Belza, Vladislav

After graduating from the Warsaw gymnasium, in 1865 he entered the Kazan Cadet Corps, but left him and in 1866-1868 studied at the Warsaw Main School . He wrote articles for the Warsaw weekly Friend of the Children and Weekly Review. In 1863 he made his debut as a poet with the poem "Spring Rain", published on the pages of the publication "Friend of Children".

In 1867 he published his first collection of poems, “A Gift for Raised Children”. In 1869, his second book for children was published - "The Alphabet in Poems for Polish Children."

After 1868 he went abroad to Lviv, then traveled to Italy, Switzerland and France, where he became close to the poet Jozef Zaleski in the circle of Polish emigration. On his advice, he settled in Poznan .

Here he became one of the organizers of the publication "Tygodnik Wielkopolski" and the children's newspaper "Promyk". He initiated the creation of a Polish theater in Poznan.

Actively participated in the fight against Germanization of the Polish population in Silesia and the Greater Poland region . As a result of his active public position in 1871, the German government declared Belza persona non grata , forbade him from staying in Prussia , as a result of which Belza first moved to Prague and then settled in Lviv (then Austria-Hungary ).

Here he collaborated with the editions of Dziennik Polski and Gazeta Narodowa. He got a job at the Ossolinsky National Library, where he headed a reading room for young people, and since 1891 he was the administrative secretary and head of the school literature publishing house.

Vladislav Belza is one of the founders of the Adam Mickiewicz Literary Society and the Macierz Szkolny Publishing House (1883).

By 1914, the publishing house had published 1.5 million books, including Mitskevich ’s poem, " Pan Tadeusz, " with a circulation of 180 thousand copies. It was the cheapest of all Polish books published at that time.

Died in Lviv, buried in the Alley of Honored Lychakiv Cemeteries .

The author of many works for children and youth. In addition, Belza published the following essays:

• "Pieśni liryczne" (Warsaw, 1868);
• "Z doli-niedoli" (Krakow, 1869);
• “Zamek Grójecki” (Krakow, 1869);
• "Emancypantka" (Poznan, 1870);
• “Poezje” (Poznan, 1871; Leipzig, 1873);
• “Zaklęte dzwony” (Lviv, 1875);
• “Antologja polska” (Warsaw, 1880);
• Żydzi w poezji polskiej (Lviv, 1883);
• “Sobieski w poezji polskiej” (Lviv, 1883);
• “Kobieta w poezji polskiej” (Krakow, 1885);
• “Maryla i jej stosunek do Mickiewicza” (Lviv, 1885 and 1887);
• “Kronika potoczna i anegdotyczna z życia Adama Mickiewicza” (Lviv, 1884);
• "Iwonicz i jego okolice" (Lviv, 1885).

Under the pseudonym Vladislav Piast wrote "Księga aforyzmów" ( "The Big Book of Aphorisms" , Krakow, 1888); “Album pamiątkowe Adama Mickiewicza” ( “Adam Mickiewicz's Memorial Album” , Lviv, 1889); "Ostatni chwile i pogrzeb Adama Mickiewicza" ( "The Last Minutes and the Funeral of Adam Mickiewicz" , Lviv, 1891).

Many of his works are translated into Czech.

The most famous work of Vladislav Belza is the patriotic poem Catechism of a Polish child written by him in 1901, which today is known by heart to millions of Poles.

• In the resort town of Iwonicz-Zdroj (Poland), where V. Belza was involved in the organization of cultural life in 1874-1890, his obelisk was installed.

• Catechism of a Polish child

• Belza Vladislav // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• Władysław Bełza - wielki piewca polskości (Polish)