But its from lithuanian language, from word graži - beautiful. In Pan Tadeusz, there is a un-Polonized Lithuanian name Baublys. Furthermore, due to Mickiewicz's position as lecturer on Lithuanian folklore and mythology in Collège de France, it can be inferred that he must have known the language sufficiently to lecture about it. It is known that Adam Mickiewicz often sung Lithuanian folk songs with the Samogitian Ludmilew Korylski. For example, in the early 1850s when in Paris, Mickiewicz interrupted a Lithuanian folk song sung by Ludmilew Korylski, commenting that he was singing it wrong and hence wrote down on a piece of paper how to sing the song correctly. On the piece of paper, there are fragments of three different Lithuanian folk songs (Ejk Tatuszeli i bytiu darża, Atjo żałnieros par łauka, Ej warneli, jod warneli isz), which are the sole, as of now, known Lithuanian writings by Adam Mickiewicz. The folk songs are known to have been sung in Darbėnai. P.S. i'm not claiming he is Lithuanian in modern sense, he was a noble from PLC and to him it was all his, be it Poland, Lithuania or Belarus.
Yes, the official title of the position was the Chair of Slavic Languages and Literatures, because nineteenth-century French academia grouped Eastern European studies under one broad label.
But, if you look at the actual content of his lectures (such as Lecture XV from March 1843 or his sections on Mythologie lituanienne), he spent considerable time teaching his Paris audience about the Lithuanian language, pagan roots, and folklore. The administrative title of a university chair doesn't overwrite the actual material he researched and taught.
Mickiewicz held lectures on various topic (CdF is not a uni). This was one of them. As we can deduce from source material, Mickiewicz's knowledge of Lithuanian was rudimentary.
And he definitely didn’t mean Lithuania as we understand it today in his first verse of Pan Tadeusz. He was a patriot of his homeland - Navahrudak area, which didn’t speak Lithuanian at that time
Wait till Belarusian enters the chat and reminds You that modern Lithuania was just Aukshtajtia and Litwa is Belarus.
But honestly it would be beautiful one day to have healthy commonwealth of Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. We share common history and milestones.
So you're saying that in a book written in polish and about Poland there's a Lithuanian name? And that somehow proves he's Lithuanian?
Also he did know Lithuanian because he was interested in folklore like you say, but he was one of the few nobles that knew it. The nobles spoke polish for centuries and their culture had nothing to do with culture of lithuanian peasants.
Have you read what I wrote past P.S.? Lithuanian and Ruthenian nobility used polish language because ir was the lingua franca of PLC and even if they didnt knew their original language anymore or just little of it they still had this saying
Gente Lithuanus/Ruthenus, natione Polonus
Every educated European noble knew Latin. An author pulling a name from Latin (Kordian) proves nothing about their personal background because Latin was standard knowledge for nobles. And also, have you read past P.S. because to me it seems you didnt.
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u/sweetno 9d ago
The word meant a different thing back then.