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Lucjan Rydel
Lucjan Rydel
Lucjan Rydel
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Lucjan Rydel before 1906
Wyspiański:Portrait of Lucjan Rydel, 1898

Lucjan Rydel, also known as Lucjan Antoni Feliks Rydel (17 May 1870 in Kraków – 8 April 1918 in Bronowice Małe), was a Polish playwright and poet from the Young Poland movement.

Life

[edit]

Rydel was the son of Lucjan Rydel, a surgeon, ophthalmologist, professor and Rector of Jagiellonian University in Kraków, and of Helena Kremer.

In 1904, Rydel wrote a nativity play, Polish Bethlehem (Betlejem polskie), and staged its production in two suburbs of Kraków, Tonie and Bronowice, with local villagers as actors. It was an expression of his profound respect for rural Poland as well as the result of his flair for theatrical experimentation. Rydel left the third and the final act of his play open. In the course of history, new characters, including contemporary Polish politicians and celebrities, were added to it by various producers to make the play appeal to new audiences.[1]

Szopka (Christmas Crib)

An open end play like Betlejem polskie is a tradition originating with Kraków's only Szopka (pronounced shopka, "The Nativity Scene", or "The Christmas Crib", commonly translated as "The Christmas Creche") to which new characters are added every year.

Rydel became the director of the renowned Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków for one season, 1915-1916.

His marriage to Jadwiga Mikołajczykówna, a peasant daughter from Bronowice, took place at the Rydlówka Manor, on Tetmajera Street. The event inspired Rydel's pen pal and friend Stanisław Wyspiański to write what became known as the defining Polish independence drama, Wesele ("The Wedding", or "The Wedding Reception").

Rydel's historical place of residence, the Rydlówka Manor, houses a museum of the Young Poland period in the outskirts of Kraków.[2]

Polish composer Jadwiga Sarnecka used Rydel’s text for her song “Szumny wichrze gluchych pol.” [3]

Selected plays

[edit]
  • Zaczarowane koło (1900)
  • Betlejem polskie (1904)
  • Ferenike i Pejsidoros (1909)
  • Zygmunt August – trylogia dramatyczna (1912)

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Lucjan Rydel

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from Grokipedia
Lucjan Rydel was a Polish poet and playwright known for his prominent role in the Young Poland movement and for his 1900 marriage to a peasant woman from Bronowice, which directly inspired Stanisław Wyspiański's landmark modernist play The Wedding. Born on May 17, 1870, in Kraków, Rydel emerged as a versatile literary figure at the turn of the 20th century, working as a dramatist, translator, historian, publicist, theatre critic, and director of Kraków's Juliusz Słowacki Theatre. His multifaceted career encompassed poetry, drama, and cultural activism, reflecting the patriotic and artistic fervor of the Young Poland era. Rydel's wedding, uniting an urban intellectual with rural folk traditions, formed the basis for Wyspiański's 1901 drama, which portrayed real individuals and sparked controversy in Kraków society for its candid depiction of class divides and national aspirations. He settled in Bronowice Małe, where he continued his creative pursuits until his death on April 8, 1918, shortly before Poland regained independence—a goal he championed as a dedicated patriot. His own notable dramatic works include the fairy-tale play Zaczarowane koło, the nativity drama Betlejem polskie, and the historical play Zygmunt August. Though often overshadowed by his association with The Wedding, Rydel's contributions to Polish literature and theater remain significant within the modernist landscape of early 20th-century Poland.

Early life and education

Family background

Lucjan Rydel was born on 17 May 1870 in Kraków, Galicia, Austria-Hungary. He was the son of Lucjan Rydel, a distinguished ophthalmologist, professor at the Jagiellonian University, and its rector from 1884 to 1885, and Helena née Kremer. His mother Helena was the daughter of the philosopher, aesthetician, and Jagiellonian University rector Józef Kremer, making Rydel the grandson of this prominent intellectual figure. Rydel grew up in an intelligentsia family in Kraków, where his father's academic career and university leadership provided access to the city's intellectual and cultural circles. He had several siblings, including brother Stanisław, who died in 1909 at the age of 19, as well as Adam (a neurologist), Mieczysław, Helena, and Anna, with some family members, including Stanisław, noted in the shared family grave at Rakowicki Cemetery.

