{{Short description|Polish-Belarusian writer and ethnographer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}} {{Infobox writer | name = Jan Barszczewski | native_name = Jan Barščeŭski | image = Jan Barszczewski.PNG | birth_date = 1781 | birth_place = generally stated as Murahi village (now in Rasony district of Vitsebsk region of Belarus), although some historians mention Niaviedra village (now - Pustoshkinsky District of Pskovski Oblast in Russia) | death_date = 12 March 1851 | death_place = Chudniv, Volhynian Governorate, Russian Empire | language = Belarusian and Polish | notable_works = Szlachcic Zawalnia, czyli Białoruś w fantastycznych opowiadaniach [Nobleman Zawalnia, or Belarus in Fantastic Stories] (1846) }}
'''Jan Barszczewski''' (Belarusian: Ян Баршчэўскі, Jan Barščeŭski; 1781 – 12 March 1851) was a Polish and Belarusian writer, poet, ethnographer and editor. He wrote both in Belarusian and Polish languages.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ян Барщевский|trans-title=Jan Barszczewski|url=http://nlr.ru/md/mpro/barszczewski/index.html|access-date=2021-09-04|website=nlr.ru|language=ru}}</ref><ref>McMillin, Arnold B. A History of Byelorussian Literature I From its Origins to the Present Day. Wilhelm Schmitz Verlag, Giessen, 1977.p.84</ref>
He is considered "one of the founders of modern Belarusian literature".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Толькі на адзін тыдзень у Мінску адкрылася ўнікальная выстава "Ян Баршчэўскі, які любіў Бога, прыроду і людзей" (+відэа)|trans-title=A unique exhibition "Jan Barszczewski, who loved God, nature and people" opened in Minsk for only one week|url=https://www.nlb.by/by/news/knizhnyja-vystawki/tolki-na-adzin-tydzen-u-minsku-adkryetstsa-nikalnaya-vystava-yan-barshche-ski-yaki-lyubi-boga-pryrod/|access-date=2021-09-04|website=Нацыянальная бібліятэка Беларусі / National Library of Belarus|language=be}}</ref>
== Early years ==
Barszczewski was born into the family of a Greek Catholic priest who was a minor nobleman. The place of his birth is usually stated as the village of Murahi (now in Rasony district of Vitsebsk region of Belarus),<ref>{{Cite web|last=|title=Honoring the memory of the Belarusian writer Jan Borschevsky|url=http://radzima.ch/maria-magdalena-radziwill-swiss-foundation/honoring-the-memory-of-the-belarusian-writer-jan-borschevsky|access-date=2021-09-06|website=radzima.ch|language=en-gb}}</ref><ref>[https://lpr.gov.lv/wp-content/uploads/2012/bella-dvina-2/land_en.pdf TOURIST ROUTE BELLA DVINA AND THE BALTIC COUNTRY OF LAKES – KALEIDOSCOPE OF NATURAL LANDSCAPES], p. 9</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Баршчэўскі Ян. Шляхціц Завальня: KNIHI.BY. Беларускія кнігі|trans-title=Jan Barszczewski. Nobleman Zawalnia|url=https://www.knihi.by/knihi/barsceuski-jan-slachcic-zavalnia|access-date=2021-09-06|website=www.knihi.by|language=be}}</ref> however some historians assert that Barszczewski was in fact born in the village of Niaviedra (now - Pustoshkinsky District of Pskovski Oblast in Russia).<ref name=":1">Арлоў, Уладзімер (2020). ''[https://docs.rferl.org/be-BY/2020/11/07/96247f72-a7e0-4382-ad1c-ec68459cf6b7.pdf ІМЁНЫ СВАБОДЫ (Бібліятэка Свабоды. ХХІ стагодзьдзе.])'' [''Uładzimir Arłou. The Names of Freedom (The Library of Freedom. ХХІ century.)''] (PDF) (in Belarusian) (4-е выд., дап. ed.). Радыё Свабодная Эўропа / Радыё Свабода - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. pp. 48–49.</ref>
He studied at the Polacak Jesuit College, where he became famous as a reader and writer of poetry. The first known poems written in Belarusian were "The Maiden", "Revolt of serfs", "Robberies of peasants" and "Conversation of serfs". He was also engaged in painting (landscapes and caricatures).<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />
After graduation, Barszczewski worked locally as a home teacher and governor before moving to St. Petersburg.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Баршчэўскі Ян Францавіч|trans-title=Jan Barszczewski|url=http://pridvinie.vlib.by/index.php/mtree-lib/pismenniki-paety-litaratary/barshche-ski-yan-frantsavich|access-date=2021-09-04|website=pridvinie.vlib.by|language=be}}</ref>
