Karolina Proniewska

Karolina Proniewska (audio|proniewska.ogg|pronunciation) or Karolina Praniauskaitė (1828 - 1859) was a romantic ethnic Samogitian [cite journal | author = Povilas Vitkevičius
date = | year = 1998 | month = | title = Bajorai Praniauskai A. Baranausko gyvenimo kelyje | journal = Lietuvos bajoras | issue = 3 | pages = 29–30 | publisher = Danielius | location = Vilnius | issn = 1392-1304 | language = Lithuanian | quote = Save Karolina laikė žemaite. Translation: Karolina herself identified as Samogitian. ] though some claims Lithuaniandubiuos Zygmunt Stoberski, "Historia literatury litewskiej: zarys", Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, 1974, p.55] Dubious|date=April 2008lt icon [http://ct.svs.lt/lmenas/?leid_id=3118&kas=straipsnis&st_id=9754 Kulturos Žemelapis] . Lithuanian Writer's Union, November 17, 2006.] poet and translator. She wrote in the LithuaniandubiuosS. Geda. [http://www.culture.lt/satenai/?leid_id=704&kas=straipsnis&st_id=2707 XIX amžiaus lietuviai] . Retrieved 2007-12-09] {dubiuos lt icon cite web| url=http://samogitia.mch.mii.lt/KULTURA/Zem_rasytojai_Telsiai.htm| title=Žemaitijos rašytojai (Writers from Samogitia) | accessdate=2007-04-18| first=Danutė| last=Mukienė |date=2003-05-15| ] and Polish languages.pl icon cite journal| author =Krystyna Syrnicka | year =2002 | month =May | title =Karolina Proniewska - zapomniana poetka ze Żmudzi (Karolina Proniewska, a forgotten poet from Samogitia) | journal =Nasz Czas | volume =20 | issue =559 | pages =25 | id = ISSN|1641-7933 oclc|69526313| language = Polish| url =http://nasz-czas1.tripod.com/025/syrnic.html ] pl icon cite book | author =various authors | coauthors =Paweł Hertz | title =Zbiór poetów polskich XIX wieku (Anthology of Polish poets of 19th century) | year =1959 | editor = | pages =347 | chapter = | chapterurl = | publisher =Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy | location =Warsaw | isbn= | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=EgEdAAAAIAAJ&q=Proniewska&dq=Proniewska&pgis=1 | format = | accessdate =2007-10-09 ] pl icon cite book | author =Karol Estreicher | coauthors =Stanisław Estreicher | title =Bibliografia polska (Polish bibliography) | volume =1-2 | year = | editor = | pages = | chapter = | chapterurl = | publisher =Jagiellonian University Press | location =Kraków | isbn=8301060247 | url = | format = | accessdate =2007-10-09 ]

Born in Samogitia, a historical region of Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire, she is sometimes referred to as a "Samogitian Bard". She is remembered largely for her association with Antanas Baranauskas, who became a prominent Lithuanian poet, and one of the classic authors in that language, and whom she persuaded to write in the Lithuanian language. She is also considered the first woman poet in Lithuanian literature, she has been author of important translations of poems into Lithuanian.

Biography

Karolina Anna Proniewska (Karolina Ona Praniauskaitė), a Samogitian noblewoman according to Lithuanian authors,lt icon cite book
author =Egidijus Aleksandravičius| title =Giesmininko kelias| year =2003| pages = p.82
chapter =| publisher =Versus Aureus| location =Vilnius| isbn =9955-601-00-0 | format = | accessdate =| language =Lithuanian] [cite news | first=Kazimieras | last=Dobkevičius | coauthors= | title=Kauno kunigų seminarija - katalikybės ir lietuvybės židinys | date= | publisher=XXI amžius | url =http://xxiamzius.lt/numeriai/2004/12/10/ora_02.html | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2007-11-11 | language = Lithuanian ] by Polish authors perceived as Polish-Lithuanian noblewoman,Fact|date=December 2007 was a poet who also wrote in Polish and Lithuanian languages, and was a prolific poet-translator of Lithuanian literatureFact|date=November 2007. She was born January 18, 1828 in Padubysys (Padurbice), a small manor near Telšiai,pl icon cite book |first=Antoni |last=Baranowski|authorlink=Antanas Baranauskas |others =Józef Jacek Rojek, Mieczysław Jackiewicz, Juozas Vaina | title =Borek oniksztyński (Anykščiai Forest) | year =1987 | editor = | pages =XV-XVII | chapter = | chapterurl = | publisher =Pojezierze | location =Olsztyn | isbn= | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=86AhAAAAMAAJ&q=Proniewska&dq=Proniewska&pgis=1 | format = | accessdate =2007-10-09 ] then part of the Russian Empire, where Polish culture predominated.cite encyclopedia | author= |coauthors= |editor= |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Lituanica |title=Karolina Praniauskaite |url=http://www.spaudos.lt/Istorija/K_Praniauskaite.en.htm |accessdate=2007-10-09|year=1970-1978 |publisher=Lithuanian Encyclopedia Press |volume=I-VI |location=Boston, Mass. |id= |doi= |pages= |quote= ] Her father, Teofil Proniewski of Korwinpl icon cite book | author =Tadeusz Gajl | coauthors = | title =Herby szlacheckie Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narodów | year =2003 | pages = | publisher =Wydawnictwo "L&L" | location =Gdańsk | isbn=8388595121 ] , was an assessor at the local court, while her mother was Eleonora née Dobszewicz. Proniewska started to write poems at the age of seven. Her father died when she was seven and her mother had difficulties supporting both the manor and the family. Three of Karolina's brothers belonged to a close circle of Lithuanian intellectuals who were deeply involved with the growing Lithuanian national movement. [Egidijus Aleksandravičius (2003), p.83] As a girl she suffered from tuberculosis, and her eldest brother forbade her to read any books or write poetry, which he supposed would harm her already poor health. She disobeyed. Soon she moved to Telšiai, where she started working as a teacher. Another of her brothers, Otton Proniewski, the personal secretary to the Bishop of Samogitia Motiejus Valančius, financed the publication of a book of her poems, which made her regionally famous, partly due to publications in the "Warsaw Gazette," one of the most respected Polish-language newspapers of the time.

