Diligence—Passion—Courage: On Julian Adolf Święcicki’s Forgotten Works on the Arab World

Barbara OSTAFIN

Abstract

Julian Adolf Święcicki († 1932), a figure almost entirely forgotten in the history of Polish literature, was a true patriot: he fought in the January Uprising of 1863, and later organized relief aid for the victims of World War I. He was also a writer, although his works did not withstand the test of time. He was friends with Henryk Sienkiewicz and Bolesław Prus, and an acquaintance of Teofil Lenartowicz. He authored a number of works on the history of foreign literatures. Side by side with pursuing his literary activity, he focused his interests on two separate thematic areas: broadly conceived Francophone literature and Oriental literatures. This article discusses three of Święcicki’s works on Arabic literature, evaluates them, and attempts to determine their scope and possible reach. Święcicki’s Arabist works should be viewed from the perspective of their scholarly and pioneering value, as they were the first comprehensive histories of Arabic literature written in Polish. Although Święcicki did not know Arabic, his humanistic education combined with a command of foreign languages, diligence, courage in unconventional thinking, and, above all, an excellent familiarity with the most up-to-date publications of his time on Arabic literature, culture, and the history of the Arab world, enabled him to propose a model for presenting Arabic literature to Polish readers that remains relevant to this day.