Gustav Ehrenberg is a Polish poet, writer and revolutionary. His life is an unusually moving story, filled with dramas and secrets. Having plunged into it, you involuntarily realize that it looks more like a well-thought-out novel than rather true chronicles of the past years. Nevertheless, everything written below is pure truth, as official sources attest.
Mystery of birth
So, why was Gustav Ehrenberg so remarkable? The biography of this poet begins with what presents us with the first extraordinary turn of events. According to the generally accepted version, the boy's father was Alexander I, and his mother was Baroness Helena Dzerzhanovskaya. Naturally, their union was a secret, and therefore only a few knew about the high origin of the child.
The Baroness also could not raise a boy, because such would forever ruin her reputation. Therefore, according to official figures, Gustav Ehrenberg was born in the family of a simple baker on February 14, 1818. When he was a little older, his parents told him about his real mother. But as for his father, one can’t say for sure: did the boy know about his roots or was it a mystery forever?
Youth and adolescence
Unfortunately, the adoptive parents of Gustav died suddenly. Fortunately, Pavel Osipovich Morenheim, a well-known Russian diplomat of that time, undertook the upbringing of the boy. Within the walls of his house, Gustav Ehrenberg received his elementary education - he learned to write, read and mastered history.
In 1826, the young man was sent to the Warsaw Lyceum. The cost of training here was quite high, but our hero was saved by the fact that he regularly received a scholarship from St. Petersburg. It’s clear, Alexander I designed it, because he could not leave his son, albeit illegitimate, without a livelihood. In 1830, the Warsaw Lyceum was closed due to the November uprising, and Ehrenberg was transferred to the Jagiellonian University in Krakow.
The revolutionary character of the writer
While studying at the university, Gustav Ehrenberg joins the student patriotic circle. It is here that the spirit of a revolutionary awakens in him, which completely absorbs him. Together with his teammates, he begins to promote the idea of "disagreement and freedom", which attracts the attention of the authorities.
In 1836, Ehrenberg became a member of the Union of Polish People. At that time, it was one of the main revolutionary organizations in the country, headed by Shimon Konarsky himself. Moreover, having returned back to Warsaw, the poet opens a branch of the organization there, thereby becoming one of its leaders.
Gustav Ehrenberg: links
The organization of Gustav Ehrenberg quickly attracted the attention of the police. Therefore, in March 1837 he was taken for interrogation to the X pavilion of the Warsaw Citadel. This place was terrible, and the people who worked there knew how to untie their tongues. However, Gustav was too tough for them, and due to lack of evidence he was released into the wild.
But in 1838 he was again pushed against the wall. As it turns out later, the police caught one of the members of the underground organization, and he extradited all who were in it. Assessing the contribution of Ehrenberg to the revolutionary movement, the court sentenced him to death. However, he soon reconsidered his decision and changed his sentence to life imprisonment in Siberia.
Gustav Ehrenberg got to his destination only a year later, since the road from Warsaw to Irkutsk at that time took at least 8 months. Initially, he was assigned to the Nerchinsk Mining Plant, but in 1841 he was transferred to the Alexander Silver Smelting Plant. The work here was hard, but the poet was saved by his education. Knowledge of several languages allowed him to earn extra money as a teacher, which sometimes freed him from hard labor.
In 1854, Ehrenberg was transferred to a settlement, which favorably affects his work. He spends all his free time writing poetry and translating foreign books. In 1856, Alexander II declared an amnesty to most political prisoners, which also included the Polish revolutionary.
Ehrenberg returns home only in 1858. However, in 1862, a new wave of repression swept through the country. As a result, the writer falls into exile again, however, this time it lasts only a few years.
Poetry
Gustav Ehrenberg began writing as a student. In 1831, he creates a poem entitled "The people go to battle," which later became a hymn to many youth democratic organizations of that time. Moreover, over the years, the composition fell on the music of Mozart, turning into a song.
Ehrenberg will write more mature works during exile in Siberia. Most of them will be included in a collection of poems called "Sounds of Bygone Years." Also, the poem "Stella Maris" belongs to the poet.
Personal life
After Ehrenberg returned home from exile in 1858, he married. But the first marriage lasted only one year. Shortly after the wedding, the young wife became very cold and died.
To survive the bitterness of loss, another woman helps him, whose kindness and affection save the poet's soul. He subsequently marries again. Their marriage will give Erenburg the long-awaited son, whom he will name Kazimierz.
The revolutionary poet died in 1895, near Krakow.