JANSKI, Bogdan. - Born at Ciechanowiec (Poland), 27 March 1807; died at Rome, 2 July 1840. After completing his early studies at Pułtusk, in 1824 he entered the University of Warsaw to attend courses in political economy. There he completely lost his faith while giving himself over to sensuality. Extremely intelligent, in 1827 the Russian government sent him to Paris to perfect his studies. He joined the Saint-Simonian sect, and from September 1830 to February 1831, on the orders of its leaders, he negotiated in London the union of objectives with the Saint-Simonians with such zeal that he neglected to hasten to Warsaw, which had risen against the Russians. But upon returning to Paris, he broke away from the sect, and after a most difficult struggle, he returned to the Catholic Church.
Refusing to return to Warsaw to teach at its university, he lived in poverty by giving lessons and writing articles, supported by his friends, among whom were Lacordaire, Montalembert, and especially the poet A. Mickiewicz, then a fervent Catholic, with whom he collaborated in providing both material and spiritual assistance to Polish exiles in France after 1831. To prevent the corruption of these exiles, Janski founded a religious institute (later the Congregation of the Resurrection), even though the priesthood was closed to him because of a marriage he had contracted in his youth. Despite many difficulties, from 1836 onward he directed the small community and was able to send his first disciples to Rome to complete their studies. Meanwhile, he sanctified himself amid great physical and moral suffering. When he joined his disciples in Rome, already consumed by tuberculosis, he died there.