Piotr Semenenko

Piotr Semenenko, CR (June 29, 1814 – November 18, 1886) was a Polish Catholic priest who cofounded the Resurrectionists and served as superior general. As a philosopher and theologian, he was regarded as one of the most scholarly Polish Catholics in the second half of the 19th century. He was the author of many philosophical and theological works, as well as on the interior life. He left a massive correspondence, as well as a personal diary. Peter Semenenko was born into a Ruthenian family on June 29, 1814, in Dzięciołowo in north-east Poland. In 1830, he started his studies at the University of Wilno in the Department of Philosophy, but soon interrupted them because he decided to join the November Uprising against Russian invaders. He emigrated to France in 1832. While in Paris, he met Bogdan Jański in 1833, who soon became his spiritual director and master. Under his influence, Semenenko returned to the Catholic faith and became the first member of the "Jański House" in 1836, which was the beginning of the Congregation of the Resurrection. After the early death of Jański in 1840 in Rome, Semenenko was elected the first superior and spiritual leader of the new community.