ENThe noble Szetkiewicz family from Lithuania was very patriotic both in a Polish and Lithuanian sense (as the term was understood in the nineteenth century). They have a very special place in Polish literary study thanks to their relation with Henryk Sienkiewicz. They were also seen as “the real Lithuanians” in Warsaw during the second half of the nineteenth century. Nevertheless, while reading their letters and diaries we can see how the Szetkiewicz’s unite both the stereotypically Lithuanian features with decisively non-typical ones. Keywords: Positivism, clan, letters, Polish-Lithuanian relationships. [From the publication]