Leopold Jan Szersznik’s Encyclopaedia of Teschen Scholars
Leopold Jan Szersznik’s Encyclopaedia of Teschen Scholars

Summary/Abstract: The article is devoted to an encyclopedic lexicon “Nachrichten von Schriftstellern und Künstlern aus dem Teschner Fürstenthum” by a Teschen-based scholar, a former Jesuit, Leopold Jan Szersznik (1747‒1814), published in 1810. On its 220 pages it contains bio-biographical entries devoted to 109 personalities connected with the Teschen region. They are, however, not exclusively natives to Teschen, but also persons who came to live and were active there during the later period of their lives. While selecting them, L.J. Szersznik did not take into account their religion, language of their scholarly works, nor their academic field – in “Nachrichten…” there was enough place for theologians, preachers, philosophers, nature’s scholars, physicians, historians, writers, artists, legal scholars and others, including illiterate scholars. By creating this encyclopaedia of the history of knowledge, its author wanted to prove that the Teschen land is not in any measure an intellectual wasteland; he also aimed at popularizing the hitherto achievements and development of the region. The article describes the (typo)graphical design of the encyclopaedia, as well as the circumstances accompanying its creation, coupled with the analysis of chosen entries and critical reception of “Nachrichten…”

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