Leopold Henryk Staff (November 14, 1878 – May 31, 1957) was a

Polish poet List of poets who have written much of their poetry in Polish. See also Discussion Page for additional poets not listed here. There have been five Polish-language Nobel Prize laureates in literature: Henryk Sienkiewicz, Władysław Reymont, ...

; an artist of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

modernism Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

twice granted the Degree of

Doctor honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad ho ...

by universities in Warsaw and in Kraków. He was also nominated for the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

by Polish PEN Club. Representative of

classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthet ...

and symbolism in the poetry of Young Poland, he was an author of many

philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

poems influenced by the

philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) developed his philosophy during the late 19th century. He owed the awakening of his philosophical interest to reading Arthur Schopenhauer's ''Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung'' (''The World as Will and Represe ...

(from whom he translated several books into Polish), the ideas of Franciscan order as well as paradoxes of Christianity.

Life

Staff was born in

Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

(then in the

Austrian partition The Austrian Partition ( pl, zabór austriacki) comprise the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth acquired by the Habsburg monarchy during the Partitions of Poland in the late 18th century. The three partitions were conduct ...

; now

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

, Ukraine) during the military

partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...

. He was one of three children of the local

confectioner Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categorie ...

of Czech & German origin. He studied law and philosophy at the

Lwów University The University of Lviv ( uk, Львівський університет, Lvivskyi universytet; pl, Uniwersytet Lwowski; german: Universität Lemberg, briefly known as the ''Theresianum'' in the early 19th century), presently the Ivan Franko Na ...

, and in 1918 settled in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

at the cusp of Poland's return to independence. He died at the age of 78 in Skarżysko-Kamienna soon after the end of Stalinism in postwar Poland, and was buried in

at the renowned

Powązki Cemetery Powązki Cemetery (; pl, Cmentarz Powązkowski), also known as Stare Powązki ( en, Old Powązki), is a historic necropolis located in Wola district, in the western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city and one of t ...

. Staff was highly influential in the interwar period, including in the literary life of

Julian Tuwim Julian Tuwim (13 September 1894 – 27 December 1953), known also under the pseudonym "Oldlen" as a lyricist, was a Polish poet, born in Łódź, then part of the Russian Partition. He was educated in Łódź and in Warsaw where he studied law ...

, one of Poland's best-known poets. He served as vice-president of the

Polish Academy of Literature The Polish Academy of Literature ( pl, Polska Akademia Literatury, PAL) was one of the most important state institutions of literary life in the Second Polish Republic, operating between 1933 and 1939 with the headquarters in Warsaw. It was foun ...

since 1933, and since 1949 resided in Warsaw.

Literary career

Staff's writing can be divided into three periods: Young Poland until 1918,

Interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...

(1918–39), and postwar Poland (following the end of World War II). In the early 20th century, Staff became probably the most famous and influential Polish poet. He called his popularity a ''retiring, soft glory''. He was also the main role-model for Polish group of experimental poets named '' Skamander'' (founded in 1918). In the 1950s, he moved to

blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and Pa ...

in line with the ideals of Polish

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...

. Some of his best-known short poems include ''The Bridge'' ("Most"), ''Foundations'' ("Podwaliny", transl. by Czesław Miłosz), and ''Three Towns'' ("Trzy miasta", 1954).

References

* Mortkowicz-Olczakowa, Hanna (1961). ''Bunt wspomnień.''

Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy The State Publishing Institute PIW ( pl, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, PIW) is a Polish publishing house founded in Warsaw by the Polish state after World War II, in 1946. ''PIW'' specializes in literature, history, philosophy, and the social sc ...

External links

* * __NOTOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Staff, Leopold 1878 births 1957 deaths Writers from Lviv Polish poets Polish people of Czech descent Polish people of German descent Polish male writers Members of the Polish Academy of Literature Burials at Powązki Cemetery Translators of Friedrich Nietzsche Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland)