Every poet and writer needs inspiration for his or her work. The unquestionable ‘conscience of Kashubian regionalism’ was Jan Karnowski, an outstanding researcher of the history of Pomerania. He was inspired by his love for his ‘little homeland’ and poured his patriotic feelings onto paper. It was Kashubia that inspired Jan Karnowski's work.

He was born on 16 May 1886 in Czarnów near Brusy. He studied at the Collegium Marianum in Pelplin and at the secondary school in Chojnice. There he belonged to the secret circle of Philomaths, ‘Mickiewicz’, of which he was president from 1906 to 1907. In Pelplin he studied theology, and law at the University of Wrocław.

He fought against the Prussians in the Greater Poland Uprising. In 1920, he became head of the Department of Public Safety at the Pomeranian Provincial Office in Toruń. He was co-founder and president of the Pomeranian Philomath Society. From 1924 to 1925, he was head of the court in Czersk, and in 1927 was appointed District Judge in Chojnice. He was actively involved in public life, e.g. in the County Assembly, the Polish Country-Lovers' Society, and the Society for Research into the History of the Independence Movement in Pomerania in Toruń. He was one of the co-founders of the Society of Lovers of Chojnice and the Surrounding Area, where he served as editor of the magazine ‘Zabory’. He possessed an unparalleled poetic talent and played a leading role in Kashubian literature. He was the author of epic poems, volumes of poetry and many dramas. He researched the past of small Kashubian villages and Pomeranian families. Most of his works were published after the Second World War.

He died on 3 October 1939. He was buried at the cemetery in Brusy. Jan Karnowski's views were modern and ahead of the times. In his works, he demanded respect for historical truth and recognition of the role of the Kashubian people in maintaining Polishness in Pomerania. He showed the armed deeds of the Pomeranian people against Teutonic and Prussian violence. He noticed the economic backwardness of the Kashubians. He saw the solution to this problem in the dissemination of education and culture. Apart from his literary and legal activity, Jan Karnowski gave evidence of his exceptional advocacy of Kashubian folk art throughout his life.

For more information on Jan Karnowski, see Cezary Obracht - Prondzyński's 1999 monograph.