and translator, of Samogitian extraction. Born in Samogitia
, a historical region of Lithuania
, then part of the Russian Empire
, she is sometimes referred to as a Samogitian Bard
.
She wrote her original works exclusively in Polish and her poetry published in a single tome Piosneczki (Songs, 1858) initially gained much popularity. However, she also translated numerous works by Polish authors into the Lithuanian language, both in prose and in verse.
She is considered one of the first women in the history of Lithuanian literature
.
Her own poetry and translations, although popular during her lifetime, are today not widely read. She is remembered largely for her association with Antanas Baranauskas
, who became a prominent Lithuania
n poet, and one of the classic authors in that language, and whom she is said to have persuaded to write in the Lithuanian language
.
noble
family in Samogitia
, then under Imperial Russian rule. She was born 18 January 1828 in Padubysys Telšiai
in a small manor
where culture
predominated. Her father, Teofil Proniewski of Korwin, was an assessor
at the local court, while her mother was Eleonora née Dobszewicz. Proniewska started to write poems at the age of seven. Her father died when she was seven and her mother had difficulties supporting both the manor and the family.
Three of Karolina's brothers belonged to a close circle of Lithuanian intellectuals who were deeply involved with the growing Lithuanian national movement. As a girl she suffered from tuberculosis
, and her eldest brother forbade her to read any books or write poetry, which he supposed would harm her already poor health. She disobeyed. Soon she moved to Telšiai, where she started working as a teacher. Another of her brothers, Otton Proniewski, the personal secretary to the Bishop of Samogitia Motiejus Valančius
, financed the publication of a book of her poems, which made her regionally famous, partly due to publications in the Warsaw Gazette
, one of the most respected Polish-language newspapers of the time.
Strongly influenced by Adam Mickiewicz
's romantic poetry, she is known to have devoted at least one poem to him. Although her published original works were written in the Polish language
, with time she also made several translations of Polish-language classics into Lithuanian. Among the most notable of these translations is Matka węży by Józef Ignacy Kraszewski
. The translation is said to have had an unprecedented impact on Lithuanian culture as a fundamental work of Lithuanian high art, and to have been much of a much higher quality than her own dilettantish Polish verses.
In 1855, through her sister Tekla, she met Antanas Baranauskas
, a young poet then working as a clerk at the nearby farm in Seda
. Proniewska instilled into Baranauskas a love for Lithuanian language and culture, and convinced him to start writing his poems in the Lithuanian language
. The couple started to exchange letters and, with time, poems. Her brother Otton helped Baraunaskas pass his entrance examinations into the Catholic school in Varniai
, one of the few venues then open to a member of the lower social strata for attaining an education in 19th century Russia. Baranauskas went on to become a scholar of the Lithuanian language, and wrote what has been described as one of the greatest works in Lithuanian literature, Anykščių šilelis (The Forest of Anykščiai
). He also went on to become a Roman Catholic bishop
.
It is commonly accepted that Proniewska had been his friend and patron. However, prior to her death, she requested that all of their letters and her diaries be burned, and little documentation of their relationship has survived. She died at the age of 31, on 26 May 1859, and was buried at a cemetery in Utena
, where she spent the last months of her life. No pictures of her have survived. Her exact burial place is unknown, but an oak commemorative sculpture at the Utena cemetery bears her name, as does the Telšiai Public Library.
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
-Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n poet and translator, of Samogitian extraction. Born in Samogitia
Samogitia
Samogitia is one of the five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. It is located in northwestern Lithuania. Its largest city is Šiauliai/Šiaulē. The region has a long and distinct cultural history, reflected in the existence of the Samogitian dialect...
, a historical region of Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, then part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, she is sometimes referred to as a Samogitian Bard
Bard
In medieval Gaelic and British culture a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as a monarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities.Originally a specific class of poet, contrasting with another class known as fili in Ireland...
.
She wrote her original works exclusively in Polish and her poetry published in a single tome Piosneczki (Songs, 1858) initially gained much popularity. However, she also translated numerous works by Polish authors into the Lithuanian language, both in prose and in verse.
She is considered one of the first women in the history of Lithuanian literature
Lithuanian literature
Lithuanian literature concerns the art of written works compiled by Lithuanians throughout their history.-Latin language:A wealth of Lithuanian literature was written in Latin, the main scholarly language in the Middle Ages.-Lithuanian language:...
.
Her own poetry and translations, although popular during her lifetime, are today not widely read. She is remembered largely for her association with Antanas Baranauskas
Antanas Baranauskas
Antanas Baranauskas was a Lithuanian poet, mathematician and a catholic bishop of Polish town Sejny. Baranauskas is best known as the author of the Lithuanian language poem Anykščių šilelis. He used various pseudonyms, including A.B., Bangputys, Jurksztas Smalaūsis, Jurkštas Smalaūsis, and Baronas...
, who became a prominent Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n poet, and one of the classic authors in that language, and whom she is said to have persuaded to write in the Lithuanian language
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
.
Life and works
Karolina Anna Proniewska was born into a szlachtaSzlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
noble
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
family in Samogitia
Samogitia
Samogitia is one of the five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. It is located in northwestern Lithuania. Its largest city is Šiauliai/Šiaulē. The region has a long and distinct cultural history, reflected in the existence of the Samogitian dialect...