== Life in St. Petersburg ==
In St. Petersburg he taught Greek and Latin in several government agencies and studied ancient literature. He met A. Mickiewicz and T. Shevchenko, who praised the poetic efforts of the young writer and encouraged him on the path of professional creativity.<ref name=":0" />
He organised a Belarusian literary circle and was the editor of the annual almanac "Niezabudka" ("Forget-me-not").<ref name=":0" />
== Later life and memory ==
In 1847 Barszczewski moved to the town of Chudniv in Ukraine where he continued his literary work. However, he soon contracted tuberculosis and succumbed to the disease on 12 March 1851.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />
He is buried in Chudniv. In 1997 a monument was erected in his native Murahi - a large boulder with the image of the writer and engraved words "My lonely thoughts return to this land."<ref name=":0" />
== Main works ==
* In 1843 Barszczewski's Belarusian poems "The Maiden", "Vodka" and reworked folk song "Cuckoo" were published for the first time in the magazine "Literary Yearbook".<ref name=":0" /> * His best-known work is ''Szlachcic Zawalnia, czyli Białoruś w fantastycznych opowiadaniach'' [''Nobleman Zawalnia, or Belarus in Fantastic Stories]'' (1846).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Szlachcic Zawalnia. Jan Barszczewski. 1846. St Petersburg: W Drukarni Eduarda Pratza|url=https://polona.pl/item/szlachcic-zawalnia-czyli-bialorus-w-fantastycznych-opowiadaniach-t-4,NDcxMDQ3/1/#info:metadata|access-date=2021-09-04|website=polona.pl|language=pl}}</ref> The story is a "classical collection of gothic and folk horror stories based on eerie tales and legends of northern Belarus" which are told by Zawalnia to his guests or travellers.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nobleman Zawalnia, or Belarus in Fantastic Stories: Premiere Soon! {{!}} Yanka Kupala National Academic Theatre|url=https://kupalauski.by/en/teatr/news/nobleman-zawalnia-or-belarus-in-fantastic-stories-premiere-soon/|access-date=2021-09-06|website=kupalauski.by|archive-date=5 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210905210443/https://kupalauski.by/en/teatr/news/nobleman-zawalnia-or-belarus-in-fantastic-stories-premiere-soon/|url-status=dead}}</ref> “I love stories like that. There is a lot of God's truth in this folk fantasy” Zawalnia says. The reader is presented with a colourful gallery of folk figures - simple, sensitive people. Their philosophy of life is simple and clear: "He who works and asks God, he himself lives well, and helps people." But the heroes of their stories are lustful people who sell themselves for wealth to various evil spirits and monsters and lose their human existence. People's morality (understanding of "humanity") condemns them.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-03-17|title=Ян Баршчэўскі (? — 1851)|trans-title=Jan Barszczewski (? — 1851)|url=https://zviazda.by/be/news/20200316/1584372027-yan-barshcheuski-1851|access-date=2021-09-04|website=zviazda.by|language=be}}</ref> * In 1849 he published the first part of the collection "Prose and Poems", which included ballads, the poem "The Life of an Orphan", the story "The soul is not in his body."<ref name=":0" /> * First full English translation of "Szlachcic Zawalnia, czyli Białoruś w fantastycznych opowiadaniach" was published in 2025 by [https://www.grunwald.ca Grunwald Publishing] (Canada) as "Nobleman Zavalnia, or Belarus in Fantastical Tales". The translated edition includes two companion tales, "The Wooden Old Man and the Insect Woman" and "A Soul Not in Its Own Body". <ref>{{Cite web|date=2026-03-30|title=Nobleman Zavalnia or Belarus in Fantastical Tales|url=https://www.grunwald.ca/product/nobleman-zavalnia-or-belarus-in-fantastical-tales-jan-barszczewski/|language=en}}</ref>
== External links == * {{OL author}}
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Barszczewski, Jan}} Category:1797 births Category:1851 deaths Category:19th-century Polish poets Category:19th-century Polish male writers Category:Polish male poets Category:Belarusian-language Polish writers Category:Poets from the Russian Empire Category:Jesuit College in Polotsk alumni