Published on November 06, 2005

Polish researchers extend composer’s genealogical tree further into the past. Piotr Myslakowski, the genealogist from Poland, has made ground-breaking research into the genealogy of Polish composer Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), tracing the roots of his French-born father to the Alps and the Polish branch of his mother to the 18th century.

To accomplish this, he and his colleague, Andrzej Sikorski, had to sift through thick archives and read thousands of documents to establish the origins of Chopin’s parents. The result has been a breakthrough discovery about the lives of Chopin’s parents, their circles of relatives and friends amid social settings of the time.

Last week, Myslakowski, who was a special guest of the Polish Embassy, made an audio-visual presentation on the “Roots of Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)” at the Seventh Bangkok Chopin Piano Competition.

He and Sikorski had written three books: “The Family of Chopin’s Mother, Myths and Reality”, “The Family of Chopin’s Father: Migration and Advancement”, and “The Chopins: Family and Social Circle”.

One of the highlights of the Chopin International Piano Competition, which was recently concluded in Warsaw, was an exhibition of Chopin. “The Chopins: Family and Social Circle” was presented as an official book of the world-renowned international piano competition.

Myslakowski and Sikorski have taken an interest in the origins of Chopin because most biographies of the Polish composer had not undertaken enough in-depth research into Chopin’s parents.

Most people have an image of Chopin as an incorporeal phenomenon, who was suddenly born to the music world, living a short life before leaving a rich body of compositions.

Chopin’s composition genres from the Etudes, Preludes, Mazurkas, Waltzes, Polonaises, Nocturnes to Sonatas are considered the most beautiful in piano literature.

Myslakowski and Sikorski have made two important findings about the family background of Nicolas Chopin, Chopin’s father. Myslakowski travelled all the way to Lorraine and the Alps in France to unearth the roots of the Chopins, who could be traced to the year 1444.

He found Chopin’s ancestors of four generations, beginning in the 18th Century when they lived as peasants in Lorraine. There was Chopin’s grandfather Francois who had three sons: namely Nicolas, Francois and Nicolas (Chopin’s father).

The middle name of the composer is Francois, as it is a tradition for Poles to carry the name of their grandfathers.

The first Francois was married to Catherine Oudot.

Francois Chapin and his father, Antoine Chapin, came from an Alpine village called Saint-Crepin, in the middle of the high Alps.

When he married Oudot, his name was somehow changed to Chopin, either because of a registration mistake or perhaps because he wanted to change his name to escape his humble background.

The children of Francois Chopin and Catherine Oudot were born during the years following 1705 in Nancy, the capital of Lorraine.

Only the grandfather of the composer, Francois, managed to gain a slightly higher position than his forefathers.

He was an administrator of his commune called Marainville. He kept the financial books, supervised the renovation of its small school and hired municipal firemen.

Circumstances took a turn when Adam Weydlich, a Pole, became the administrator of the Maraineville castle, owned by a Polish count, called Pac.

He came to know Francois Chopin. His children would visit the castle

Nicolas was to benefit hugely from this association since he acquired a good knowledge of French, German and a little

Polish.

He also learnt calligraphy, book-keeping, music and good manners. In other words, he was quite an educated youth.

So why did Nicolas, 16, leave for Poland in 1787, never to return home?

Count Pac was facing financial ruin, thus forcing Adam Weydlick to leave the castle. The Pole decided to return to Warsaw and brought along Nicolas Chopin with him.

At first, Nicolas lived and worked with Weydlich in Warsaw, helping to run a business and probably look after the education of their children. Then he worked as a clerk at the Tobacco Manufacture.

Nicolas was a teacher of high standing among the rich noble families and elite in Warsaw. He taught the children of the Dziewanoskis, the Laczynskis and the Skarbeks.

Some of his pupils went on to gain fame. In 1802, Nicolas took up the position of tutor with the Skarbek family, who maintained a beautiful manor in Zelazowa Wola, close to Warsaw.

This was where he met Justyna Krzyzanowski, an orphan daughter of Jakub Krzyzanowski, who was an administrator for the Skarbek family.

Justyna was looking after the household for the Skarbeks, who married her off to Nicolas in 1806.

Thanong Khanthong

The Nation

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