Michał Wiszniewski was a Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 philosopher, psychologist

Psychologist

Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...

, and literary historian.

Life

Wiszniewski graduated from the celebrated Krzemieniec Lyceum (secondary school), where he subsequently taught for a time.

In 1831 he became a professor at Kraków

Kraków

Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

's Jagiellonian University

Jagiellonian University

The Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kazimierz . It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest university in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world....

. He was a conservative activist during the Kraków Uprising

Kraków Uprising

The Kraków Uprising of February 1846 was an attempt, led by Edward Dembowski, to incite a Polish fight for national independence. Even though most of Poland was part of the Russian Empire, the Polish risings were conducted mainly in Prussia and in the Austrian Empire.-History:Most of the...

 of 1846. In 1848 he emigrated to Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

Wiszniewski was an epigone of the Polish Enlightenment, and at the same time a precursor of Positivism

Positivism in Poland

Positivism in Poland was a socio-cultural movement that defined progressive thought in literature and social sciences of Partitioned Poland following the suppression of the 1863 January Uprising against the occupying army of Imperial Russia...

.

He authored a pioneering book on Characters of Human Minds, which is regarded as the first Polish work in the field of psychology

Psychology

Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

.

Works

• Bacona metoda tłumaczenia natury (Bacon
  Francis Bacon
  Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
  
  's Method of Explaining Nature; 1834)
• Charaktery rozumów ludzkich (Characters of Human Minds; 1837, English edition 1853 http://www.ihnpan.waw.pl/redakcje/organon/34/wiszniewski.pdf)
• O rozumie ludzkim (On the Human Mind; 1848)
• Historia literatury polskiej (A History of Polish Literature; vols. 1–10, 1840–57)

See also

• History of philosophy in Poland
• List of Poles