View source for Biography:Aleksander Świętochowski

{{Short description|Polish philosopher (1849–1938)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Aleksander Świętochowski
| image              = Aleksander Świętochowski by Ignacy Łopieński (cropped).jpg
| other_names        = Poseł Prawdy
| birth_date         = 18 January 1849
| birth_place        = Stoczek Łukowski, Podlasie, [[History:Congress Poland|Congress Poland]]
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1938|04|25|1849|01|18}}
| death_place        = Gołotczyzna, near Ciechanów, [[Place:Second Polish Republic|Poland]]
| nationality        = Polish
| known_for          = [[Philosophy:Positivism in Poland|Polish Positivism]]
| signature          = Autograph-AleksanderSwietochowski.svg
}}
[[File:Kazimierz Mordasewicz - Portret Aleksandra Świętochowskiego 2.jpg|thumb|Aleksander Świętochowski, 1908]]
'''Aleksander Świętochowski''' (18 January 1849 – 25 April 1938) was a Polish writer, educator, and philosopher of the [[Philosophy:Positivism in Poland|Positivist period]] that followed the January 1863 Uprising.

He was widely regarded as the prophet of [[Philosophy:Positivism in Poland|Polish Positivism]], spreading in the [[Place:Warsaw|Warsaw]] press the gospel of [[Science|scientific inquiry]], education, [[Finance:Economic development|economic development]], and equality of rights for all, without regard to sex, class, ethnic origin or beliefs. His was a nuanced vision, however, that took account of the shortcomings of [[Philosophy:Human nature|human nature]]; like H.G. Wells, he advocated that power in society be wielded by the most enlightened among its members.

==Life==
Świętochowski was a journalist, literary critic, historian and [[Biography:Philosopher|philosopher]]—a founder and the leading ideologue of [[Philosophy:Positivism in Poland|Polish Positivism]].<ref name="Aleksander p. 393">"Świętochowski, Aleksander," ''Encyklopedia Powszechna PWN'' (PWN Universal Encyclopedia), vol. 4, p. 393.</ref> In 1871 he published in ''Przegląd Tygodniowy'' (The Weekly Review) a famous programmatic article of the Polish Positivists, "''My i wy''" ("We and You").<ref name="Aleksander p. 679">"Świętochowski, Aleksander," ''Encyklopedia Polski'', p. 679.</ref>

Świętochowski worked with many periodicals, including (1870–78) ''Przegląd Tygodniowy'' (The Weekly Review),<ref name="Aleksander p. 679" /> in 1876–78 as co-editor. In 1878–79 he edited the daily ''Nowiny'' (News);<ref name="Aleksander p. 393" /> when in 1882 it was bought by financier Stanisław Kronenberg, its new owner, purportedly on Świętochowski's recommendation, entrusted the editorship to Bolesław Prus.<ref>Krystyna Tokarzówna and Stanisław Fita, ''Bolesław Prus, 1847–1912: Kalendarz życia i twórczości'' (Bolesław Prus, 1847–1912: A Calendar of His Life and Work), p. 251.</ref>

In 1881–1902 Świętochowski edited and published ''Prawda'' (The Truth), which he had founded.<ref name="Aleksander p. 393" />

In 1881 he lost his little son. Unable to regain his equilibrium, in mid-February 1882, on the advice of Dr. Tytus Chałubiński, he went on a journey to Italy. He would recall in his ''Pamiętnik'' (Memoirs):

{{blockquote|During my two-month journey, [Władysław] Smoleński stood in for me in editing ''Prawda''; and, in writing columns—[Bolesław] Prus, with whom, after the fading of the memory of [our] polemical skirmishes of the "Young Press" period, I shared a renewed mutual sympathy.<ref>Krystyna Tokarzówna and Stanisław Fita, ''Bolesław Prus, 1847–1912: Kalendarz życia i twórczości'' (Bolesław Prus, 1847–1912: A Calendar of His Life and Work), p. 247.</ref>}}

In 1905 Świętochowski founded, and subsequently led, ''Stronnictwo Postępowo-Demokratyczne'' (the Progressive-Democratic Party), which after 1918 was somewhat aligned with the National Democratic Party.<ref name="Aleksander p. 393" /> He worked with the National Democrats in opposing [[Social:Socialism|socialism]], but their [[Social:Nationalism|nationalism]] and racism were alien to him, and the National Democrats never regarded him as one of their own.<ref name="Polish Literature p. 287">[[Biography:Czesław Miłosz|Czesław Miłosz]], ''The History of Polish Literature'', p. 287.</ref>

Świętochowski founded and was president of ''Towarzystwo Kultury Polskiej'' (the Polish Culture Society, 1906–13) and editor and publisher of its organ, ''Kultura Polska'' (Polish Culture).<ref name="Aleksander p. 393" />

From 1912 until his death in 1938, Świętochowski lived in Gołotczyzna, a village 67 kilometers north of [[Place:Warsaw|Warsaw]], where he established intimate intellectual and personal ties with Aleksandra Bąkowska. As early as 1909, he had inspired the creation, in Gołotczyzna, of a [[Finance:Home economics|home-economics]] school for village girls, established by Bąkowska; and three years later, an agriculture school for boys, called ''Bratne''. He regarded these institutions as his greatest achievement in the realm of education.<ref>Information from the Polish Wikipedia.</ref>

Świętochowski died at Gołotczyzna on 25 April 1938 and was buried in the cemetery at Sońsk, near Ciechanów.

