Juozapas Albinas Herbačiauskas or Józef Albin Herbaczewski (20 October 1876 – 3 December 1944) was a Polish-Lithuanian occult writer, poet, literary critic, playwright, publicist and translator.

[1] Juozas Albinas Herbačiauskas was born on 20 October 1876 in the village of Lankeliškiai [lt] (modern-day Vilkaviškis district) in Congress Poland within the Russian Empire.

Herbačiauskas's brother Bolesław Szczęsny Herbaczewski also became a writer, and studied in Warsaw with Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, but considered himself Polish.

[1] He regularly recited poems at the Zielony Balonik cabaret, where he met people like Petras Rimša, Sofija Kymantaitė-Čiurlionienė, and Józef Piłsudski.

[1] The almanac's most important publications were Genijaus meilė (Love of the Genius) and Lietuvos griuvėsių himnas (Hymn of the Ruins of Lithuania).

[14] Herbačiauskas would discuss literature and politics with Balys Sruoga, Vincas Krėvė-Mickevičius, Juozas Keliuotis, Petras Karuža, and Paulius Galaunė.

[16] In 1933, Herbačiauskas and his wife moved to Poland, as Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Józef Beck invited him to give lectures on Lithuania at the University of Warsaw.

In Odrodzenie Litwy wobec idei polskiej (Lithuanian Revival and the Idea of Poland; 1905) and Erškėčių vainikas (Crown of Thorns; 1908) Herbačiauskas explored the development of Lithuanian culture, critiquing its provincialist isolation, and reflecting on the religious and national aspects of creativity, as well as the mission of the artist, which he deemed to be a rebel and genius on Earth.

[19] His next book, Ironiczna nauka dla umysłowo dojrzałych dzieci (Ironic Lessons for Mentally Mature Children, 1914), was a presentation of the author's concept of literature, as well as a critique of contemporary Polish literature – particularly the work of Tadeusz Miciński, with whom Herbačiauskas was in long-standing conflict, but also of Stanisław Wyspiański, Stefan Żeromski, and Stanisław Brzozowski.

[20] While in Kaunas he published a popular book of essays Dievo šypsenos (Smiles of God, 1929), and drama Tyrų vienuolis (The Monk of the Wilderness, 1930).

In it, Herbačiauskas announces the problem of the nation's spirit, the future salvation of Lithuania, which will be brought by a genius – a "creator of the highest abilities".

In Lietuvos griuvėsių himnas Herbačiauskas depicts a medieval poem in which the forces of the natural and supernatural worlds meet, and where the action is accompanied by a chorus.

[23] Jastrzębowska's brother was Wojciech Jastrzębowski, a sculptor, soldier of the Polish Legions, who fought against the Bolsheviks and Ukrainians, in the interwar period rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and a senator.