Bohomolec, Franciszek

▪ Polish dramatist and linguist

born January 29, 1720, near Vitebsk, Poland [now in Belarus]

died April 24, 1784, Warsaw, Poland

      Polish dramatist, linguist, and theatrical reformer who was one of the principal playwrights of the Polish Enlightenment.

      After completing his studies in Rome for the Jesuit priesthood, Bohomolec taught in Warsaw and began to adapt the comedies of Carlo Goldoni (Goldoni, Carlo) and Molière for performance by his pupils. His early works satirized the ignorance and folly of the Polish aristocracy. His later plays reached a wider public; they included Małżeństwo z kalendarza (1766; “Marriage by the Calendar”), which ridicules ignorance and superstition and is usually considered his best work, and Czary (1775; “Sorcery”), which also satirizes superstition. Pan dobry (1767; “The Good Lord”) is a social commentary on the relationship between the peasants and the gentry.

      For the last 20 years of his life Bohomolec edited the magazine Monitor, which greatly contributed to the Enlightenment in Poland. It was modeled on the famed English magazines The Tatler (Tatler, The) and The Spectator (Spectator, The) and was one of the first modern periodicals in Poland. His works in Latin include a study of the Polish colloquial tongue.

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