Education and early career

Lucjan Rydel passed his matura exam in 1888 at C.K. Gimnazjum św. Jacka in Kraków. His family's intellectual background influenced his academic path, leading him to pursue higher education. He studied law at Jagiellonian University from 1888 to 1894, where he earned a doctorate in law. In autumn 1895, he moved to Warsaw and began publishing art-historical articles, literary criticism, and feuilletons, including in Gazeta Polska. In 1896, he received a scholarship from the Academy of Arts and Sciences, enabling him to study in Paris at the Collège de France, the Sorbonne, and the École des Beaux-Arts, while also working at the Bibliothèque Polonaise.

Literary career

Poetry and early publications

Lucjan Rydel's literary career began with the publication of his debut poetry collection Poezje in 1899, a work illustrated by Stanisław Wyspiański that presented lyrical verses characteristic of the Young Poland movement, incorporating folk motifs and antique themes with a modernist sensibility. The collection was later expanded in editions published in 1901 and 1909. His early poetic style featured delicate eroticism, impressionistic landscapes, musicality, and varied meters, evolving from fashionable modernist moods toward a personal tone marked by classical harmony, simplicity, and echoes of early Romantic imagination. Among his earliest publications were short dramatic works, including the one-act drama Matka (1893), influenced by Maurice Maeterlinck, the fantastic mystery Dies irae (1893), which engaged decadent themes of the world's end, and the naturalist-didactic one-act Na marne (1895). Rydel also produced fairy-tale poems, notably Bajka o Kasi i królewiczu (1903), often regarded as one of his highest poetic achievements for its melancholic ballad form, and Pan Twardowski (1906). In 1909 he published Madejowe łoże, a retelling of a folk legend structured in cantos and intended for young readers.

Dramatic works

Lucjan Rydel's dramatic output reflects his engagement with Polish literary traditions, incorporating folk motifs, patriotic sentiment, and historical subject matter characteristic of the Young Poland era. One of his earliest significant plays is Zaczarowane koło (1900), a dramatic fairy tale in five acts written in verse. This philosophical drama draws on folklore to examine themes of fate, temptation, and moral resilience through a story involving rural characters and supernatural elements. In 1904 Rydel published Betlejem polskie, a Polish nativity play (jasełka) that relocates the biblical narrative of Christ's birth to the Vistula region under foreign partitions, transforming it into a powerful symbol of hope for Polish independence. The work merges religious solemnity with folk exuberance, featuring shepherds, patriotic kings offering gifts at the manger, and invocations to national symbols such as the Virgin of Częstochowa, while its open third act enables ongoing additions of contemporary patriotic content. Rydel's 1909 Ferenike i Pejsidoros presents a cultural and social narrative set amid the ancient Olympic games, exploring customs and values of classical antiquity in an obyczajowa form. His most ambitious dramatic achievement is the Zygmunt August trilogy, initiated in 1912 with Królewski jedynak and completed in 1913 with the separate publications of Złote więzy and Ostatni. This historical trilogy depicts the life of King Sigismund II Augustus with notable erudition, drawing on detailed knowledge of 16th-century Polish history, politics, and society.

Theatrical career

Folk theater and rural initiatives

Lucjan Rydel actively promoted folk culture and community theater in rural areas near Kraków as part of his broader interest in elevating peasant traditions and education. From 1901, during his time in Tonie, he organized folk performances, delivered lectures, and established reading rooms across the countryside to encourage cultural engagement among villagers. He staged his nativity play Betlejem polskie, written in 1904, in the Kraków suburbs of Tonie and Bronowice, enlisting local villagers as actors to present authentic rural interpretations of the work. Rydel also championed the self-taught village poet Antoni Kucharczyk, drawing attention to his talents and supporting the recognition of folk poetry within broader literary circles. Following his relocation to the Rydlówka manor in Bronowice Małe in 1912, the residence evolved into a local cultural center, serving as a hub for ongoing rural artistic and educational activities.

