Żywny, Živný, Zhywny, Ziwny, Żiwny, Wojciech, Vojtěch, Adalbert, *13 May 1756 or 7 April 1760 Czech Republic, †21 (20?) February 1842 Warsaw, Polish pianist and teacher of Czech origin. He was the son of a flautist. He studied with J.K. Kuchař, a famous organist and composer. In his youth, Żywny was a bandmaster and taught violin and piano, probably in Stuttgart and Zweibrücken. He came to Poland around 1790 and took up the position of court pianist and music teacher in the palace of the Sapieha princes in Dereczyn near Słonim. After the partitions of Poland, he lived in Warsaw and, thanks to the recommendations he had obtained earlier, he quickly found a job as a piano teacher in numerous Warsaw intelligentsia homes. According to his contemporaries, there were few families in Warsaw who did not know him. Żywny spoke German, “he spoke Polish with strong German influences” (Hoesick, vol. 1, p. 43). Until the end of his life, he lived at Krakowskie Przedmieście Street (vis-à-vis the Carmelite Church), he never travelled away, spending all his days working with students (he charged PLN 3–4 per lesson and accumulated a large fortune). Perhaps J. Javůrek’s information that he had about 1,000 students is justified. Żywny was a colourful character with unique customs and clothes, he lived modestly, was a nice, popular, witty man, as well as a philanthropist; he willingly lent money, including to Chopin’s brothers-in-law, e.g. in 1837, he lent 9,000 zlotys to Józef Kalasanty Jędrzejewicz, the husband of Chopin’s sister Ludwika, who after her husband’s death struggled with Żywny’s successors on this matter until the end of her life.
He went down in music history as Chopin’s first and only piano teacher (from approximately 1816 to 1822 or 1821), he also taught Ludwika and the boarders of the Chopin boarding house. Żywny’s merit is Chopin’s special attitude to the music of J.S. Bach and W.A. Mozart, whose Żywny was contemporary and admirer of, perhaps also introduced his student to the secrets of improvisation; he admired this art during musical evenings with the Chopin family. He was almost a member of this family; with Fryderyk, who dedicated his youthful Polonaise in A-flat major (1821) to him, he was united by the most cordial and reciprocated feelings of friendship and respect. At Żywny’s request, Chopin provided support and protection to E. Wolff when he came to Paris for further education (Correspondence, vol. 1, p. 257). In 1834, Żywny got involved with L.A. Dmuszewski in the work on establishing the Society for the Support of Failed Artists and Musicians, their Widows and Orphans, which was finally established in 1837. He did not marry, he died after 6 days of illness without notifying anyone about it, Ludwika managed to reach him in the last hour; on 23 February 23 1842, a funeral mass was held in the Bernardine church and the funeral was held at the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw. Żywny composed numerous piano miniatures and sonatas, songs and orchestral overtures; these works – apart from the Polonaise in C major – are not known today.
Literature: obituaries in: “Le Glaneur de Varsovie” 1842 no. 51 “Kurier Warszawski” 1842 no. 51, “Tygodnik Literacki” 1842 no. 7, “Dziennik Narodowy” 1842 no. 52; J. [J. Javůrek, Żywny’s biography], “Kurier Warszawski” 1842 no. 54; Korespondencja Fryderyka Chopina, 2 vol., gathered and compiled by B.E. Sydow, Warsaw 1955; F. Hoesick Chopin. Życie i twórczość, 4 vol., Kraków 1962–1968; J. Siwkowska Nokturn czyli rodzina Fryderyka Chopina i Warszawa w latach 1832–1881, 3 vol., Warsaw 1986–96; H. Wróblewska-Straus Nota biograficzna Wojciecha Żywnego, w: Korespondencja Fryderyka Chopina, vol. 1 (1816–1831), edited by Z. Helman, Z. Skowron, H. Wróblewska-Straus, Warsaw 2009.
