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Born on 14 October 1864 in the village of Strawczyn in the
province of Kielce to an impoverished but noble family. He
attended primary school in the village of Psary, then in 1874 he
started studying at the gymnasium in Kielce. His twelve-year-
long schooling at the gymnasium (Antoni Gustaw Bem was the
teacher of Polish language and literature) did not result in
%7łeromski passing the matriculation exams. He worked as a family
tutor, he gave private lessons, and kept a diary systematically. In
autumn 1886 he entered the Veterinary College in Warsaw and
took part in the activities of secret organisations, including the
Union of Polish Youth. He was forced to abandon his veterinary
studies owing to the lack of financial resources; he started
working as a resident tutor in the houses of the gentry in the
regions of Kielce, Mazovia and Podlasie, and in Nałęczów. In
Nałęczów he met his wife-to-be: Oktawia Radziwiłł Rodkiewicz,
who enabled him to make literary contacts. In autumn 1892 he
became assistant librarian in the Polish Museum in Rapeswill.
His four-year stay in Switzerland enabled him, among other
things, to become acquainted with archival materials concerning
the history of Polish nineteenth-century emigration, he also
established close contacts with politicians who were connected
with the socialist movement at that time. His first books
appeared during this period: Rozdzióbią nas kruki i wrony
(1895), Opowiadania (1985), Syzyfowe prace ( Sisyphean
Labours ) (1897). In 1897-1904 he worked in the Zamoyski Estate
Library in Warsaw. After 1904 his financial conditions allowed
him to concentrate exclusively on his literary work; he stayed in
Nałęczów, Zakopane and in Italy, then he moved to Paris for three
years. After coming back to his home country in 1912 he settled
down in Zakopane where he spent the years of the First World
War. During this period he divorced Oktawia %7łeromska, and
established a relationship with Anna Zawadzka. In autumn 1918
he moved to Warsaw. During the plebiscite in Warmia and
Stefan %7łeromski
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Mazuria, %7łeromski, together with Jan Kasprowicz, took part in
the agitation in favour of incorporating these lands into Poland.
In 1920 he set up The Society of Friends of Pomerania. He acted
as a war correspondent during the war between the Poles and the
Bolsheviks. He spoke in public about public matters and was
attacked by right-wing politicians. He was the initiator of the
Academy of Literature project; he established The Guardians of
Polish Writing and the Polish division of the PEN-Club (1924); he
was the co-founder and the first chairman of the Union of Polish
Professional Writers. His endeavours to be awarded the Nobel
Prize for Literature ended in failure. He died on 20 November
1925 in Warsaw. His funeral on 23 November 1925 became a
national manifestation; the writer was buried at the Evangelical
Reformed Cemetery in Warsaw.
He used the pseudonyms: Maurycy Zych, Józef Katerla.
Literary output: to 1898: Rozdzióbią nas kruki i wrony (1895),
Opowiadania, including: Doktor Piotr, Zmierzch, Siłaczka,
Zapomnienie (1895), Promień (1897), Syzyfowe prace ("Sisyphean
Labours") (1897); 1898-1910: Ludzie bezdomni (1899), Popioły
( The Ashes ) (1903), Dzieje grzechu (1908) Duma o hetmanie
(1908), plays: Róża (1909), Sułkowski (1910), Sen o szpadzie
(1906); 1910-1919: Uroda życia (1912), Wierna rzeka (1912); the
trilogy Walka z szatanem: Nawracanie Judasza, Zamieć (1916),
Charitas (1919), the poem Wisła (1918), a novel fragment
Wszystko i nic (1914); journalism: Początek świata pracy (1918),
Projekt Akademii Literatury Polskiej (1918), Organizacja
inteligencji zawodowej (1919); 1919-1925: Przedwiośnie
("Springtime") (1924), Puszcza jodłowa (1925), plays: "Ponad
śnieg bielszy się stanę" (1920), Biała rękawiczka (1921), Turoń
(1923), "Uciekła mi przepióreczka..." (1924), journalism: Snobizm
i postęp (1922), Bicze z piasku (1925).
Stefan %7łeromski
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He voiced his opinions on all the important matters concerning
Polish culture and thought; his expressive style (described as
"żeromski-ness") and his tendencies towards naturalism gained
him many opponents, as did broaching topics which were
considered morally sensitive by society; the polemics and
arguments which have lasted to this day, and also subsequent film
adaptations of his works (including Dzieje grzechu 1933,
directed by H. Szaro, and in 1975, directed by W. Borowczyk;
Popioły 1965, directed by A. Wajda) constitute tangible proof of
the significance of his ideas.
Transtaled into English Tadeusz Z. Wolański
BIBLIOGRAFIA - BIBLIOGRAPHY
Stefan %7łeromski. Kalendarz życia i twórczości. Oprac. S.
Kasztelowicz i S. Eile, Kraków 1961.
%7łeromski. Z dziejów recepcji twórczości 1895-1964. Oprac. Z.J.
Adamczyk, Warszawa 1975.
W. Borowy, O %7łeromskim. Rozprawy i szkice, Warszawa 1964.
A. Hutnikiewicz, %7łeromski i naturalizm, Toruń 1956.
H. Markiewicz, Prus i %7łeromski, Warszawa 1964
R. Zimand, Diarysta Stefan %7ł., Wrocław 1990.
Stefan %7łeromski
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