MALCZEWSKI, ANTONI

born June 3, 1793, Warsaw , or Knyaginino, near Dubna, Ukraine, Russian Empire died May 2, 1826, Warsaw Polish Romantic poet. A member of a wealthy military and landholding family, Malczewski was educated at the lyce of Krzemieniec in Volhynia and then served in the Napoleonic Polish army of the duchy of Warsaw. When in 1815 the major part of the duchy became the kingdom of Poland with the Russian tsar as its king, Malczewski was demobilized. He traveled in western Europe, returned, and eventually settled in 1821 in the Ukraine (formerly Volhynia), where he became entangled in an unhappy emotional affair with a beautiful woman from a neighbouring town who was suffering from a nervous illness. Compelled by social pressure Malczewski left, followed by her, and they settled in Warsaw, where in 1825 he published a long poem, Maria, which constitutes his only contribution to Polish poetry, but his rank is matched only by that of Adam Mickiewicz. In the poem, Waclaw, a young husband, goes to fight the Tatars and, after routing the raiders, hurries home to his wife, Maria; but all he finds is a cold corpse. The poem makes use of diversified rhythms and carefully chosen rhymes; and its Byronic hero, as well as its picture of the Ukraine as a land of sombre charm, assured Malczewski both popularity and a high position in Polish literature.