Poland > Traces of Aleksander Fredro

Following the traces of Aleksander Fredro

The country bouse in Benkova Wiszttia, the estate of Jacek Fredro, Aleksander's father, lies in Rudki County and the writer spent his childhood and youth there. The Fredro family's residence now houses the Secondary Agricultural School in Rudki. On the author’s 200h birthday anniversary in 199.i a memorial room was opened there with many rare memorabilia of the luminary of Polish comedy and his family.

After young Aleksander had returned home from Napoleonic campaigns in 1815, his father settled him in Jatieifgi, entrusting him the management of a small estate on the charming river Wisznia. It was there that I'rodro started writing his first comedies.

In the smart country house in Lubien Wielki, the place of birth of Zofia, Aleksander Fredro’s wife, restoration work on the grandiose residence of the Jahlonowksi family is underway. Like the place's curative springs attracted the richest patients from Galicia centuries ago, it may now draw people seeking recovery.

A commemorative plaque on the site of a palace called “Fredrowka" that once stood in Cborqzczyzna testifies to Fredro’s stay in LuAtv. It was here that Aleksander (from 1859 the honorary citizen of the city) wrote and worked for the Galician community for the last 28 years of his life to finally die on 15 April 1876. By the efforts of the l.tvow 's Literary-Artistic Club a monument to the master of comedy by Leonard Marconi was erected in 1897 that in 1956 was transferred to Wroclaw.

In May 1993 the Polish People’s Theatre prepared an evening dedicated to the 200h birthday anniversary of Aleksander Fredro, which was staged at the former Skarbkowski theatre with the participation of Ukrainian actors.

It is worth mentioning that Aleksander Fredro had b ties with Lwdtv's theatre because the premieres of almost all his comedies took place here and they are still frequently staged there.

One of the facades of St Yur ’s cathedral and the bishop 's palace bears a reminder of the Fredro family, a bronze relief of Father Andrzej (Roman Szeptycki), the grandson of Aleksander who was a Greek-Catholic archbishop in Lwow between 1900 and 1944.

When leaving Lwow it is well worth visiting the family estate of the Szeptyckis in Przytbice. Zofia, the daughter of Aleksander and Z.oJia Fredro. settled there with Jan Szeptycki after their wedding. Built by Jan Szeptycki, the new country house accommodated rich collections of art, old Russian scripts and rare Uniateprints. Jan Szeptycki’s brother and his wife were shot in this house by Red Army soldiers on Ò7 September 1939-

When crossing the border again you should necessarily stop at Przemysl. Poland’s oldest amateur theatre “Fredreum ” has been in operation here for 135 years. It organizes, for example, the international event “Przemysl Fredro Spring”. Performances by theatresfrom Poland, Ukraine, Slovakia and Hungary are not only staged at the Kazimierzowski Castle in Przemysl, “Fredreum’s” base, but also in otherplaces connected with the life and work of Fredro, such as Surochow where he was born, in Livow and in Nienadowa from where his mother came.

Now we are returning to Kamieniec Castle hoping that we succeeded in encouraging tourists and adventure and literature enthusiasts to see the trail for themselves. Those who have no opportu-nity to go on a real trip can refer to the memoirs “Trzypo trzy” written by Aleksander Fredro around 1845, a perfect guidebook about the trail. It contains detailed descriptions of places and their residents, family and war stories, amusing anecdotes and tales about the life in 19h-century Galicia.

Everyone who would like to see the places described in the memoirs for themselves will not be disappointed wandering along Fredro’s tourist trail and exploring this obscure still beautifull area in Europe.