Polish Romantic masterpiece published in Italy
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
09.11.2018 11:00
A new translation of ‘Pan Tadeusz’, an epic poem by Poland’s Romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz, has been published in Italy.
Uhlan's Courtship, a painting by Jan Czesław Moniuszko featuring Zosia and Pan Tadeusz. Photo: Kpalion/Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)
The translation is the work of Silvano De Fanti, a long-time lecturer in Polish studies at the University of Udine.
His translation of Mickiewicz’s masterpiece, under the title Messer Taddeo, recently appeared in Italian bookshops. It was published by the Venice-based Marsilio Publishers.
The book will have its official launch on November 19 during the Corso Polonia festival of Polish culture in Rome. The annual event is organized by the Polish Institute in Rome. At the book launch, Andrzej Wajda’s film adaptation of Messer Taddeo will be screened.
The first Italian translation of Mickiewicz’s epic was published in 1871, 37 years after its Polish edition appeared in Paris, during the poet’s exile there.
Pan Tadeusz is set during the Napoleonic era -- after Poland was partitioned in the late 18th century by Russia, Prussia and Austria -- when hopes of Poland's rebirth inspired thousands of Poles to fight under Bonaparte's banner.
The plot focuses on a feud between two noble families and a romance between young squire Master Tadeusz and the innocent lady Zosia. (mk/vb)