Alexander Chodzko

Born in 1804 in Krzywicze, in what is now Belarus, Aleksander Borejko Chodźko became known as a Polish poet, Slavist, and Iranologist. He studied at the University of Vilnius and later at the Institute of Oriental Studies in Saint Petersburg, preparing for a career that would combine literature, languages, and diplomacy.

In the 1830s he served in the Russian diplomatic service in Persia, where he collected folklore, studied local languages, and gathered material that later shaped some of his best-known scholarly work. He is often noted as one of the first European scholars to work seriously on Persian folklore, and his writings helped introduce Persian popular poetry and oral traditions to readers in Europe.

After settling in France, he remained active in literary and academic life and eventually succeeded Adam Mickiewicz as professor of Slavic literature at the Collège de France. Chodźko died in 1891, leaving behind a body of work that reflects both wide learning and a genuine curiosity about cultures across borders.