LELEWEL, Joachim (1786-1861), Polish historian, •was born at Warsaw in 1786. His family came from Prussia in the early part of the 18th century; his grandfather was appointed physician to the Polish king then reigning, and his father caused himself to be naturalized as a Polish citizen. The original form of the name appears to have been Loelheffel. From his earliest childhood the future historian showed his fondness for books. In the year 1807 we find him teacher in a school at Krzemieniec in Volhynia, and in 1814 professor of history at Vilna, a post which he quitted in 1820 for a four years’ discharge of the same office at the university of Warsaw, but returned to it in 1824. His lectures enjoyed great popularity, and the enthusiasm felt for him by the students is shown in the beautiful lines addressed to him by Mickiewicz. But this very circumstance made him obnoxious to the Russian Government, and at Vilna Novosiltzev was then all-powerful. Lelewel was removed from his professorship, and returned to Warsaw, where he was elected a deputy to the diet in 1829. He joined the revolutionary movement with great enthusiasm, but was throughout deficient in energy, and, in fact, although the emperor Nicholas distinguished him as one of the most dangerous rebels, he did not appear to advantage as a man of action. On the suppression of the rebellion he made his way in disguise to Germany, and subsequently reached Paris in 1831. There, however, he was not allowed to stay long, as the Government of Louis Philippe ordered him to quit French territory in 1833 at the request of the Russian ambassador. The cause of this expulsion is said to have been his activity in writing revolutionary proclamations. He now repaired to Brussels, where he for a time lectured on history at the ...university, but was from some cause or other compelled to abandon his occupation. Lelewel spent several years in Brussels in great poverty, barely earning a scanty livelihood by his writings. He died in 1861 at Paris, whither he had removed a short time previously.
Lelewel was an indefatigable man of letters. He was of a simple austere character, and of the strictest probity—in short, of an antique type, one of the few men who have loved learning for its own sake. His literary activity was enormous, extending over the period from the “Edda Skandinawska” of 1807 to the Géographie des Arabes, 2 vols., Paris, 1851. Many of his works are concerned with Polish history, yet he by no means confined himself to it. Thus he has written on the trade of Carthage, on Pytheas the early geographer, and on numismatics (Zα numismatique du Moyen Âge, Paris, 1835, 2 vols.; Études Numismatiqucs, Brussels, 1840). One of his most important publications wasZα Géographie du Moyen Âge, Brussels, 1850-52, with an atlas of fifty plates entirely engraved by himself, for he rightly attached such importance to the accuracy of his maps that he would not allow them to be executed by anyone else. His works on Polish history are monumental; they have been collected into a series under the title Γolska, dzieje i rzeczy jej rozpatrzywane (Poland, her History and Affairs Surveyed), published at Posen, 1854-1868, in 20 vols. He had intended to have written a complete history of the country on an extensive scale, but never accomplished the task. His method is shown in the little history of Poland, first published at Warsaw in Polish in 1823, under the title Dzieje Polski, and afterwards almost r ewritten in the Histoire de Pologne, published at Paris in 2 vols, in 1844. Two other works on Polish history which may be especially mentioned are an edition of the “Chronicle of Matthew of Cholewa” and “Ancient Memorials of Polish Legislation” {Ksic^gi ustaw polskich i mazowieckich). While employed in the university library of Warsaw he studied bibliography, and the fruits of his labours may be seen in his Bibliograficznych Ksiqg dwoje (A Couple of Books on Bibliography) 2 vols. 8vo, Vilna, 1823-26. The characteristics of Lelewel as an historian are great research and power to draw inferences from his facts; his style is too often careless, and his narrative is not picturesque, but his expressions are frequently terse and incisive. He has left valuable materials for a just comprehension of his career in his autobiography {Adventures while Prosecuting Researches and Inquiries on Polish Matters').
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