Karol Szajnocha

Tomb of Karol Szajnocha and his family. Łyczakowski Cemetery in Lviv (Ukraine). Karol Szajnocha (20 November 1818 – 10 January 1868) was a Polish writer, historian, and independence activist. Self-taught, he would nonetheless become a notable Polish historian of the partitions period.

Biography Karol Szajnocha was born on 20 November 1818 in Komarno, son of Polonized Czech Vaclav Scheinoha Vtelenský of Austrian origin, who signed himself as Scheinoha Wtelensky in Poland and Maria Łozińska.

Karol attended schools in Sambor and Lwów; in that period Szajnocha adopted the polonized version of his name (gradually changing his signature from Scheynoha de Wtellensky, to Szejnoha de Wtellensky, to Szajnocha). He continued his education unofficially (he was mostly self-taught), although later he would receive some help from his mentor, August Bielowski), concentrating first on linguistics (he started in prison where by reading grammar books he learned the English language), later on literature and history.

He was recognized by his contemporaries, both Polish speaking and foreign, as a major historian of Poland.