A. J. (Antoni Józef) Gliński

Born in 1817 in Szczorse near Nowogródek, Antoni Józef Gliński came from a peasant family and was largely self-educated. He later settled in Vilnius, where he spent much of his adult life and built his reputation as a writer connected with folk culture.

Gliński is chiefly known for Bajarz polski, a major multi-volume collection of fairy tales, legends, and popular storytelling first published in the 1850s. His writing drew on oral traditions from the Polish-Lithuanian borderlands, bringing village tales and old beliefs into a literary form that could reach a much wider audience.

He died in Vilnius on June 30, 1866. Although not as widely known internationally as some later collectors of folklore, his work remains an important part of Polish literary and folk tradition, especially for readers interested in classic fairy tales and the roots of Slavic storytelling.