Hesburgh Libraries

Dariusz Skórczewski will present his current working project on the interpretation of the manuscript of a diary written between 1819 and 1856 by a Polish noblewoman, Pelagia Rościszewska, who was settled in Kievan Governorate. He will share some of his findings and challenges resulting from the reading of that manuscript. The manuscript is housed in special collections at the Hesburgh Libraries and will be on display at this event.

Written by Pelagia for her daughter Ludwika (Louise princess Troubetzky) and granddaughter Dorota (Daria princess Troubetzky) and never intended for publication, the diary was designed to convey to Pelagia's progeny her value system which she had inherited from her ancestors in free Polish-Lithuanian(-Ukrainian) Commonwealth and tried out in a modified social environment, after the Polish-Lithuanian(-Ukrainian) Republic ceased to exist. The constant and underlying presence of Ludwika in the diary as the implied future reader of Pelagia's writing, alongside the many vicissitudes of Ludwika’s family life, make contemporary reading of Pelagia's diary a fascinating adventure.

Dariusz Skórczewski serves as Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Associate Professor of Theory and Anthropology of Literature at John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland. His stay at Notre Dame is sponsored by a grant from the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA).