Kartka z dziejów Krzemieńca. Sprawa Tadeusza Szostakowskiego
Krzemieniec’s history: The case of Tadeusz Szostakowski

Summary/Abstract: A chemistry teacher in a preparatory school in Wołyń, Szostakowski was an unusual character. A promising academic, a favourite of Jędrzej Śniadecki and Tadeusz Czacki, he fell into disrepute after the latter’s death. Disliked by colleagues, humiliated by supervisors, proud at heart, his only consolation is his love to Maria Czacka. The girl’s mother, though, is initially averse, then hostile towards him. She visits the Vilnius University rector and accuses Szostakowski of insanity on the basis of a fake medical certificate. Szostakowski is dismissed, ends up somewhere in Ukraine and starts paraphrasing Horace’s lyrics. He dies around the year 1826. His story is especially interesting in the context of ‘Ateny Wołyńskie’. The manuscripts of his letters to Lelewel and fragments of his autobiography together with documents dating back to 1814 shed some interesting light on the story of schools in the region.

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