Pan Tadeusz: What is Google celebrating with its doodle and why?

Google Doodle is back again and this time it is celebrating the 185th anniversary of the publication of the Pan Tadeusz poem.

"Google Doodle? What poem?", you might be asking yourself. Well, be prepared to be enlightened, because the Pan Tadeusz poem is one of the greatest achievements in European literature.

What is Pan Tadeusz​?

According to Google, Pan Tadeusz is a "12-part saga that captures the spirit of Poland at a time when much of its territory was partitioned between Russia, Prussia and Austria".

The poem is set between 1811 and 1812 in a Lithuanian village and focuses on a feud between two prominent families, which is only complicated further by a love between two of their members. So basically, Pan Tadeusz is like the Polish version of Romeo and Juliet.

The poem itself is considered one of the best poems in European literature and is, therefore, a required reading in all Polish schools.

Who is Adam Mickiewicz?

Adam Mickiewicz is the brain behind Pan Tadeusz and is also considered Poland's national poet.

Mickiewicz, dubbed a "Slavic bard" was not only into poetry but was also a political activist, spending five years in political exile in Russia for being part of the resistance hoping to win Lithuanian independence.

He wrote his best-known poem Pan Tadeusz in Prais in 1834.

HT The Independent

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