Mikołaj Hussowczyk

Polish Lithuanian poet and activist

Mikołaj Hussowczyk (, , Nicolaus Hussovianus). Other name spelling variants include Hussoviensis, Hussovianus, Ussovius, Hussowski, Gusowski); (c. 1480 – c. 1533) was an early Renaissance poet and humanist of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and a cultural and social activist. His most notable work is the poem Carmen de statura bisontis (Song about the bison).

Little is known of his life, except during the 1520s. His place of birth is alternatively stated as Husów/Hussowo near Łańcut or in an unspecified Belarusian village with similar sounding name. Some folkloristic features in the works of Husowski may point to regions in the vicinity of Hrodna. He was probably a student of Kraków Academy since 1504. Before 1515 he became cleric of Diocese of Przemyśl and public notary of the Holy See. Hussowczyk served the Grand Treasurer of the Crown Andrzej Kościelecki and prepared his last will when he was one death bed in Pszczyna in 1515. Next Hussowczyk became a courtier of Grand Chancellor of Lithuania Mikołaj Radzwiłł. At his request Hussowczyk prepared the last will of Radzwiłł's cousin Zofia Sudymuntówna in 1518. In 1521 he travelled to Rome with a stuffed European bison, which was supposed to be a gift from Mikołaj Radzwiłł to Pope Leo X. In Rome, Hussowczyk met Erazm Ciołek, the Bishop of Płock. At this occasion Hussowczyk prepared Carmen de statura bisontis. Sadly both gifts turned out to be redundant, because pope died in December 1521, before giving the audience. Ciołek died in 1522 and Radzwiłł's a year before, so Hussowczyk deprived of a patron settled down in Kraków, where he probably had his ordination.