- Delfina Potocka
-
Delfina Potocka, 1830s
Delfina Potocka, née Komar (March 1807 – April 2, 1877), a Polish countess, was a friend and muse to noted Polish expatriate artists Frédéric Chopin and Zygmunt Krasiński.[1]
Contents
Life
Delfina Potocka was born in Murowane Kuryłowce, Podole, in March 1807. She was the daughter of Stanisław Komar and Honorata Orłowska. In 1825 she married Count Mieczysław Potocki (thereby becoming a countess), with whom she had two daughters. Unhappy in her married life, she eventually divorced Potocki.[1]
Delfina Potocka, 1820sPotocka was noted for her beauty, intellect and artistic gifts.[1] In her youth she was a student of Polish pianist and composer Frédéric Chopin.
After parting with her husband, Potocka went abroad, where she maintained close contacts with Chopin and with the Polish Romantic poet Count Zygmunt Krasiński.[1]
She met Krasiński in Naples, Italy, on December 24, 1838, and soon became his beloved confidante to whom he revealed his innermost thoughts, and for whom he famously wrote "Sen Cezary" ("Cezara's Dream," published 1840) and the Messianic poem "Przedświt" ("Dawn's Approach," published 1843).[2] Potocka was the great love of Krasiński's life and fully reciprocated his feelings. Their romance lasted to 1846, after which she remained his friend and muse. (In July 1843, Krasiński married Countess Eliza Branicka.)
Potocka's friendships with Chopin and Krasiński are immortalized in their correspondence, Listy do Delfiny Potockiej (Letters to Delfina Potocka, 3 vols., published 1930–38, since reprinted) and in numerous works that the two artists created in her honor, including poems by Krasiński and Chopin's Waltz in D flat major, Op. 64—the famous "Minute Waltz."[1]
Potocka died in Paris, France, on 2 April 1877 and is buried at Paris's Montmorency Cemetery.
See also
Notes
References
- "Potocka Delfina z Komarów," Encyklopedia Polski, p. 534.
- "Potocka Delfina, z Komarów," Encyklopedia powszechna PWN (PWN Universal Encyclopedia), Warsaw, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, vol. 3, 1975, pp. 661-62.
Categories: Socialites | 19th-century Polish people | 1807 births | 1877 deaths
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
