Odyniec was born in Giejstuny, Oszmiana County, now in
Belarus, in 1804. Odyniec was an alumnus of
Wilno University, where he was a member of the
Filaret Association and a defendant, along with Mickiewicz and others, in the 1824 trial of Association members. In 1825 he published his first collection of short works and lived in Warsaw. In 1829–30 he accompanied his fellow poet and ex-
Filaret Adam Mickiewicz on a tour of Germany, Italy and Switzerland, recounted in somewhat embroidered
Listy z podróży (Travel Letters). In 1831 Odyniec settled in
Dresden, in
Saxony, where he translated works by
Walter Scott,
Byron and
Thomas Moore. He also co-edited a "Library of Polish Classics," and wrote for
Przyjaciel Ludu (The Friend of the People), published in
Leszno. In 1837 he returned to Wilno (Vilnius), where he edited Gluksberg's
Encyklopedia Powszechna (Universal Encyclopedia) and, in 1840–63,
Kurier Wileński (The Wilno Courier). In 1866 Odyniec returned to Warsaw, where he edited
Kurier Warszawski (The Warsaw Courier) and published in
Kronika Rodzinna (The Family Chronicle) his
Travel Letters and
Remembrances of the Past, As Told to Deotyma. He died in Warsaw in 1885. He penned ballads, songs and legends, published in
Poezje (Poems, 2 vols., 1825–26); dramatic works, including
Barbara Radziwiłłówna (1858); translations of works by
Gottfried August Bürger,
Byron,
Walter Scott (3 vols., 1838–44); and
Wspomnienia z przeszłości opowiadane Deotymie (Remembrances of the Past, As Told to Deotyma, 1884). ==See also==