ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses Chopin's relationship with the circle of Polish political immigrants in Paris, mostly exiles from Poland after the suppression of the November Uprising in 1831 by the Russian authorities. This circle included the most prominent Polish literary figures residing in Paris at that time. The chapter deals with Chopin and the Romantic ideal of a "national" composer and with Chopin's relationships with Parisian salons. The picture that emerges from this discussion will help to revise some biographical clichés concerning Chopin as a "national" composer. The chapter demonstrates the limited validity of making simple inferences from Chopin's music about his life and the need for a more thoroughly researched biography of Chopin. Chopin showed little interest in discussions within Polish intellectual and artistic circles concerning the role of the arts and of the Polish artist in the preservation of values of the Polish national culture under the partitions.
