Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator, professor of Slavic literature, and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in
Polish Romanticism, he is counted one of Poland's "
Three Bards" ("
Trzej Wieszcze") and is widely regarded as Poland's greatest poet. He is also considered one of the greatest
Slavic and
European poets and has been dubbed a "Slavic bard". A leading Romantic dramatist, he has been compared in Poland and Europe to
Byron and
Goethe.