Strongly influenced by Adam Mickiewicz's romantic poetry, she is known to have devoted at least one poem to him.pl icon cite book | author =various authors | coauthors = | title =Adam Mickiewicz w poezji polskiej i obcej, 1818-1855-1955 (Adam Mickiewicz in Polish and foreign poetry) | year =1961 | editor =Jerzy Starnawski | pages =211 | chapter = | chapterurl = | publisher =Ossolineum | location =Wrocław | isbn= | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=XoAwAAAAIAAJ&q=Proniewska&dq=Proniewska&pgis=1 | format = | accessdate =2007-10-09 ] Although her published original works were written in the Polish language, with time she also made several translations of Polish-language classics into Lithuanian. Among the most notable of these translations is "Matka węży" by Józef Ignacy Kraszewski. The translation is said to have had an unprecedented impact on Lithuanian culture as a fundamental work of Lithuanian high art, cite book | author =Endre Bojtár | coauthors = | title =Foreword to the Past: A Cultural History of the Baltic People | year =2000 | editor = | pages =243 | chapter = | chapterurl = | publisher =Central European University Press | location =Budapest | isbn=963-9116-42-4 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=5aoId7nA4bsC&pg=PA243&dq=Proniewska&sig=2gLf201Tgm1Xy9TurIElfSmL37g | format = | accessdate =2007-10-09 ] and to have been much of a much higher quality than her own dilettantish Polish verses. [cite book | last = Bojtár | first = Endre | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Foreword to the Past: A Cultural History of the Baltic People | publisher = Central European University Press |year=1999 | location = | pages = p. 243 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 9639116424 ]

In 1855, through her sister Tekla, she met Antanas Baranauskas, a young poet then working as a clerk at the nearby farm in Seda. Proniewska instilled into Baranauskas a love for Lithuanian language and culture, and convinced him to start writing his poems in the Lithuanian language. The couple started to exchange letters and, with time, poems. Proniewska convinced him to start writing his poems in the Lithuanian language. Her brother Otton helped Baraunaskas pass his entrance examinations into the Catholic school in Varniai, one of the few venues then open to a member of the lower social strata for attaining an education in 19th century Russia. Baranauskas went on to become a scholar of the Lithuanian language, [ [http://anthology.lms.lt/texts/17/autor.html Antanas Baranauskas] . UNESCO, Lithuanian Classic Literature Anthology.] and wrote what has been described as one of the greatest works in Lithuanian literature, "Anykyšciu šilelis" (The Forest of Anykšciai). [ [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9013269/Antanas-Baranauskas Antanas Baranuskas] . Encyclopedia Britannica] He also went on to become a Roman Catholic bishop.

It is commonly accepted that Proniewska had been his friend and patron. However, prior to her death, she requested that all of their letters and her diaries be burned, and little documentation of their relationship has survived.lt icon cite book | author =Regina Mikšytė | coauthors = | title =Antano Baranausko kūryba | year =1964 | editor = | pages =37-50 | chapter = | chapterurl = | publisher =Vaga | location =Vilnius | isbn= | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=C4E_AAAAIAAJ&q=Proniewska&dq=Proniewska&pgis=1 | format = | accessdate =2007-10-09 ] She died at the age of 31, on May 26, 1859, and was buried at a cemetery in Utena, where she spent the last months of her life. No pictures of her have survived. Her exact burial place is unknown, but an oak commemorative sculpture at the Utena cemetery bears her name, [lt icon [http://www.utena-on.lt/Utenos_enciklopedija/kultpaminklai/istorijos_sarasas.htm Istorijos paminklai (Historical Monuments) at the Utena Cemetery] . Encyclopedia of Utena.] as does the Telšiai Public Library. [ [http://www.euro.lt/old/showmenuitems.php?TopMenuID=42&MenuItemID=97&LangID=2 Lithuania in the European Union - Europe information centres] . Euro.lt]

Notes and references

External links

*lt icon [http://xxiamzius.lt/numeriai/2005/07/13/kult_01.html xxiamzius.lt. "Sidabro namai" (Silver houses), a 2005 dramatization of the literary friendship between Praniauskaitė and Baranauskas] .