Juliusz Słowacki — Polish poet and playwright; considered one of the greatest Polish poets of the Romantic era.

Ukraine became Słowacki’s second, beloved homeland, although he knew it relatively little. In his early youth, he spent more time in Lithuania, in Vilnius. He visited his native town of Krzemieniec only during vacations while studying in the Lithuanian capital.

Influenced by the poetry of Byron, Shakespeare, Dante, and Mickiewicz that he read during his university years, he wrote his first lyrical attempts: Elegy (1825), Moon (1825), Melody II (1826), among them Ukrainian Thought (1826), To Ludwik Spitznagel (1827), Mother to Her Son (1828), Song of a Cossack Girl (1829). These works marked the beginning of his Romantic path. Drawing on Ukrainian folk songs, legends, and tales, he depicted the struggle of the Ukrainian people for independence, thereby touching upon Polish–Ukrainian relations.

During vacations in 1825, he visited the village of Verkhivka in Podillia. At that time, he became acquainted with the works of the so-called “Ukrainian school” of Romantic poets in Polish literature — Bohdan Załęski, Antoni Malczewski, Tymon Zaborowski, and Severyn Hoszczynski. Influenced also by Adam Mickiewicz’s Crimean Sonnets and the “Ukrainian school” poets, the romantically inclined Słowacki visited Uman, Sofiyivka, and traveled to Odesa in 1827. For unknown reasons, he never reached the Crimean peninsula he dreamed of. On his return to Krzemieniec, he passed through Bar, and that summer he also visited Tulchyn, Zhytomyr, and Berdychiv. Frequent travels to Vilnius allowed him to explore Volhynia and Polissia more closely.

Memories of these journeys left a lasting impression on the poet, and their subjects inspired many of his works. In Krzemieniec, impressed by his trip to Odesa, Słowacki painted the oil work Misty Morning Over the Sea (1827–1828), which is still preserved in the town and decorates one of the museum’s halls dedicated to the poet.

Słowacki visited Krzemieniec for the last time in the summer of 1830. At that time, he wrote a “Polish national tale,” the poem Jan Bielecki, based on a historical account set in the 17th century near the town of Berezhany (now in Ternopil Oblast). Later, in his diary, summarizing his childhood and youth, Słowacki wrote:

"Thus ends the first period of my life. Now, after finishing university, I am nineteen years old, yet it seems to me that I have lived so long. The world of feelings has vanished for me, and for the past few years I have lived in another world — the world of poetry."

Juliusz Słowacki on his deathbed, sketch by the poet's friend, Charles Pétignaud-Dubo