Mickiewicz wrote poems about her, but she “couldn’t stand him.” She seduced him on the general’s orders

is a poet and one of the three national bards whose work influenced the formation of romanticism in Poland. He is the author of “Pan Tadeusz” and “Forefathers’ Eve”, known from the canon of school reading, but many more excellent works were written by him. The following are considered absolute classics: erotic poems, such as “Sen”, “Conversation”, “Courtship” or “Uncertainty”. Few people know that he was inspired to create them by a relationship with one of…

What was Adam Mickiewicz convicted of? Even while in exile, he did not avoid romance and enjoyed life

In October 1817, Adam Mickiewicz, together with five other colleagues from the University of Vilnius, established the Philomatic Society, a secret association of students and graduates. It was for his activities on his behalf that seven years later the imperial authorities sentenced him to exile with the right to choose his place of residence. He then decided to go to Odessa, where he would spend 9 months working as a teacher. The task of employing him was entrusted to General Jan Witt, curator of the local scientific district. Upon arrival, however, it turned out that the poet would not be given the job, all of them had already been filled, but he was still granted a salary that was supposed to provide him with support during this time.

It is worth mentioning that exile was not a particular hardship for Mickiewicz. The city made a huge impression on him, which he wrote about in letters to his friends. He also quickly found his place among the local nobility, willingly entering into affairs with wealthy women. One of them was Joanna, the daughter of the Zaleski family, who even thought of marrying her off to a bard. However, he was not interested, he was already losing sleep over his relationship with another aristocrat.

Mickiewicz lost his head for her, and she was hatching a conspiracy. What was the poet’s relationship with Karolina Sobańska née Rzewuska?

We are talking about Karolina Sobańska née Rzewuska, wife of the respected landowner Hieronim Sobański. However, the highly educated and beautiful woman was not a model of virtue. There was a lot of talk in the community about her cuckolding her husband, especially with the previously mentioned General Witt, who recruited her into the secret intelligence service. It was at his request that she approached the poet to “keep an eye on him” and document his notes. It is not entirely clear whether Mickiewicz was not aware of this and that is why he succumbed to her intrigue so quickly, or perhaps on the contrary and hoped that he would gain a little more freedom this way. Either way, a fiery relationship broke out between the two, which, as it later turned out, was not without significance for literature.

The poet was almost crazy about his lover, who was 4 years older than him, but she did not have equally strong feelings for him, or in fact, she had no feelings for him at all. This is especially evidenced by the memories she carefully wrote down in her diaries.

Mickiewicz was always sprinkled with birch water (…) and this birch water still made my nose spin unbearably, it stung so much that once I couldn’t stand it any longer and at three in the morning I asked him to leave the bed

– . In the meantime, Mickiewicz slowly began to notice a clear distance on her part. This made him suspect that she was not being honest with him. Since he was soon to move to Moscow, he finally decided to put an end to this relationship. If you feel like it, vote in our poll below.