Poet, born in 1505 in Żórawin near Halicz, died in 1569, probably in Rejowiec near Chełm. The son of a nobleman from Nagłowice, he sealed himself with the Oksza coat of arms. He studied in Skalbmierz, then in Lviv and the Krakow Academy, but after a year he interrupted his studies and returned to Żórawno, from 1525 he stayed at the Tęczyński court and in other aristocratic mansions.
The Reja’s great merit is the dissemination of the Polish language in literature, he paved the way for Jan Kochanowski, Łukasz Górnicki and Julian Krzyżanowski. It had an amazingly rich language that was distinct and varied. What’s more, he was musically talented and he sang with his choir many times at Wawel.
The best known works by Rej include: “A Short Discourse between … Panem, Wójt and Parish”, “The Self-Image of a Good Man”, “The Mirror”.
Rej used to be a deputy, founder of the towns of Oksza and Rejowiec, a noble host, a spokesman for the Reformation, later converted to Lutheranism, and then to Calvinism.
It has its own street in Kraków in Żabiniec.
