Celina Szymanowska
Celina Szymanowska | |
|---|---|
| Born | Celina Szymanowska 16 July 1812 Congress Kingdom of Poland (now Poland) |
| Died | 5 March 1855 (aged 42) |
| Burial place | Père Lachaise Cemetery, reinterred to Les Champeaux Cemetery at Montmorency |
| Other names | Celina Mickiewiczowa, Celina Mickiewicz |
| Spouse | Adam Mickiewicz (m. 1834–1855; her death) |
| Children | 6 |
| Mother | Maria Szymanowska |
Celina Szymanowska (16 July 1812 – 5 March 1855) was a daughter of the Polish composer and pianist Maria Agata Szymanowska and the wife of the Polish Romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz. She also went by the name Celina Mickiewicz.
Biography
Celina's mother was Maria Szymanowska, a composer and pianist, and her father was Józef Szymanowski. She was the half-sister of painter Zofia Szymanowska-Lenartowicz, who lived with Celina and painted many portraits of the Mickiewicz family in her later life.[1]
Szymanowska married poet Adam Mickiewicz in Paris on 22 July 1834; he was fourteen years older than her.[2][3] The couple had six children:[2] daughters Maria and Helena, and sons Władysław (1838–1926), Józef (1850–1938), Aleksander, and Jan.
Celina was disliked by many notable Polish émigrés, including the Romantic poet Zygmunt Krasiński. She was accused of extravagance, poor cooking skills, a desire to dominate her husband, and mental instability. In 1838 Celina declared herself a prophet, an incarnation of the Mother of God, and redeemer of Poland, Polish émigrés and Jews. She also claimed to possess a power to heal, which she said she had successfully applied to the gravely ill Adolf Zaleski.
For some time, Adam Mickiewicz cared for his wife himself. However, marital discord and Celina's mental illness drove him to attempt suicide on 17 or 18 December 1838 by jumping out a window. When he found Celina's mental state worsening, Mickiewicz had her admitted to a mental hospital in Vanves, Paris, where she underwent sleep deprivation, cold-water and mental-shock therapies. Celina was discharged from the hospital by Andrzej Towiański, who claimed to have "miraculously cured her". He assured her that she had regained her mental health, and she remained under his influence and that of the Circle of God's Cause (Koło Sprawy Bożej) until her death.
Death
Upon her death in 1855, she was interred at Paris' Père-Lachaise Cemetery. Exhumed, her remains were transferred to the Les Champeaux Cemetery in Montmorency. The Mickiewicz family tomb has laid there ever since.
References
- ^ Polonsky, Antony (1986). Polin: A Journal of Polish-Jewish Studies. Basil Blackwell for the Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-631-17624-4 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b Sokol, Stanley S.; Kissane, Sharon F. Mrotek; Abramowicz, Alfred L. (1992). The Polish Biographical Dictionary: Profiles of Nearly 900 Poles who Have Made Lasting Contributions to World Civilization. Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers. p. 260. ISBN 978-0-86516-245-7 – via Google Books.
- ^ Maurer, Jadwiga (1989). "Celina Szymanowska as a Frankist". The Polish Review. 34 (4): 335–347. ISSN 0032-2970. JSTOR 25778456.
- Patrycja Rogacz, "La bande infernale – o kobietach w domu Mickiewicza" ("La bande infernale: About the Women in Mickiewicz's House"), N-C, 8 January 2011 [1]
- Zbigniew Sudolski, Panny Szymanowskie i ich losy (The Szymanowski Daughters and Their Fates), Ludowa Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza, 1982, ISBN 8320533937.
- Alina Witkowska, Celina i Adam Mickiewiczowie (Celina and Adam Mickiewicz), Kraków, Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1998, ISBN 8308029000.
- Alicja Zdziechowicz, "Celina – kobieta, która nie mieściła się w legendzie wieszcza" ("Celina: the Woman Who Did Not Fit into the Bard's Legend"), in O czym nie mówią nam poloniści (What the Polish-Literature Scholars Do Not Tell Us), Warsaw, Wydawnictwo Szkolne PWN, 2011, ISBN 978-83-262-1014-3, pp. 162–163.
- Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński, Brązownicy i inne szkice o Mickiewiczu (The Bardolators, and Other Sketches about Mickiewicz), Warsaw, 1930.
External links
- History of the Mickiewicz marriage (in Polish)