Niemcewicz, Julian Ursyn ___ 1757-1841 ___ Polish ___ writer politician

BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY
Niemcewicz was born in what is now Lithuania, the oldest of 16 children, and was educated with the Warsaw cadet corps between 1770 and 1777. In 1788 he was elected to the Polish parliament, where he became known for his speaking ability. In 1790, he wrote 'The Return of the Deputy', a play very popular at the time and considered to be the first Polish political comedy. He took part in the insurrection of 1794, but was captured at Maciejowice and imprisoned in St Petersburg for two years. On his release, he went first to England and then to US, where he married and settled. He moved in high circles during this time, and was even a guest of George Washington. In 1807, he returned to live in Poland. Thereafter, he held no public position, and focused on his literary endeavours. These included translations from the English, songs (his famous 'Historical Songs of the Poles'), and novels. In 1831, he travelled to London to gather support for the Polish insurrection against Russia, but failed. He spent the last years of his life in Paris, campaigning for Polish freedom. Niemcewicz was a meticulous diary writer, and chronicler of his times. Although it seems he published many volumes of his diaries, there only appears to be information in English about his diaries for 1797-1799 1805.
A biography link
Wikipedia bio
The Diary Review - A Pole in America

DIARY DATES, CONTENT DESCRIPTORS
1797-1799 1805 ___ political people society travel US

WEB TEXT LINKS
some extracts
short quotes
a bit about

ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT LINKS
 

SOME PUBLISHED TITLES
Under Their Vine and Fig Tree: Travels through America in 1797-1799, 1805
Journey to Niagara, 1805: From the Diary of Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz
 

November 2005, July 2008, April 2013
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IMPORTANT NOTES AND CAUTIONS: 1) The first line of basic information may be incomplete in several ways: some historical figures have different names (titles, pen-names); their birth and death dates may be unknown or uncertain (g - guess, c - circa); similarly, their occupations may be unknown, or they may have had other jobs; and, for early diarists, I've used 'British' a bit too freely. 2) The biographical summary may not be accurate. It was compiled quickly from various sources, mostly on the internet, and the facts were not checked anywhere near as rigorously as they would have been if they'd been intended for publication in a printed form. 3) The journal dates and descriptors (which are in no particular order) must be treated with caution: since I have not examined the diaries myself, the descriptors are only guesses based on bibliographies, anthologies and internet biographies. 4) For the biography and etext links, I have ignored any sites with charges, and I have avoided, wherever possible, those with pop-ups or too much advertising. I have limited myself to providing three etext links where there is some variety between them. 5) For the original manuscript links, I have limited myself to providing a maximum of two (although, for a few diarists, their original diaries are held in more than two places). 6) I have provided the titles - chosen randomly - for up to three printed editions of the diaries.