THE LETTERS OF JAN KALINOWSKI FROM KOREA (1885-1887): SOME REMARKS ON EARLY CONTACTS BETWEEN POLAND AND KOREA (Kilka uwag o wczesnych kontaktach polsko-koreanskich ze szczegolnym uwzglednieniem listow Jana Kalinowskiego z lat 1885-1887)

• Authors: Wadas Andrzej
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The earliest contacts between Poland and Korea, accidental as they undoubtedly must have been, had fallen into oblivion. Those which are documented can be traced back to the last two decades of the 19th century and reach its climax during the time of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). Those early contacts seem to have been an offshoot of a dramatic political situation of Poland in that period, especially after the January Uprising of 1863. The Russian Empire was a transmission belt for that exchange; while Polish explorers and travellers - Benedykt Dybowski (1833-1930) was the most prominent among them - were exploring Siberia, they naturally came into contact with the Korean settlers in the Far East. The key figure among the Poles, who were the first to set foot on Korean soil, was Jan Kalinowski (c. 1860 - c. 1940). A traveller, a hunter and a zoologist, Kalinowski had worked for Konstanty Branicki (1824-1884) and his son, Ksawery Branicki (1864-1926) - both notable Polish collectors. Kalinowski explored Korea in the years 1885-1887 in order to collect rare species of Korean fauna for the Branicki Museum. His letters from Korea were published in the year 1887 in 'Wszechswiat' (a popular Polish natural science magazine) and are, to our present knowledge, the first eyewitness accounts written by a Pole from the 'Land of the Morning Calm'.

Keywords

EN

BRANICKI KONSTANTY; BRANICKI KSAWERY; KALINOWSKI JAN; KOREA - EARLY POLISH EXPLORATION

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Polskie Towarzystwo Orientalistyczne
• Journal: Przegląd Orientalistyczny
• Year: 2009
• Issue: 1-2 (228-229)
• Pages: 17-28
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Wadas Andrzej

• Andrzej Wadas, Uniwersytet Jagielloński,

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

10PLAAAA073715