Oskar Kolberg


Henryk Oskar Kolberg was a Polish ethnographer, folklorist, and composer active during the foreign Partitions of Poland.

Life

Kolberg was born in Przysucha, the son of the German Julius Kolberg, a professor of the Warsaw University, and Fryderyka née Mercoeur, Warsaw-born while being of French descendance. His family's acquaintances included Samuel Linde, Nicolas Chopin, and Kazimierz Brodziński.
in Krakow
He is best known for his work titled Lud, a compilation of folk traditions from all the Polish regions. Between 1857–1890 he published 33 volumes, and after his death, a further 3 volumes were published. The compilation contains 12,000 folk songs, 1,250 folk tales, 670 fairy tales, 2,700 proverbs, 350 riddles, 15 folk spectacles and many other ethnographic documents.
Kolberg also compiled some ethnographic information on neighboring regions. He died in Kraków.

Works