Jerzy Kulczycki

Jerzy Sławomir Kulczycki (12 October 1931 in Lwów – 18 July 2013 in London) was a Polish engineer, activist bookseller, and publisher. He was the founder in 1996 of the Kulczycki (Orbis Books) prize in Polish Studies.[1]

For the 17th-century diplomat, see Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki.

Biography

In 1940, as a nine-year old, he was deported by the invading Soviets with his mother into captivity in Kazachstan. His father, a judge, had been murdered by the NKVD.[2] In 1942 they were moved to Iran to join Anders' Army. From 1944 he was a pupil of the exiled Corps of Cadets. In 1947 he settled in the United Kingdom, where in 1954 he graduated at the University of London with a degree in civil engineering. In 1958 he specialised in hydrology and in 1964 in road construction. That same year he married Aleksandra, also a Polish displaced person. They had three children.[3]

Publishing and activism

As part of the Polish political emigré community, he was active in the Polish Labour Party (Stronnictwo Pracy), the Christian Democratic tendency. In 1964, as a sideline to his professional work, he established a publishing house, under the imprint, "Odnowa" (Renewal) in London, to produce emigré works and reprints in Polish, in particular the writings of Karol Popiel, Amintore Fanfani, Jan Nowak-Jeziorański and George Orwell. He invited his friend and fellow activist, Stanisław Gebhardt, to be a co-director of the firm, which was active until 1990.[3]

Orbis Books

In 1972 with his wife, he bought a Polish bookshop, Orbis Books (London) in New Oxford Street, a business begun in Edinburgh during the war in 1944. They moved to new premises at 66 Kenway Road in Earl's Court where much of the Polish elite had settled after World War II. The shop stayed there until 2005, before moving to Blyth Road, Hammersmith. His bookstands were also available at the Polish Hearth Club and at St Andrew Bobola Church, Hammersmith.[4] The business finally closed in 2011. During the Communist régime in Poland, Orbis Books (London) was one of the main exporters of banned and other Western literature to Poland, which often required unorthodox means of despatch to ensure delivery into the rightful hands. He was a major retailer of the influential Paris-based periodical, Kultura.[3]

In 1996 Kulczycki and his family instituted a book prize as an award for peer reviewed titles focused on Polish culture and politics. The prize is administered by the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies in the United States.[5]

Kulczycki was for many years a director of the Institute of Polish-Jewish Studies.[6] He died of cancer in London in 2013, aged 82. His edited memoire, Atakować książką ("Attack with the Book"), was published posthumously in 2016.

Distinctions

See also

References
  1. "Past Winners of the Kulczycki (Orbis) Books Prize in Polish Studies | ASEEES". www.aseees.org. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  2. Wasiak-Taylor, Regina (13 August 2013). "Odszedł Jerzy Kulczycki". www.cooltura24.co.uk (in Polish). Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  3. Szukała, Michał (30 September 2016). "Atakować książką". dzieje.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  4. Lewandowska, Elżbieta, (2010). "Szlachetna Misja", Ekspresje, vol. 1 2010, pp. 30–40 http://www.sppzg.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Ekspresje.pdf, an illustrated history of the bookseller, publisher Orbis, in Polish, retrieved 12-29-2017
  5. "Kulczycki Book Prize in Polish Studies". www.aseees.org. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  6. "Institute of Polish-Jewish Studies (The)". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Companies House. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  7. "Komunikat o nadaniu Orderu Odrodzenia Polski z dnia 11 listopada 1990 roku" (PDF). Dziennik Ustaw (in Polish): 56. 20 December 1990. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2005.
  8. M.P. z 1998 r. Nr 16, poz. 246.
  9. M.P. z 2005 r. Nr 78, poz. 1095.

Bibliography
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