Little is known about life of Mikołaj Sęp Szarzyński. He was born around 1550 in the village of Zimna Woda near Lviv (today in Ukraine, then in the Kingdom of Poland). He was a member of Protestant family. He was the son of Joachim Sęp called Szarzyński. He studied abroad in Germany at universities of Wittemberg and of Lepzig. Then he continued his studies at the University of Padua in Italy.