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Polish prose writer, playwright, essayist and publicist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jerzy Broszkiewicz (June 6, 1922 – October 4, 1993)[1] was a Polish prose writer, playwright, essayist and publicist. He is best known for his dramas as well as young adult literature; the latter usually took forms of historical or science fiction novels.[2]
Jerzy Broszkiewicz | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | October 4, 1993 71) | (aged
Nationality | Polish |
Known for | novels, dramas, science fiction |
Notable work | Wielka, większa i największa Ci z Dziesiątego Tysiąca |
Awards | Order of Polonia Restituta Warsaw Uprising Cross Medal of the 40th Anniversary of People's Poland Order of the Smile |
He was born on 6 June 1922 in Lviv; his father, Adam, was an officer in the Polish Armed Forces.[2][3] From 1934, he was a student at the Jan Długosz Gymnasium in Lviv.[2] In 1940, after finishing secondary school and music school, he entered the Lviv National Music Academy.[2][3] During the German occupation of Lviv (from 1941 to 1944), he participated in underground cultural activities (literary evenings, concerts);[2] he was also a louse-feeder at the Lviv Institute for Typhus and Virus Research under Professor Rudolf Weigl.[4][5]
In 1944, he married Ewa Łomnicka and moved to Kraków,[2][5] where he lived in the famous Literary House at 22 Krupnicza Street.[3][5] For some time, he studied at the Academy of Music but discontinued his studies in 1945[2] (although Stanisław Frycie and Tadeusz Kwiatkowski described him as a “promising pianist”).[5][6] From that year, he was a member of the Polish Writers' Union (from 1957 to 1958, he was vice-president of the main board; from 1973, he was a member of the Kraków branch board of the union, and in 1975, its vice-president).[2] From 1945 to 1947, he collaborated with the editorial office of the weekly Odrodzenie (including as a proofreader and theater critic) and the journal Teatr . He also worked with the newspapers Nowiny and Dziennik Polski (from 1945 to 1946).[2][3][7] From 1947 to 1949, he co-edited the magazine Ruch Muzyczny , and later, from 1948 to 1951, he was an editor for the monthly Muzyka .[2][3][7]
In 1948, he moved to Warsaw.[2] From 1950 to 1951, he hosted a weekly cultural program on the radio and later was a writer for radio plays.[2] From 1950 to 1963, he published in Nowa Kultura and Przegląd Kulturalny (where he was a member of the editorial board from 1953).[2] From 1953 to 1954, he edited the artistic-literary supplement in Sztandar Młodych called Przedpole.[2][6] In 1953, he joined the Polish United Workers' Party,[8] and in the same year, he became a member of the editorial board of Przegląd Kulturalny, where he was a co-editor until 1963.[3] From 1955 to 1956, he was the artistic director of the Estrada Theatre.[5] In 1959, he returned to Kraków; from that year until 1971, he was the literary manager of the Ludowy Theatre in Nowa Huta.[2][3] In 1960, he wrote for Gazeta Krakówska.[2] In 1975, he became a member of the Kraków Polish United Workers' Party Committee and a member of the presidium of the Kraków club Kużnica.[2][6]
His wife, Ewa (née Łomnicka), was a doctor in psychiatry and the daughter of the renowned mathematician Antoni Łomnicki. They had one daughter, Irena (1954–2021), the prototype for Iki from the novel Wielka, większa i największa (The Great, Greater, and Greatest), a doctor of mathematics and artist from Piwnica pod Baranami.[5]
He suffered from schizophrenia.[2] He died on 4 October 1993 in Kraków.[2][3] He was buried in the Alley of Merit at the Rakowicki Cemetery (section LXIX, row B-2-2).[9]
His literary work was diverse.[3] He made his debut in 1945 as a music critic[3][10] and simultaneously as a writer with the short story Monika, published in the weekly Odrodzenie (No. 18).[2][8] His book debut was the novel Oczekiwanie (Expectation), set in the ghetto,[3] for which he received the Kraków Land Award.[2]
Another significant work was the repeatedly reissued novel Kształt miłości (The Shape of Love) about Frédéric Chopin,[3] for which he received the State Award of the 2nd degree in 1951. In 1971, the novel Długo i szczęśliwie (Happily Ever After) won the Association of Trade Unions Award.[2] Kluska, Kefir i Tutejszy (Dumpling, Kefir, and the Local) was distinguished at the IV Premio Europeo in 1968.[3]
He authored 14 novels for young readers, debuting with Opowieść olimpijska (Olympic Tale) in 1948, although most of his novels for younger audiences were written in the 1960s and 1970s.[3] His earlier works in this genre were often biographical. Many of his later works belong to the science fiction genre, which Frycie considered the most significant part of his oeuvre.[6] Notably, Wielka, większa i największa (The Great, Greater, and Greatest) from 1960 received high praise from critics[11] and became a compulsory reading book for fifth grade.[12][13] According to Frycie, in his works for young adults, Broszkiewicz exposed moral values such as resourcefulness, wisdom, nobility, and courage, and combined various narrative techniques, genres, and literary conventions.[6]
In addition to this, he also wrote well-received dramas, being a multiple winner of drama competitions.[10] He penned over 20 theatrical, television, and radio plays.[5] He also wrote collections of essays,[5] television[14] and film scripts[5] (e.g., Kopernik [Copernicus]), and publications on music.[5] Some of his plays were produced abroad, including in France, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, New Zealand, and the US.[5] Broszkiewicz's works have been translated into at least 20 languages, and the total print run of his novels exceeded 1 million copies.[5]
Frycie described Broszkiewicz as an exceptionally talented and versatile writer.[6]
Broszkiewicz also helped in writing the debut novels of Sat-Okh: Ziemia słonych skał (Land of Salty Rocks, 1958) and Biały mustang (White Mustang, 1959). According to Dariusz Rosiak , Broszkiewicz was even their actual undisclosed author based on Sat-Okh's stories.[15]
He lived in the Krowodrza district of Kraków. He was married to Dr. Ewa (1920–2000), daughter of Antoni Łomnicki, who was a psychiatrist.[16] They had a daughter, Irena Broszkiewicz (1954–2021), a mathematician associated with Piotr Ferster , the director of Piwnica pod Baranami.[5]
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