Мацей Стрыйковский: Историк и летописец Великого княжества Литовского

Polish historian

Maciej Stryjkowski (also referred to as Strykowski and Strycovius; c. 1547 – c. 1593) was a Polish historian, writer and a poet, known as the author of Chronicle of Poland, Lithuania, Samogitia and all of Ruthenia (1582). The work is generally considered to be the first printed book on the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Maciej Stryjkowski was born around 1547 in Stryków, a town in the Rawa Voivodeship in the Kingdom of Poland. He graduated from a local school in the town of Brzeziny, after which he joined the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army. He served in a garrison in Vitebsk under Alexander Guagnini. He was a Pole, but spent most of his life in the Grand Duchy, is a classic piece of literature written in the Polish language and detailed much of the history of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and its parts from their legendary roots up to 1581. Some fragments of his work are written in the Lithuanian language. He also encouraged Lithuanian nobility to use the Lithuanian language. It instantly gained much fame among the szlachta and it is often argued that Stryjkowski was among the Polish–Lithuanian writers to shape the Lithuanian national identity, as his works were later copied by scores of writers and chroniclers in all parts of the region. Until the 19th century, the works of Stryjkowski were considered to be the basic sources of information on early period of history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was not until the advent of modern historiography that his chronicle started to be criticised and disputed, mainly due to his favour of the magnates, lack of distinction between legends and historic accounts and his theory on the Roman origin of the Lithuanian ruling families. In 1577, Stryjkowski also authored an epic poem On the beginnings of the famed nation of Lithuania ( ), which however was not published until after Stryjkowski's death. He died around the year 1593, though the exact date and place remain unknown.