Edmund Chojecki | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Edmund Franciszek Maurycy Chojecki (1822-10-15)15 October 1822 |
| Died | 1 December 1899(1899-12-01) (aged 77) Paris, France |
| Occupation | Novelist, Journalist and Playwright |
| Language | Polish, French |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Period | 19th century |
Edmund Franciszek Maurycy Chojecki (Polish pronunciation:[xɔˈjɛt͡skʲi];Wiski,Podlasie, 15 October 1822 – 1 December 1899, Paris) was a Polish journalist, playwright, novelist, poet and translator.[1][2] Originally hailing fromWarsaw,[3] from 1844 he resided in France,[2] where he wrote under thepen nameCharles Edmond.
Early on, Chojecki participated in leftist intellectual and political movements and edited Polish poetAdam Mickiewicz's political weekly magazineLa Tribune des Peuples (The Peoples' Tribune). In time he entered elite Parisian learned and literary circles, became secretary toEmperor Napoleon III, and co-founded the Paris dailyLe Temps, predecessor toLe Monde.
Chojecki wrote a notable Polish-language novel,Alkhadar (1854), and translated into Polish (1847)Jan Potocki's celebrated novel,The Saragossa Manuscript.
Edmund Chojecki spent his youth inWarsaw, where his leftist political views crystallized. He was a friend of the poetCyprian Norwid, wrote for the monthlyPrzegląd Warszawski (The Warsaw Review),Echo (The Echo) and the monthlyBiblioteka Warszawska (The Warsaw Library, 1840–42), and was secretary of the Board of Directors of the Warsaw Theaters (Dyrekcja Warszawskich Teatrów).
In 1844 Chojecki moved to France and after 1845 became active in European leftist movements. In 1846 he wroteCzechja i Czechowie (Czechia and the Czechs), a book about the history of theCzech lands.[4] In 1848 he took part in aSlavic congress inPrague and was expelled for radicalism.[2] In 1849 he became editor ofLa Tribune des Peuples (The Peoples' Tribune),[2] a Polish-ledFrench-languageradicalromantic-nationalist political weekly magazine that had been founded by the Polish poetAdam Mickiewicz. In this capacity, Chojecki came into contact with many prominent Russian and German émigrés.[3] HisLa Tribune des Peuples was published in Paris between March and November 1849, with a hiatus (14 April – 31 August 1849) caused by censorship. Chojecki also wrote for the progressiveRevue Indépendante (Independent Review), co-edited byGeorge Sand, and for the socialist newspaperLa Voix du Peuple (The Voice of the People). For his pains, he was expelled from France.[3] He visited Egypt, Turkey (where he enlisted in the army during theCrimean War) and Iceland (where he went as secretary to PrinceLouis Napoleon).[3]
Until the 1850s, e.g. inRewolucjoniści i stronnictwo wsteczne w r. 1848 (The Revolutionaries and the Reactionaries in 1848, published in 1849), Chojecki had promoted revolutionary-democratic andutopian-socialist ideas.[2]
In time, he entered elite Parisian learned and literary circles. In 1856 he became secretary toLouis Napoleon, who in 1852 had becomeEmperor Napoleon III of France. In 1861 Chojecki co-founded the Paris daily,Le Temps,[1][2] predecessor to France's most popular modern newspaper,Le Monde.[5] He became director of the Senate Library. In later years, as a French citizen, he wrote novels and plays under the pen name "Charles Edmond"[6] and enjoyed the friendship of theGoncourt brothers andGustave Flaubert.[1][2]
Chojecki is remembered in the history ofPolish literature as the author of a fine realistic novel,Alkhadar (1854), about the vicissitudes of a romantic conspirator against the backdrop of PolishGalicia's landed gentry, which was being brought to ruin by capitalism.[6]
Chojecki also translated into Polish many French-language works, including (in 1847) the novelThe Saragossa Manuscript by the Polish polymath aristocratJan Potocki.[1][2] After sections of Potocki's novel had been lost (other fragments having been published as separate parts in 1804 and 1813–14), the missing sections were restored byback-translation into Frenchfrom Chojecki's Polish translation.[7]
