KLACZKO, JULIAN (1825-1906), was born at Wilno in 1825. He studied at Heidelberg university, and early proved his literary and linguistic ability by articles written in German, mainly on the Russo-Polish question, and by his brochure Die Deutschen Hegemonen (1849). In 1849 he went to Paris, where he made his fame by his brilliant contributions on literature, politics and art to the Polish and French press, notably to the Revue des Deux Mondes in which most of his subsequently published books first appeared. His article "La Poesie Polonaise au Dix-Neuvieme Siecle et be Poke Anonyme" (Revue des Deux Mondes, Jan. 1, 1862) remains one of the finest existing criticisms on the poet Krasinski. From that date Klaczko wrote almost exclusively in French. At the same time he took an active part in the national and literary life of the Polish exiles in Paris, frequently employing his pen in behalf of the Polish cause, especially during the Rising of 1863. His national sympathies led him to a close study of
contemporary politics, the chief fruits of which were : Etudes de Diplomatie Contemporaine (Paris, 1866), an exposure of Bis marck's policy which created a considerable impression at the time, and Deux Chanceliers (1876). From 1869 to 1870 he was attached to the Austrian foreign ministry. After the Austro Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars, Klaczko, despairing of sup port for Poland from either France or Austria, abandoned his political studies, and devoted himself to Italian literature and art. He wrote two very popular books on these subjects : Causeries Florentines (1880), crowned by the Academie Francaise, and Rome et la Renaissance (1898). He died in Cracow in 1906. His works are characterized by their piercing insight and mordant wit, and by the fascination of his style.