Professional theater directorship

Lucjan Rydel served as director of the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków from 1 October 1915 to 31 August 1916. This one-season tenure occurred during World War I, when the theater operated under severe financial strain due to wartime conditions. The difficult circumstances prevented Rydel from implementing his planned ambitious repertoire. Instead, the season emphasized comedies and farces to attract audiences and maintain revenue. Productions included William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors and Troilus and Cressida, George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, and Legenda o królu. The season opened with a revival of Polka w Ameryce. To bolster attendance toward the end, Rydel arranged guest appearances by prominent actors Ludwik Solski and Wanda Siemaszkowa.

Personal life

Marriage to Jadwiga Mikołajczyk

Lucjan Rydel married Jadwiga Mikołajczyk, the daughter of a peasant from Bronowice Małe, on 20 November 1900. Jadwiga Mikołajczyk (1883–1936) came from a rural background in the village of Bronowice Małe near Kraków. The wedding ceremony was held in Bronowice Małe. This traditional rural wedding brought together guests from different social classes, including the poet and playwright Stanisław Wyspiański, who attended as a guest. The event, with its mix of intellectual and peasant elements, directly inspired Wyspiański to write his drama Wesele, completed and premiered in 1901. Following the marriage, the couple settled in Tonie in 1901.

Residence in Bronowice Małe

In 1908, Lucjan Rydel purchased the manor house in Bronowice Małe from the painter Włodzimierz Tetmajer. He commissioned Kraków architect Józef Pokutyński to undertake extensive reconstruction of the property between 1908 and 1912, which transformed the original thatched-roof cottage into a proper manor house covered with tiles. Upon completion of the reconstruction in 1912, Rydel moved in with his family, and the manor thereafter became commonly known as Rydlówka. During his ownership, Rydlówka served as the family residence and a cultural center, preserving the artistic atmosphere of the Young Poland period that had characterized the site. The manor continued to reflect the Young Poland character through its material elements and role as a private home for the Rydel family.

Later years and death

World War I activities

At the outbreak of World War I, Lucjan Rydel served as deputy chairman of the Civic Committee of the Polish Military Treasury (Polski Skarb Wojskowy), a patriotic organization dedicated to supporting Polish military initiatives during the conflict, from August 1914. Upon returning to Kraków, Rydel took on the role of director of the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre, serving in that capacity from September 1915 to August 1916 amid the ongoing wartime circumstances. This position allowed him to maintain cultural activities in Kraków during a challenging period for Polish institutions under foreign occupation. His involvement in these roles reflected his commitment to Polish national causes while navigating the disruptions caused by the war.

Illness and death

Lucjan Rydel suffered from kidney disease, which in 1917 required the surgical removal of one kidney. This operation significantly weakened him, and in March 1918 he fell ill with pneumonia. He died on 8 April 1918 in his residence, Rydlówka, in Bronowice Małe, at the age of 47. Rydel was buried at Rakowicki Cemetery in Kraków, in sector KA, within the family grave that also contains his wife Jadwiga, siblings, and other relatives. The tombstone is shaped like a roadside chapel typical of villages near Kraków, painted blue in reference to traditional peasant cottages in Bronowice.

Legacy

Cultural and literary influence

Lucjan Rydel was one of the leading figures of the Young Poland movement, an artistic and literary trend at the turn of the 20th century that emphasized national revival, symbolism, and a return to folk roots amid Poland's partitioned status. His poetry and dramas frequently incorporated authentic folk motifs, celebrating the resilience, customs, and beauty of rural Polish life as a source of cultural authenticity and national identity. Rydel's personal life further amplified his influence when his 1900 marriage to peasant Jadwiga Mikołajczykówna from Bronowice Małe inspired Stanisław Wyspiański's seminal play Wesele (The Wedding, 1901). The drama, based on Rydel's wedding reception attended by Wyspiański, became a cornerstone of Polish literature, symbolizing the potential for unity between the intelligentsia and peasantry in the struggle for independence and shaping national consciousness through its portrayal of social divisions and patriotic aspirations. Rydel also advanced folk traditions in theater through Betlejem polskie (1904), a nativity play that relocated the biblical story to Polish rural settings, integrating traditional carols and elements reminiscent of the Kraków szopka—a folk nativity scene tradition known for its open-ended, adaptable structure that allows ongoing updates with contemporary references and satire. This work reinforced the integration of rural culture into modern Polish literary expression, contributing to the broader Young Poland effort to draw on folk heritage for national revitalization.

