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Monument made of concrete block supported by big
rock. It has brass sculpture of the head of Adam Mickiewicz and sign
commemorating the 100th anniversary of his death. The monument was
erected in 1955. It is located at the crossing of Stefan ¯eromski
and Antoni Abraham Street
Adama Mickiewicza is Polish romantic poet and
playwright, the leader of Polish Romanticism. Mickiewicz's
best-known works include Forefathers' Eve, Grazyna, Konrad Wallenrod,
and the long narrative poem Pan Tadeusz. Much of Mickiewicz's work
was written in exile in Russia. After release he spent the rest of
his life in Western Europe, where he became the spiritual leader of
Polish emigrés.
Adam Mickiewicz was born in Zaosie, in the former
grand duchy of Lithuania, into an impoverished noble family. He
studied at the University of Vilno in the years 1815-1819 and in
1819-23 he was a teacher in Kaunas. His early interest in the French
Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire soon changed into admiration of
the two great Romantic writers, Schiller and Byron. In Vilno he took
part in a semisecret group known as the Philomaths and Philarets. It
protested Russian control of Poland and in 1823 Mickiewicz was
arrested with many other Philomaths by the Russian police. He was
jailed for several months and then exiled to Russia. Mickiewicz
never saw his home again. He lived in Odessa, Moscow, and St.
Petersburg. During this period he was befriended by many leading
Russian writers, including Aleksandr Pushkin.
As a poet Mickwicz gained first attention with
Balady i romanse (1822), which had on its background a
disappointment in love. The book included ballads, romances, and a
preface about western European literature. The collection opened the
romantic era in Polish literature. It was followed by the fantastic
drama Dziady (1823-32, Forefathers' Eve), in which Poland had a
messanic role among the nations of westerns Europe. |
