Józef Sękowski

Osip Ivanovich Senkovsky (; – ), born Józef-Julian Sękowski, was a Polish–Russian orientalist, journalist and entertainer.

Life Senkovsky was born on his mother's estate in , located some away from Vilnius. His father was Jan Sękowski; his mother came from the Bujko family, of Belarusian-German roots, but with a Polish national identity.

He attended the piarist college in Minsk, and later Vilnius University. During his study there he became fascinated with all things oriental. In the years 1817–1822 he was closely associated with the Society of Scoundrels and contributed articles to their periodical "Wiadomości Brukowe" ('The Street News'). and Elizaveta Akhmatova. In the latter case he not only developed a writer but she regarded him as a parent, Akhmatova would eventually publish her own magazines and in time her own memoir of Senkowsky.

A prolific writer, Senkovsky contributed articles on a wide range of topics, from mathematics to medicine.

Arguably the best known book of Senkovsky was the 1833 book published under the pen-name of Baron Brambeus. It contained three satirical fantastic voyages: The Poetic Jorney Around the World (Поэтическое путешествие по белу-свету), to quench the thirst for "strong sensations", to an antediluvian Egyptian civilization flourishing on the now-frozen Siberian plain , and to the center of the Earth (The Sentimental Journey to Mount Etna, Сентиментальное путешествие на гору Этну).

Besides "Baron Brambeus", Senkovsky used over forty fancy pen names: "доктор Карл фон Биттервассер", "Тютюнджю-оглу Мустафа-ага", "Буки-Буки", "Иван Иванов сын Хохотенко-Хлопотунов-Пустяковский, отставной подпоручик, помещик разных губерний и кавалер беспорочности", "Делюбардар", "пограничный толмач Разумник Артамонов сын Байбаков", etc., many with elaborated biographies.

As a literary critic he had few principles, his motto being "easy reading and less thought". One day he would pronounce his friend Nestor Kukolnik to be Gogol's superior, only to place Gogol higher than Homer the very next day. He dismissed The Tale of Igor's Campaign as a clumsy fake, derogated Alexander Pushkin as a second-hand imitator, and declared the Tale of Bygone Years to be written in Polish.

During his last years, Senkovsky turned from literature to music. He claimed to have invented a five-stringed violin and a new type of oven. He also published pioneering studies of Chinese, Mongolian, and Tibetan languages.

He has been referred to as the founder of Litvinism.