Potocki, Wacław

Potocki, Wacław, b 1625 in Wola Łużańska, near Gorlice, western Galicia, d July 1696 in neighboring Łużna. Polish noble of the Potocki family; poet. He took part in Polish campaigns against the Cossacks in Ukraine in 1638 and 1651. Motifs from Ukrainian folklore can be found in his collections of emblematic (see Emblem) and epigrammatic (see Epigram), anecdotal (see Anecdote), and humorous poems Poczet herbów szlachty Korony Polskiey ... (Enumeration of Crests of the Nobility of the Polish Crown, 1696) and Ogród fraszek (Garden of Trifles, pub 1907). In his epic poem Transakcyja wojny chocimskiej (The Transaction of the Khotyn War, 1670; published 1850) he portrayed sympathetically the participation of the Cossacks under Hetman Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny in the 1621 Battle of Khotyn against the Turks.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 4 (1993).]