Albert Chmielowski

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Brother Albert Chmielowski

Albert Chmielowski (birth name: Adam Hilarius Chmielowski , born August 20, 1845 in Igołomia near Cracow ( Poland ), † December 25, 1916 in Cracow) was a painter and founder of the Polish order . He is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church .

Life

Chmielowski came from a noble family. His father was Adalbert Chmielowski († 1853). His mother Josephine Borzysławska († 1859) was active in the Third Order of the Franciscan Sisters . In 1863 the family moved to Warsaw after the sale of their estate . At the age of 11 the ailing Adam became an orphan . He and his three siblings grew up with relatives. After completing the first grade, he was sent to a cadet school in Saint Petersburg . He took part in the January uprising in 1863 , was seriously injured and lost a leg. After exile and studying , he took up painting and joined a religious order . He died as brother Albert on December 25, 1916 in Krakow.

Education

After his healing he began to study engineering in Ghent ( Belgium ), but then moved to Paris in 1865 and also studied art in Munich at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich . He finished his studies in 1874 and returned to Poland; here began his activity as a painter.

painter

Albert Chmielowski: Ecce Homo (1881)

His first work consisted mainly of religious images. Works created in Munich echo the work of Arnold Böcklin and Anselm Feuerbach . With Józef Brandt and Leon Wyczółkowski , Chmielowski belonged to the Polish group of artists in Munich at the time. He was especially friends with Maksymilian Gierymski . From 1875 to 1877 he lived in Warsaw; here he belonged to an artist group that ran a well-known studio in the Hotel Europejski . One of his most important works is the painting Ecce Homo from 1881.

Monk and founder of the order

In 1880 Chmielowski joined the Jesuit order and had to leave it again in the same year for health reasons. In 1887 he joined the Third Order of the Franciscans and took the name Albert . Brother Albert was particularly devoted to the homeless and beggars in Krakow. He turned away from the painting and put 1888 before Cardinal Albin Dunajewski , the archbishop of Krakow , the poverty and chastity vows from. He then founded the religious order of the Servants of the Poor in the Third Order of St. Francis , who mainly take care of marginalized groups. The members are also known as Albertines . In 1891 he founded a female branch of his congregation with the Albertine Sisters .

Adoration

Brother Albert was by Pope John Paul II. , On 22 June 1983 beatified and on 12 November 1989 canonized . His feast day has been set for June 17th, which is a mandatory feast day in Poland. In the diocese of Sosnowiec , June 17th is celebrated as a solemn festival, as Albert Chmielowski is the patron saint of the diocese. Karol Wojtyła wrote a stage biography of Brother Albert, Brother of Our God , 1950–1955 , which is one of the most important stage works of the later Pope John Paul II and is still very popular in Polish theaters.

References and comments

  1. ↑ In Munich he probably learned from the lecturers Hermann Anschütz and Alexander Strähuber
  2. ↑ German biography: Alexander Strähuber [1]
  3. ↑ Stanisław Witkiewicz and Józef Chełmoński also belonged to the group
  4. ↑ Albertine women [2]

literature

  • Jens Christian Jensen (Ed.): Polish painting from 1830 to 1914. Catalog for the exhibition from June 24 to August 20, 1978 in the Kunsthalle zu Kiel. DuMont, Cologne 1978, p. 196 f.
  • Lexicon of Saints. Weltbild publishing group , Augsburg , 2005, ISBN 3-8289-4980-0 , p. 31.
  • Bernice & Konstantin Kaminskij: participation and solidarity. The playwright Karol Wojtyła and the dramatic origins of the East Central European dissident movement. In: Forum for Eastern European History of Ideas and Contemporary History 19/1 (2015), pp. 87–117 ( online ).

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Chmielowski, Albert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Chmielowski, Adam Hilarius (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish founder and saint
DATE OF BIRTH August 20, 1845
PLACE OF BIRTH Igołomia , Poland
DATE OF DEATH December 25, 1916
Place of death Krakow , Poland