Rydlówka museum and commemorations

The Rydlówka manor house in Bronowice Małe, acquired by Lucjan Rydel in 1908 and serving as his residence from 1912 onward, has been preserved as a branch of the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków. The museum focuses on the Young Poland period, presenting the historical interiors of the manor to evoke the atmosphere of rural artistic and intellectual life at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, closely linked to Rydel's activities and social circle. It functions as a cultural institution dedicated to Rydel's legacy within that era, offering exhibitions, educational programs, and events that highlight his contributions to Polish literature and the broader Młoda Polska movement. Lucjan Rydel is further commemorated through streets bearing his name in multiple Polish cities, including Warsaw-Bielany, Kraków, Łódź, Szczecin, Tychy, Elbląg, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Zamość, Bielsko-Biała, and Częstochowa. This naming practice reflects his enduring recognition in various regions of Poland.

Film and media contributions

Adaptations of his works

Lucjan Rydel's play Zaczarowane koło was adapted into the silent film Zaczarowane koło in 1915, directed by Aleksander Hertz. Rydel himself was portrayed by Daniel Olbrychski in Andrzej Wajda's film Wesele (1973), an adaptation of Stanisław Wyspiański's play inspired by Rydel's wedding.

References

  1. https://krakow.travel/en/27980-krakow-lucjan-rydel-on-the-centenary-of-his-death
  2. https://www.poetrysoup.com/lucjan_rydel/biography
  3. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001852745
  4. https://www.nypl.org/research/research-catalog/bib/hb990064930370203941
  5. https://poezja.org/wz/Lucjan_Rydel/
  6. https://www.klinikaoczna.pl/Journal/-124/pdf-44237-10
  7. https://i.pl/lucjan-rydel-mniej-znany-nie-tylko-pan-mlody-z-wesela/ar/c13-13360728
  8. https://wolnelektury.pl/katalog/autor/lucjan-rydel/
  9. https://encyklopediateatru.pl/artykuly/38799/lucjan-rydel-1870-1918-poeta-i-dramatopisarz
  10. https://www.zck-krakow.pl/11/people/51/rydel_lucjan
  11. https://polskabibliotekamuzyczna.pl/encyklopedia/rydel-lucjan/?lang=en
  12. https://krakow.wiki/lucjan-rydel/
  13. https://encyklopediateatru.pl/artykuly/275560/betlejem-polskie-lucjana-rydla
  14. https://pbc.biaman.pl/dlibra/publication/35514/edition/35337?language=pl
  15. https://bc.radom.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=38211
  16. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339992767_Historiograficzne_proby_Lucjana_Rydla
  17. https://muzeumkrakowa.pl/plik-do-pobrania/487
  18. https://www.ekai.pl/150-lat-temu-urodzil-sie-antoni-kucharczyk-nestor-i-ksiaze-poetow-ludowych/
  19. https://muzeumkrakowa.pl/oddzialy/historia-10
  20. https://encyklopediateatru.pl/osoby/51849/lucjan-rydel
  21. https://culture.pl/en/place/the-juliusz-slowacki-theatre-in-krakow
  22. https://culture.pl/pl/tworca/lucjan-rydel
  23. https://muzeumkrakowa.pl/nasze-wydawnictwa/rydlowka
  24. https://visitmalopolska.pl/en_GB/obiekt/-/poi/muzeum-mlodej-polski-rydlowka-ul-tetmajera-28-krakow
  25. http://kodkrakowa.pl/miejsca/01/
  26. https://www.zabytkikrakowa.com.pl/en/rydlowka-dworek-lucjana-rydla/
  27. https://www.pai.media.pl/pai_wiadomosci.php?id=38058
  28. https://blog.polona.pl/2023/04/lucjan-rydel-poeta-dramaturg-eseista-i-tlumacz/
  29. https://naszemiasto.pl/rakowice-10-miejsc-ktore-trzeba-zobaczyc/ar/c13-7021949
  30. https://culture.pl/en/work/the-wedding-stanislaw-wyspianski
  31. https://wolnelektury.pl/katalog/lektura/rydel-betlejem-polskie/
  32. https://www.mhk.pl/oddzialy/rydlowka
  33. https://filmpolski.pl/fp/index.php?film=1000005
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