Julian Klaczko

Who was Julian Klaczko?

Julian Klaczko was a Polish author, proficient in Hebrew, Polish, French, and German.

He was born Jehuda Lejb into a wealthy Jewish family. At the age of 17 he published a book of Hebrew poetry called "Duda'im", as well as translating Polish literary works into Hebrew.

He studied in Wilno and Königsberg, his interests including Philosophy, History and Literature. In 1847, he earned a PhD. He then moved to Heidelberg, and published in the liberal Deutsche Zeitung.

After the failure of the Poznań uprising he emigrated to France where he lived for the following 20 years. In Paris he changed his name and converted to Christianity. He was a co-editor of Wiadomości Polskie, and published in Revue de Paris, Revue Contemporaine, and Revue des Deux Mondes.

Klaczko was a politician who co-operated with the liberal-aristocratic Hotel Lambert faction of Polish exiles. As a Polish Nationalist, he expressed an outspoken resentment and hatred of Russia and Prussia for their share in the Partition of Poland, but had a more positive attitude towards Austro-Hungaria, with its relatively more tolerant policies towards the Poles under its rule.