Józef Kowalewski

Who was Józef Kowalewski?

Józef Kowalewski was a Polish orientalist. Founder of the Philomatic Association, in 1824 convicted by the Russian authorities for pro-independence Polish activity and exiled into Russia. Allowed to study at the Kazan University, he studied Mongolia, particularly Mongolian language and Tibetan Buddhism. In 1833 he founded the Department of Mongolian Studies at Kazan University - the first in Europe. In the years 1844-1849 he published his major work - a Mongolian - Russian - French dictionary. In 1862 he was allowed to return to Poland; he refused to support the January Uprising and did not oppose Russification of Polish education, for which he became the dean of the Philological and Historical Faculty of the University of Warsaw.