TWARDOWSKI, SAMUEL

born c. 1600, , Lutynia, near Jarocin, Kingdom of Poland died 1661, Zalesie Wielkie, near Krotoszyn Polish poet, diarist, and essayist. An impoverished Polish nobleman, Twardowski was a hanger-on at various magnates' courts. While traveling as secretary with one of his patrons to Turkey on a diplomatic mission, he wrote a diary of the journey in verse: Przewazna legacja J.O. Ksiazecia Krzysztofa Zbaraskiego (1633; The Important Mission of His Grace Duke Krzysztof Zbaraski). He also wrote about many historical events, as in Wojna domowa z Kozaki i Tatary (1681; A Civil War with the Cossacks and Tatars), an account of the Zaporozhian Cossacks' revolt, under the leadership of Khmelnytsky, against Polish domination in the mid-17th century. Twardowski also wrote Baroque pastoral romances such as Nadobna Pasqualina (1655; Fair Pasqualina) and Dafnis w drzewo bobkowe przemieniela sie (1638; Daphne Transformed into a Laurel Tree).