Aleksander Fredro

Aleksander Fredro (born June 20, 1793, Surochów, Galicia [now in Poland]—died July 15, 1876, Lwów, Austrian Galicia [now Lviv, Ukraine]) was a major Polish playwright, poet, and author of memoirs whose work is remarkable for its brilliant characterization, ingenious construction, and skillful handling of verse metres.

Born to a wealthy and powerful landed family, Fredro was educated by private tutors. At age 16 he joined the Napoleonic troops of the duchy of Warsaw and subsequently fought for the French in the Napoleonic Wars, including the Moscow campaign. In 1814 he spent a few months in Paris, where he attended plays and studied French drama. After leaving the army in 1815, he returned to his estate, and in 1822 he received from the emperor of Austria the title of count. Upon his return home Fredro began to write theatrical comedies. Among his more notable plays written between 1822 and 1830 are Mąż i żona (produced 1822; Husband and Wife), a comedy of marital infidelity; Śluby panieńskie (1833; Maidens’ Vows), concerned with psychological development; and Zemsta (1834; “Vengeance”), a brilliantly constructed comedy considered to be his masterpiece.

In 1835 after the Romantic poet Seweryn Goszczyński said in a magazine article that Fredro’s work was nonnational and full of absurdities, Fredro abruptly stopped writing. He started writing again some 19 years later, producing several interesting plays; these did not, however, compare to his earlier productions. His memoir, Trzy po trzy (1880; “Topsy Turvy Talk”), is written in the picaresque manner of Laurence Sterne. Rendering scenes from the Napoleonic Wars matter-of-factly and often humorously, it is considered to be one of the most brilliant Polish prose works.

Many of Fredro’s plays are standards on the Polish stage, and they are regarded by many as unsurpassed in their comic qualities—in situation comedy, comedy of manners and characters, and social satire. Phrases taken from his work have entered colloquial Polish and become proverbial. Several of Fredro’s plays appear in The Major Comedies of Alexander Fredro (1969), translated by Harold B. Segel.