Jan Kochanowski
Jan Kochanowski (Polish: [ˈjan kɔxaˈnɔfskʲi]; 1530 – 22 August 1584) was a Polish Renaissance poet, translator and playwright.[1] He is generally regarded as one of the greatest poets in Polish literature.[2]
Biography
Jan Kochanowski was born into a noble family in the village of Sycyna, Poland.[1] His parents werePiotr Kochanowski, a lawyer and judge, and Anna Białaczowska.[1] Among their 11 children, two of Jan's brothers were also writers.[3] He studied at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow.[4] Then he attended the University of Königsberg (Królewiec), in Ducal Prussia, and Padua University in Italy.[2] He returned to Poland in 1559. In 1563 he became a secretary at the royal court of Sigismund II Augustus.[1] He married Dorota Podlodowska around 1575 and settled at the family estate at Czarnolas ("Blackwood").[2] Kochanowski is sometimes called "Jan z Czarnolasu" ("John of Blackwood").[2] He died of a heart attack in 1584 in the town of Lublin.[5]
Works
Jan Kochanowski wrote in Polish and Latin.[1] He wrote Fraszki, a cycle of epigrams, Pieśni (Cantos) and Treny (Laments).[6] The last work was written by the poet after death of his daughter Ursula.[3] He lost another daughter, named Hanna, too.[5] Kochanowski wrote also Pieśń świętojańska o Sobótce (Midsummer Night's Song) and Odprawa połów greckich (The Dismissal of the Grecian Envoys).[6] Many of his poems are free translations from Horace.[6] Kochanowski translated The Book of Psalms and Chess by Marco Girolamo Vida.[6] Kochanowski established rules of Polish versification and introduced sonnet to Polish poetry. Many poems by Kochanowski were translated into English.[7]
The translator Piotr Kochanowski was Jan Kochanowski's nephew.