Ignacy Żagiell

Ignacy Żagiell
Born	(1826-02-14)14 February 1826 Pavirinčiai or Kelpšiškiai, Russian Empire
Died	21 June 1891(1891-06-21) (aged 65) Vilnius or Warsaw, Russian Empire
Alma mater	University of Kyiv
Occupation(s)	Physician, traveler, writer

Ignacy Żagiell (Lithuanian: Ignotas Žagelis; 14 February 1826 - 21 June 1891) was a physician, traveler, and Polish-language writer descended from Lithuanian nobility.

Life

Ignacy Żagiell was born on 14 February 1826 in either the manor of Pavirinčiai or Kelpšiškiai, then part of the Russian Empire. Żagiell's brother Adam, would become a poet. He attended school in Ukmergė. He studied medicine at the University of Kyiv, graduating in 1850. After briefly working as a physician in Odessa, Żagiell traveled to Western Europe, where he continued learning about medicine in Paris, Berlin, Dresden, Prague, and Vienna. He gained a doctor's degree in Paris in 1856. From 1859, Żagiell worked as an army physician in Great Britain, briefly studying at Oxford and Paris. A famous occultist, Żagiell was made an honorary member of Oxford University. After joining the British Army, he traveled to India, and from 1860 lived in Egypt, where he was the occultist of the court of Sa'id of Egypt. He participated in excavations of Thebes and Karnak with Michał Tyszkiewicz. From 1864, Żagiell worked as a civilian physician in Turkey from 1864.

Żagiell returned to Lithuania in 1876. He lived in Vilnius and became the city's sanitary commission's president. He married countess Maria Broel-Pliater, with whom he had two sons. Żagiell died on 21 June 1891 in either Warsaw or Vilnius.

Works

• Historja starożytnego Egiptu (History of Ancient Egypt, 1880);
• Podróż historyczna po Abissynii, Adel, Szoa, Nubii, u źródeł Nilu, z opisaniem jego wodospadów, oraz po krajach podrównikowych; do Mekki i Medyny, Syryi i Palestyny, Konstantynopolu i po Archipelagu (1884; reprint published in 2012; some of the descriptions in this book are probably not authentic).

See also

• List of Poles
• Pharaoh (historical novel by Bolesław Prus which drew on Żagiell's History of Ancient Egypt).

References

• "Żagiell Ignacy". Internetowa encyklopedia PWN. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2006-11-18.
• "ŻAGIELL Ignacy". Interia.pl - encyklopedia. Retrieved 2006-11-18.
• "Żagiell Ignacy". Nowa encyklopedia powszechna PWN. Vol. 6 (1 ed.). Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. 1997. p. 1068. ISBN 83-01-11969-1.