Self-education, Literature and Conspiracies

Student Culture in Krakow in the Second Half of the 19th Century

Abstract

The article analyses student culture in Krakow in the second half of the 19th century as a phenomenon shaped political and social conditions. The author focuses on the activities of a generation identified by scholars as the pre-Galician Stormers – an intellectual formation that, even before the January Uprising and during the final phase of Romanticism, heralded the emergence of positivist tendencies in Polish lands. In this period, academic youth sought self-organization, establishing formal and informal organizations, associations and circles with a self-help orientation. These groups prioritized the intellectual and scientific development of their members, participation in the cultural and social life of the city and providing social aid to the poorest. Prior to the January Uprising, patriotic sentiments grew stronger in student circles, with Krakow’s participating in patriotic demonstrations, conspiracies, and direct struggles. One such self-oriented group was the “Filippi studio”, active in Krakow in the early 1860s. Its members included Michał Bałucki, Adam Bełcikowski, Józef Szujski, Jan Matejko and Tadeusz Wojciechowski.