His son Ryszard Świętochowski (Warsaw, 17 October 1882 – 1941, Auschwitz) was an engineer, journalist and politician who supported Władysław Sikorski, and published many papers in the field of [[Physics:Physics|physics]]; he was murdered at [[Social:Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz concentration camp]].

==Views==
As the leading ideologist and exponent of the latter-19th-century Polish philosophical and cultural movement known as "[[Philosophy:Positivism in Poland|Polish Positivism]]," Świętochowski was an uncompromising critic of outdated traditions and obscurantism, and a spokesman for the fostering of knowledge and education.<ref name="Aleksander p. 393" />

A complement to this optimistic [[Scientism|scientism]] was his reflections on the limitations of [[Philosophy:Human nature|human nature]] ("''Dumania pesymisty''" ["Reflections of a Pessimist"], ''Przegląd Tygodniowy'' [The Weekly Review], 1876), which led him to contrast [[Philosophy:Wise old man|sage]] leaders with [[Philosophy:Egotism|egotistic]] [[Organization:Society|societal]] [[Social:Collective|collective]]s. Over the years, this concern of his would recur in a number of his plays and stories.<ref name="Aleksander p. 393" />

[[Biography:Czesław Miłosz|Czesław Miłosz]] describes him: "A brilliant man, a sharp, even violent, polemicist against the conservatives, accused by his adversaries of haughtiness... he edited the periodical ''Truth'' ''(Prawda)'', signing his articles 'Truth's [Apostle].'"<ref>[[Biography:Czesław Miłosz|Czesław Miłosz]], ''The History of Polish Literature'', p. 286.</ref>

{{blockquote|As a creative writer [writes Miłosz], he cannot be accorded a very lofty position. He seemed even in his own day excessively cerebral; and his [play]s, for instance, are nothing but cold [pyrotechnics] of [[Philosophy:Dialogue|dialogue]]s. Among his works, one of the most important is a two-volume [''Brief History of Poland's Peasants''].<ref name="Polish Literature p. 287" />}}

{{blockquote|[Nevertheless, w]hile his literary creations have not withstood the test of time and are not among the living artistic works of Polish literature, he will remain in Polish culture the personality that most fully embodied the ideals of the age, the activist and journalist most  representative of the period, "the [[Religion:Pope|Pope]] of [[Place:Warsaw|Warsaw]] [[Philosophy:Progressivism|progressivism]]," a tireless opponent of superstition and stupidity, the unmasker of patriotic and religious cant.<ref>Jan Zygmunt Jakubowski, ed., ''Literatura polska od średniowiecza do pozytywizmu'' (Polish Literature from the Middle Ages to Positivism), p. 594.</ref>}}

==Books==
*''Wolter'' (Voltaire), 1878.
*''O prawach człowieka i obywatela'' (On the Rights of Man and the Citizen), 1907.
*''Utopie w rozwoju historycznym'' (Utopias in Historic Development), 1910.
*''Historia chłopów polskich w zarysie'' (Brief History of Poland's Peasants), 2 vols., 1925–28.

==See also==
* [[Philosophy:History of philosophy in Poland#Positivism|History of philosophy in Poland]] 
* List of Poles

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}
 
==References==
*"Świętochowski, Aleksander," ''Encyklopedia Powszechna PWN'' (PWN Universal Encyclopedia), [[Place:Warsaw|Warsaw]], Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, vol. 4, 1976, p.&nbsp;393.
*"Świętochowski, Aleksander," ''Encyklopedia Polski'' (Encyclopedia of Poland), Kraków, Wydawnictwo Ryszard Kluszczyński, 1996, {{ISBN|83-86328-60-6}}, p.&nbsp;679.
*Krystyna Tokarzówna and Stanisław Fita, ''Bolesław Prus, 1847–1912: Kalendarz życia i twórczości'' (Bolesław Prus, 1847–1912: A Calendar of His Life and Work), Warsaw, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1969.
*[[Biography:Czesław Miłosz|Czesław Miłosz]], ''The History of Polish Literature'', 2nd ed., Berkeley, University of California Press, 1983, {{ISBN|0-520-04477-0}}.
*Jan Zygmunt Jakubowski, ed., ''Literatura polska od średniowiecza do pozytywizmu'' (Polish Literature from the Middle Ages to Positivism), Warsaw, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1979, {{ISBN|83-01-00201-8}}, pp.&nbsp;588–94 and ''passim''.

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090404022253/http://univ.gda.pl/~literat/autors/swietoch.htm Virtual Library of Polish Literature: Prof. Jan Data, "Aleksander Świętochowski"]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110928220016/http://dziedzictwo.polska.pl/katalog/skarb,Swiadectwo_maturalne_Aleksandra_Henryka_Swietochowskiego_z_dnia_18_30_VI_1866_roku,gid,186188,cid,1807.htm Aleksander Henryk Świętochowski's secondary-school graduation certificate ''(świadectwo maturalne)'' of 18/30 June 1866] He was "excellent" in most subjects—"satisfactory" in [[Social:Russian language|Russian language]], [[Chemistry:Chemistry|chemistry]], calligraphy, drawing.


{{DEFAULTSORT:Swietochowski, Aleksander}}
[[Category:19th-century philosophers]]

{{Sourceattribution|Aleksander Świętochowski}}