Jerzy Putrament

Jerzy Putrament (14 November 1910 23 June 1986) was a Polish writer, poet, editor, publicist and politician.

Jerzy Putrament

Biography

Jerzy Putrament was born in Minsk into a family with patriotic traditions. His mother was of Russian origin and adhered to Eastern Orthodox Church, as did Jerzy.

In his youth he was a member of the poetic circle Żagary (Firestorm). His story is told, as the character " Gamma, slave of history", in a chapter of Czesław Miłosz's book The Captive Mind.

In the Second Polish Republic, where he studied at the Stefan Batory University in Wilno, he at first leaned towards the right-wing endecja faction, and became a member of the Camp of Great Poland;[1] later he supported the Communist Party of Poland, for which he was arrested and put on trial.[2] After the Soviet invasion of Poland, he remained in the territories annexed by the Soviet Union and worked as a communist functionary, living in Lviv. At the same time, his mother and sister were deported to Siberia. Having fled to Moscow after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, he became one of the founders of the Union of Polish Patriots[2] and a war correspondent and a political commissar in the Polish Army in the East. At that time he wrote much pro-Soviet propaganda.[3]

In the People's Republic of Poland, he became a writer, publishing many works supporting the ideals of communism, and a politician. He became an editor of two literary journals (Miesięcznik Literacki from 1966 to 1971 and Literatura from 1955 to 1968), and as such he had significant influence on Polish cultural policy.[2] He was Ambassador to Switzerland from 1945 to 1947,[2] Ambassador to France from 1947 to 1950,[2] a deputy to the Polish Parliament from 1952 to 1961,[2] and eventually a member of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers Party from 1964 to 1981.[2]

Grave, Warsaw

He was a president of the Polish Chess Federation from 1954 to 1957 and 1963 to 1973. He died in Warsaw in 1986.

Works

Altogether Putrament wrote some 50 fictional works.[2]

He published his first works (poetry) before the war; his poetry anthologies Wczoraj powrót ("Yesterday the Return", 1935) and Droga leśna, ("Forest Road", 1938) were well received.[2] Their main themes were revolutionary politics and beauty of the countryside.[2]

His first novel was Rzeczywistość (1947; "Reality") which draws on his experiences of the trial for communist activism in Poland before the war.[2] His most renowned writings include the political novels Rozstaje (1954; "At the Crossroads") and Małowierni (1967; "Those of Little Faith") and the wartime novel Bołdyn (1969).[2] Bołdyń was filmed in 1982 by Czesław and Ewa Petelska.

List of works

Poetry

  • 1934 Wczoraj powrót (Yesterday back)
  • 1937 Droga leśna (Forest road)
  • 1944 Wojna i wiosna (War and spring)
  • 1951 Wiersze wybrane (Anthology)

Prose

  • 1936 Struktura nowel Prusa (The structure of novels)
  • 1946 Święta kulo (Holy ball)
  • 1947 Rzeczywistość (Reality)
  • 1952 Wrzesień (September)
  • 1952 Notatnik chiński (Chinese notebook)
  • 1953 Od Wołgi do Wisły (From the Volga to the Vistula)
  • 1954 Rozstaje (Crossroads)
  • 1955 Trzy powroty (Three returns)
  • 1956 Notatki polemiczne (Polemic notes)
  • 1956 Dwa łyki Ameryki (Two sips of America)
  • 1956 Wakacje (Holiday)
  • 1957 Wypadek w Krasnymstawie (An accident in Krasnystaw)
  • 1957 Trzynasty z Wesołka (The thirteenth of Wesołek)
  • 1958 Strachy w Biesalu (Fears in Biesal)
  • 1959 Kronika obyczajów (Chronicle of customs)
  • 1959 Fiołki w Neapolu (Violets in Napels)
  • 1961 Arka Noego (Noah's ark)
  • 1961 Arkadia (Arcadia)
  • 1961 Chińszczyzna (Chinese food)
  • 1961 Pół wieku, t. I (Half a century)
  • 1961 Pół wieku, t. II (Half a century)
  • 1963 Cztery strony świata (Four sides of the world)
  • 1963 Pasierbowie (Stepchildren)
  • 1964 Odyniec (Odin)
  • 1966 Puszcza (Wilderness)
  • 1967 Małowierni (The infidels)
  • 1969 Bołdyn (Bołdyn)

References

  1. (in Polish) Obecność chrześcijaństwa: Z Czesławem MIŁOSZEM rozmawia ks. Józef SADZIK Archived 20 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine, "Recogito" 2004 wrzesień-październik
  2. "Jerzy Putrament." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 01 Jan. 2009.
  3. Wrobel, Piotr. "The Devil's Playground: Poland in World War II, part I & II". Project InPosterum. Price-Patterson. Retrieved 25 January 2008.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.