| Age |
Date |
|
Event |
| 0 |
1869 |
15 Jan |
Born in Krakow, the son of an alcoholic sculptor, Franciszek Wyspiański. |
| 7 |
1876 |
|
Death of his mother; is brought up by aunt. |
| 10 |
1879 |
|
Enrolled in high school (gymanzium); during the school year his favorite hobby is the theater. Together with fellow classmates (Henry Opieński, Stanisław Estreicher, Lucjan Rydel, Józef Mehoffer) he organizes a dramatic circle giving amateur performances. |
| 18 |
1887 |
|
Upon graduating from high school, he embarks on tour of eastern Małopolska, makes drawings of architectural landmarks in the visited localities; in the Fall he begins studies in Karkow's Academy of Fine Arts directed by Jan Matejko. Józef Mehoffer is a fellow student. |
| 20 |
1889 |
|
During the summer he tour the Podkarpacie region for the purpose of collecting materials regarding artistic landmarks of the region; in the Fall he participates in the creation of wall painting in St. Mary's Church in Kraków. |
| 21 |
1890 |
|
Visits Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France and Germany in first trip abroad lasting several months. In France he admires the gothic cathedrals, in Germany he attends performances of Wagner's musical dramas. |
| 22 |
1891 |
|
He leaves together with Merhoffer for a longer sojourn in Paris; he studies drawing and painting in a private academy; among the many teatirical experiences the most important are operas, greek tragedies, and the classical French tragedies from the 16th and 17th centuries; his first dramatic efforts take the form of opera librettos; seeks to persuade Opieński to compose the musical scores. |
| 23 |
1892 |
|
He receives a commission for stained glass windows for Lwów cathedral, the subject matter: the vows of King Jan Kazimierz. |
| 24 |
1893 |
|
Works on the stained glass windows, writes the first dramatic interpretation of his own painting: the Queen of the Polish Crown; it will appear in print only posthumously in 1908. As a painter, under the influence of Gauguin and Van Gogh he moves from naturalism to a decorative style, abandons the spatial traditions of Matejko's school for concepts of a linear surface. Becomes interested in gothic art, studies motifs derived from the vegetation, focuses on flowers as decorative motifs, introduces them as motifs in the portraits of women and children. |
| 25 |
1894 |
|
Falls madly in love with Zofia Pietraszkiewicz and proposes but is turned down. Last trip to Paris. |
| 27 |
1896 |
|
Restores the stained glass windows in the Dominican Church in Krakow. Begins to illustrate the Illiad. |
| 28 |
1897 |
|
Edits the artistic page of Kraków's weekly "Zycie"; begins work on the wall paintings of the Franciscan Church in Kraków. |
| 29 |
1898 |
|
An important year in terms of the emphasis of Wyspiański's work moving from painting to literature; first print editions of Legendy and Warszawianka; theatrical debut is the premier of Warszawianka in Kraków on October 26. |
| 30 |
1899 |
|
Marries Teodora Pytko, an uneducated peasant girl and his aunt's servant with who he already had three children. |
| 31 |
1900 |
|
Publication of Kazimierz Wielki (Casimir the Great) a historical epic drama; he writes and published the drama "Legion"; in November he is a guest at the wedding of his friend Lucjan Rydel in Bronowice. On returning home he sits down to write the dramatic rendition of the event. |
| 32 |
1901 |
16 Mar |
The Kraków premier of Wesele (The Wedding); Wyspiański works out the staging of Mickiewicz's Dziady (Forefather's Eve) for the Kraków Theater (now called Teatr Stary -the Old Theater.) |
| 33 |
1902 |
|
Appointed to the post of Assistant Professor (docent) in the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts. |
| 34 |
1903 |
|
The dramas Bolesław Smiały (Boleslaw the Brave) and Wyzwolenie (Liberation) appear on the stage and in print; a conflict with Jozef Kotarbiński become the reason for Wyspiański to sever his contact with the Kraków Theater. |
| 35 |
1904 |
|
The drama Noc Listopadowa (November Night), written in the years 1900-1903, appears in print. |
| 36 |
1905 |
|
After Kotarbiński leaves the post of Director of the Kraków Theater, Wyspiański seeks the position but Ludwik Solski is appointed. Paralysis renders him unable to walk; the men of the theater would carry him in on a chair, |
| 37 |
1906 |
|
Is appointed to the Chair of Decorative and Church Painting of the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts; he is during this period gravely ill, he spends the last period of his life in the Kraków countryside at Węgrzyce. |
| 38 |
1907 |
28 Nov |
Dies in Kraków, is buried among the honored in the Church Na Skałce. |
