Wincenty Kraiński – grafoman czy kronikarz epoki? Nieznane biografie z XIX wieku
Wincenty Kraiński a Scribbler or a Chronicler of the Epoque? Unknown Biographies of the 19 Century

Summary/Abstract: Recent shifts in the trends of contemporary arts manifesting in more and more frequent consideration of culture studies have greatly widened the range of vital research issues so far ignored by scholars. The latest trends in culture and literary research well correspond with Wincenty Kraiński’s (1786–1882) writings. He was a man of letters, a lawyer, the captain of the National Guard in the November Uprising, an emigrant, a preacher, a university teacher in Wrocław, a fierce opponent of Romanticism and Mickiewicz. He was the author of poetic and dramatic texts, with some traces of scribbling though, also texts devoted to historic and legal issues (including history of law), religious studies, student’s books of Polish language and the history of literature. There are 68 volumes of Kraiński’s scripts, preserved in the collection of Poznań TPN Library, on average 1000 pages long each. However, neither his political actions, nor publicist nor literary works have interested researchers so far, though his plenty works evoke a lot of questions referring to sociology of literature and culture, psychology, theory of communication, psychological aspects of esthetic, philosophic and ideal concepts of the époque or the times when he lived and worked. Moreover, Warsaw archives, in turn, so far little explored, if at all, reveal another view of Kraiński: as an efficient and energetic activist of the Great Emigration, an active secretary of the Emigration Parliament, one of the main founders of Polish School in Paris, a candidate for the first headmaster of the school. Finally, he appears to be a talented epistolographer, whose correspondence delights with efficient language, colorful and powerful utterances, a cautious observer and chronicler of contemporary events. This is Kraiński – the chronicler of the époque, whose reports provide a crucial source of acknowledgement of Great Emigration issues.

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