A Family Portrait of Feliks Nowowiejski. Patriotic, Religious and Folk Aspects

Abstract

The Sejm of the Polish Republic pronounced Feliks Nowowiejski to be a patron of the year 2016. In the justification statement, the Polish parliament stated that ‘this artist always stood on the side of the Polish nationality and Polish culture’. My research objective is to present a portrait of F. Nowowiejski’s family and to demonstrate its importance in the development of an individual and a society in the contemporary world.

For F. Nowowiejski, family – next to his homeland and music – had the highest value. He came from a very large family (he was one of 14 siblings), and himself had four sons and a daughter. The composer’s family lived in Warmia and was subject to Germanisation efforts, aiming at the annihilation of Poland and Polish culture. Despite the persecutions, the Nowowiejski family did not renounce their identity and brought up their children in the atmosphere of Polish patriotism. The identity of Polish Warmiaks rested on two pillars: Polish nationality and Catholic religion, which were strengthened in response to the anti-Catholic and anti-Polish policy of Bismarck. F. Nowowiejski witnessed Poland’s regained independence in 1918 and in 1945; and he also participated in the plebiscite in Warmia and Masuria in 1920. Poland lost the plebiscite and Polish residents of Warmia had to renounce the hope of having their land incorporated into the Polish state. These events certainly shaped the Polish identity of F. Nowowiejski.