, then under Imperial Russian rule. She was born 18 January 1828 in Padubysys Telšiai
Telšiai
Telšiai , is a city in Lithuania with about 35,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of Telšiai County and Samogitia region, and it is located on Lake Mastis.-Names:...
in a small manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
where culture
Polish-Lithuanian
Polish–Lithuanian can refer to:* Polish–Lithuanian union * Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth * Polish-Lithuanian as used to describe groups, families, or individuals with histories in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
predominated. Her father, Teofil Proniewski of Korwin, was an assessor
Assessor (law)
In some jurisdictions, an assessor is a judge's or magistrate's assistant. This is in fact the historical meaning of this word.-By country:In Denmark, it was the former title given to Supreme Court judges. Today the title is given to Deputy Judges...
at the local court, while her mother was Eleonora née Dobszewicz. Proniewska started to write poems at the age of seven. Her father died when she was seven and her mother had difficulties supporting both the manor and the family.
Three of Karolina's brothers belonged to a close circle of Lithuanian intellectuals who were deeply involved with the growing Lithuanian national movement. As a girl she suffered from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, and her eldest brother forbade her to read any books or write poetry, which he supposed would harm her already poor health. She disobeyed. Soon she moved to Telšiai, where she started working as a teacher. Another of her brothers, Otton Proniewski, the personal secretary to the Bishop of Samogitia Motiejus Valančius
Motiejus Valancius
Motiejus Valančius was a Catholic bishop of Samogitia, historian and one of the best known Lithuanian writers of the 19th century.-Biography:...
, financed the publication of a book of her poems, which made her regionally famous, partly due to publications in the Warsaw Gazette
Gazeta Warszawska
Gazeta Warszawska was the first newspaper published regularly in Warsaw for an extended period of time. Founded in 1774, it remained active under a variety of names until 1935...
, one of the most respected Polish-language newspapers of the time.
Strongly influenced by Adam Mickiewicz
Adam Mickiewicz
Adam Bernard Mickiewicz ) was a Polish poet, publisher and political writer of the Romantic period. One of the primary representatives of the Polish Romanticism era, a national poet of Poland, he is seen as one of Poland's Three Bards and the greatest poet in all of Polish literature...
's romantic poetry, she is known to have devoted at least one poem to him. Although her published original works were written in the Polish language
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
, with time she also made several translations of Polish-language classics into Lithuanian. Among the most notable of these translations is Matka węży by Józef Ignacy Kraszewski
Józef Ignacy Kraszewski
Józef Ignacy Kraszewski was a Polish writer, historian and journalist who produced more than 200 novels and 150 novellas, short stories, and art reviews He is best known for his epic series on the history of Poland, comprising twenty-nine novels in seventy-nine parts.As a novelist writing about...
. The translation is said to have had an unprecedented impact on Lithuanian culture as a fundamental work of Lithuanian high art, and to have been much of a much higher quality than her own dilettantish Polish verses.
In 1855, through her sister Tekla, she met Antanas Baranauskas
Antanas Baranauskas
Antanas Baranauskas was a Lithuanian poet, mathematician and a catholic bishop of Polish town Sejny. Baranauskas is best known as the author of the Lithuanian language poem Anykščių šilelis. He used various pseudonyms, including A.B., Bangputys, Jurksztas Smalaūsis, Jurkštas Smalaūsis, and Baronas...
, a young poet then working as a clerk at the nearby farm in Seda
Seda
Seda is a city in Mažeikiai district municipality, Lithuania. It is located south-west of Mažeikiai on the Varduva River. There are two churches in the town.- History :...
. Proniewska instilled into Baranauskas a love for Lithuanian language and culture, and convinced him to start writing his poems in the Lithuanian language
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
. The couple started to exchange letters and, with time, poems. Her brother Otton helped Baraunaskas pass his entrance examinations into the Catholic school in Varniai
Varniai
Varniai , is a city in the Telšiai County, western Lithuania. In the Middle Ages the city was known as Medininkai. It was established in the 14th century, on the bank of the Varnelė River, near an important Samogitian castle. It was the center of Samogitian Catholic church: after the baptism of...
, one of the few venues then open to a member of the lower social strata for attaining an education in 19th century Russia. Baranauskas went on to become a scholar of the Lithuanian language, and wrote what has been described as one of the greatest works in Lithuanian literature, Anykščių šilelis (The Forest of Anykščiai
The Forest of Anykščiai
The Forest of Anykščiai , written by Antanas Baranauskas and published in 1861, is a landmark in the history of Lithuanian literature.The poem expresses the long-standing connection between the Lithuanian people and their forests...
). He also went on to become a Roman Catholic bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
.
It is commonly accepted that Proniewska had been his friend and patron. However, prior to her death, she requested that all of their letters and her diaries be burned, and little documentation of their relationship has survived. She died at the age of 31, on 26 May 1859, and was buried at a cemetery in Utena
Utena, Lithuania
Utena is a city in north-east Lithuania. It is the administrative center of Utena district and Utena County. Utena is one of the oldest settlements of Lithuania. The name of the city is most probably derived from a hydronym. The name of the settlement has been known since 1261.Utena is an...
, where she spent the last months of her life. No pictures of her have survived. Her exact burial place is unknown, but an oak commemorative sculpture at the Utena cemetery bears her name, as does the Telšiai Public Library.