Karol Szajnocha
Karol Szajnocha (20 November 1818 – 10 January 1868) was a Polish writer, historian, and independence activist. He was self-taught and became one of Poland’s important historians of the partition era.
He was born in Komarno, in Austrian Galicia. His father was a Polonized Czech who signed his name in various Polish forms, and his mother was Maria Łozińska. Szajnocha went to school in Sambor and Lwów, and he gradually Polishized his name.
In 1834 he started a secret group called the Society of the Ancient Times to collect information about Poland’s history, especially from the time of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The group was discovered and closed, but Szajnocha received only a light punishment. He entered the University of Lwów in 1835. In 1836 he was punished again for spreading pro-Polish leaflets and poems; he was imprisoned and later expelled from the university. He continued his studies on his own, helped by his mentor August Bielowski. He began with linguistics, learning English in prison, then turned to literature and history. He worked as a private tutor, journalist, and editor for several Polish publications in Lwów.
In 1838 Szajnocha joined a new secret group, Sarmacja. In 1839 he published poems, novels, dramas, and historical essays, and he also translated works from Serbian. Around 1847 his health began to fail, but he kept writing. He was offered jobs at the Jagiellonian University in 1850 and again in 1862, but he refused. From 1853 he worked at the Ossolineum Institute, which helped him publish more of his work. He married Joanna Bilińska in 1855.
Szajnocha became completely blind in 1860, though he had trouble reading since 1856. He did not give up: he listened to a reader and dictated his work, sometimes using a device he designed himself. Later rheumatism made writing difficult.
He died on 10 January 1868 in Lwów and was buried at Łyczakowski Cemetery. His funeral was a large patriotic event.
Szajnocha is best known as a historian. His first major work, Pogląd na ogół dziejów polskich (1847), began his reputation. He wrote about Polish kings such as Bolesław Chrobry, Władysław Łokietek, Władysław Jagiełło, and Jadwiga, as well as other historical figures. He helped start the Monumenta Poloniae Historica (1864–1893), a six-volume collection of important Polish sources. His work reached readers beyond scholars and even influenced writers like Henryk Sienkiewicz. His notable Jadwiga i Jagiełło, 1374–1413 (first in 1855–1856; revised in 1861), was praised by the Encyclopaedia Britannica as a great monograph and a key authority on the Polish–Lithuanian union.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 22:35 (CET).