Jan Kochanowski Monument
Kraków Artists: Writers and Poets
A monument unveiled on 18 October 1974 on the Złotego Wieku estate in Nowa Huta, between the blocks known as the "fluffies". The initiator was Zbigniew Sularczyk, chairman of Local Committee no. 3, the design was prepared by the architect Bogusław Danielak, and the bronze relief portrait is by Antoni Hajdecki. Jan Kochanowski (1530-1584) was a Renaissance poet regarded as one of the greatest creators of the Renaissance in Europe and the one who contributed most to the development of the Polish literary language.
History
Jan Kochanowski was born in 1530 in Sycyna. He is one of the greatest writers of the European Renaissance, and as a poet he did more than anyone to shape the Polish literary language. He was entered in the register of the Kraków Academy in 1544, and later studied in Padua. In 1563 he entered the service of Deputy Chancellor Piotr Myszkowski, thanks to whom he became a royal secretary. In 1574 he settled permanently in Czarnolas. He promised Jan Zamoyski a literary work, and he worked on it, The Dismissal of the Greek Envoys, until the end of 1577. In 1579 Stefan Batory appointed him wojski (district steward) of Sandomierz. His Psałterz Dawidów (David's Psalter, 1579), Treny (Laments, 1580) and Fraszki (Trifles, 1584) were printed in Kraków. Kochanowski died in Lublin on 22 August 1584.
The monument in Nowa Huta was unveiled on 18 October 1974 in the Złotego Wieku estate, between the blocks of flats known as the "puchatki". The initiative came from Zbigniew Sularczyk, who headed District Committee No. 3. The design was prepared by Bogusław Danielak, an architect working at the Nowa Huta district office, and the relief portrait of the poet is by Antoni Hajdecki. The bronze cast was made by the Lenin Steelworks, and the concrete pedestal by the Reinforced Concrete Works in Łęg. The monument was unveiled by Tadeusz Nowak, and the ceremony was attended by the colour party of the scout troop named after Kochanowski.
Did you know?
The poet's supposed skull eventually ended up in the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków. However, anthropological research and a computer facial reconstruction in 2010 showed that it belonged to a woman aged about 40, which may mean it was the poet's wife.