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Michał Jan Borch (full name Michał Jan Alois Anton Borch, 30 June 1753 - 29 December 1810 (10 January 1811)), christened in Varakļāni (Polish: Warklany; German: Warkland) on 1 July 1753, was a natural scientist and writer whose name is recognized in Europe and inscribed in the history of science. His father was Jan Andrzej Józef Borch (1715-1780), Chamberlain of the Inflanty (Livonia) Voivode and Mayor of Ludza, later Grand Chancellor of the Crown. Michał Jan Borch's researches and travel reports written in the 1770s and 80s are included in modern-day bibliographies and regularly reprinted. Michał Jan Borch's father's social status, his weight in the Polish court and high-ranking offices in Warsaw surely influenced his son's biography. The well-educated young man quickly made a bright career in the military and diplomacy. The most significant period in his life coincides with the time of fatal turmoil in Polish history when three partitions (1772, 1793, and 1795) ended in the loss of independence along with statehood and territory. Possibly the lost opportunities of a promising career motivated Michał Jan Borch to take up science and literature. To understand Michał Jan Borch's personality, it is important to consider his wide scope of interests and education-based competence. He was well versed in classical literature, poetry and history, had studied the basics of botany, physics, mathematics, architecture and land surveying as well as drawing, music and several languages. Borch wrote his works in French in which he was fluent and even Voltaire is said to have praised the young Borch's mastery of French. His correspondence is also mainly in French, including letters to his father and mother. On an everyday level, the Count communicated and wrote in Polish and German; he also learned English and Italian, and wrote verse in French, Italian and Latvian. Borch had a scholarly interest in natural resources and the population of other countries, very typical of Enlightenment-era nobility and intellectuals. This enthusiasm was fully developed during his research travels. In his early twenties, he toured Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy from 1774 to 1778, and then set out for Holland and England in 1790. He was captivated most by two Mediterranean islands - Sicily and Malta, describing them with much fervour. Months spent in Sicily (23 September 1776 - 25 April 1777) provided diverse research material for seven books printed in Italy (see the list of books), which describe the nature of Sicily, Malta and Italy - stones, ancient monuments and people combined with historical, natural and anthropological aspects. Already in 1775 Borch had told his father that, "in honour of his homeland", he intended to write several works on natural history, descriptions of natural resources and poetry as well as to gather collections. Michał Jan Borch's personality can be assessed through his correspondence, collections, library and the Varakļāni Palace itself, but his books characterise him most vividly and precisely. The Manuscripts Department of the Vasyl Stefanyk Lviv National Academic Library of Ukraine holds the Borch family archive (collection no. 13, 165 items); Borch's numerous letters to his father during his travels in Europe are a unique testimony of cultural history. They provide an insight into the views and ideals as well as the daily routine of a high-ranking Enlightenment-era intellectual. Five years after his trip to Sicily his Lettres sur la Sicile et sur l'île de Malthe (Letters on Sicily and the island of Malta) appeared in Turin in 1782 and were soon translated into German and Dutch. Chronologically arranged descriptions or letters have resulted from careful research and literary work. The first edition of the "Letters" is complemented by 26 engravings and three maps - copper engravings by Cristoforo dell'Acqua (also dall'Acqua, dell'Aqua) after drawings by the author. The book is also illustrated with engravings after German landscapist Jakob Philipp Hackert (1737-1807), but only the first edition features two scenes by the English traveller and writer Henry Swinburne (also Swinburn 1743-1803). Other Italian and French engravers also contributed to the illustrations of several books by Borch. The presence of Italian, English, French and German artists' works allows us to broaden our knowledge of his contacts. Michał Jan Borch, being a talented amateur artist, used to draw everything including Sicilian and Maltese peasants. The best examples are his drawings of vedute, buildings and plants as well as topographic works (three maps of Sicily, building façades and layouts). It is likely that the painted overdoors at the Varakļāni Palace were designed by Michał Jan Borch himself or they may have been created under his direct supervision. For instance, one of the overdoor paintings in Varakļāni seems to portray a specific place and event in Michał Jan Borch's life. On the morning of 13 December 1776 he and his guides set out for the summit of Mount Etna. After a hard and long walk on lava fields they reached the so-called Goat Cave (Grotta delle Capre, no longer surviving) where they spent the night. Borch not only mentioned the Goat Cave in his "Letters" but the cave and goats can be seen in the vignette of the map of Etna drawn by Borch. The landscape depicted in the Varakļāni overdoor is certainly the view seen by someone inside the dark cave, looking outwards into the bright open space. One could assume that another overdoor painting was also inspired by Borch himself - there is a classicist medal with a profile of an antique head on the second floor of the left wing of Varakļāni Palace. There is a distant analogy with the vignette in Borch's book (1793, sample print at the Academic Library of the University of Latvia) dedicated to his father-in-law, Vidzeme Governor General George Browne (1698-1792). "Letters" by Michał Jan Borch were recognised by his contemporaries. Surely their most famous reader was Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832) who used the Count's works as a handbook during his Italian journey in 1786 and 1787. Although Goethe did not like Borch's systematising approach, he not only used his descriptions during his travels but also borrowed several themes, interpreting them from a literary viewpoint. Michał Jan Borch is a natural history type researcher and because of this his scrutiny is focused in a different way. Borch took notes, systematised and analysed signs of nature and history; first the stones and antique monuments and plants, then the urban environment and daily life, praising the people he had met. Borch's book of Sicily is at the same time an expressive Borchiana and Siciliana; Borch's personality shows in his works in which scientific accounts alternate with a deeply felt, emotional message. Varakļāni Palace once held superb cultural treasures. However, the turmoil of history did not care for Michał Jan Borch's collections rich in Italian and Sicilian materials, his archive and library. Just two tables with stone mosaics have survived from the splendid Palace interior. After an auction in the 1930s, one of them ended up in the collection of theatre director Eduards Smiļģis, the other went to the poet Edvarts Virza. The issue of Count Michał Jan Borch's national or cosmopolitan nature (see Gustaw Manteuffel, 1832-1916) has long been considered a difficult and even uneasy one. Borch did not experience any national or regional limitations. So it is hard to define a strict national community that Borch belonged to: his family had ancient German roots, his native land was the Polish Livonia or Inflanty Voivode that became part of the Russian Empire. Although Borch considered himself a Polish patriot, his world view was shaped by French Encyclopaedists and his works were written in French. Borch's manifold personality reveals a truly European individual, free of provincialism, local patriotism and national prejudices. His upbringing conformed to Enlightenment ideals, shaping a modern day intellectual with a multicultural mindset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
