Tadeusz Konwicki (22 June 1926 – 7 January 2015) was a Polish writer and film director, as well as a member of the

Polish Language Council The Council for the Polish Language ( Polish: ''Rada Języka Polskiego'') is the official language regulating organ of Polish. It was established by the Presidium of the Polish Academy of Sciences pursuant to Resolution No. 17/96 of 9 September 1 ...

Life

Konwicki was born in 1926 as the only son of Jadwiga Kieżun and Michał Konwicki in Naujoji Vilnia, where he spent his early childhood. His father died early and Konwicki lived with his great-aunt and great-uncle who he later depicted in his novels. He attended a local Sigismund Augustus Gymnasium in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

World War II

Immediately following the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Vilnius was occupied by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and subsequently by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, and all education for Poles was discontinued. Konwicki continued his studies underground and joined the

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

's that took part in

Operation Tempest file:Akcja_burza_1944.png, 210px, right Operation Tempest or Operation Burza (, sometimes referred to in English as "Operation Storm") was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II against occupying German forces by the Polish Home Arm ...

and Operation Ostra Brama. He later disarmed and went into hiding from the Soviet Army. In November 1944, he joined Tur's (Witold Turonek) unit and fought until April 28, 1945 - one of the last guerrilla units in the area. After the war Vilnius was occupied by the

and Konwicki was expatriated.

Cold War

In the spring of 1945 Konwicki moved to

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, where he enrolled at

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

. He also started to work as a journalist at ''Odrodzenie'' weekly, moving to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

in 1947 to continue his work for the magazine. In the capital, he was one of the leading advocates for Socialist Realism in literature. In 1948 he finished his memoirs of his partisan years (''Rojsty''), but the book was not published until 1956. His literary debut was the (production novel) ''Construction Site'' (1950, ''Przy budowie''), which was followed by the novel ''Power'' (1954, ''Władza''). His 1956 novel ''From a Besieged City'' (1956, ''Z oblężonego miasta'') also became quite popular. In the years 1952–1966 he was a member of

Polish United Workers' Party The Polish United Workers' Party (, ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other legally permitted subordinate minor parti ...

. By the mid-1950s, Konwicki had become disillusioned by the communist regime in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and fell out of grace with the party. His later works (beginning with ''A Hole in the Sky'' (1959, ''Dziura w niebie''), are mostly concerned with the author's childhood and the semi-mythical, romantic land of his youth. At this time Konwicki became the head of the Kadr Film Studio and has since been recognized as one of the most notable members of the Polish Film School. However, his work veered away from the style pursued by his contemporaries, due to its uniquely bitter quality. As a filmmaker he is known for his Venice'58 Grand Prix winner '' The Last Day of Summer'' (''Ostatni dzień lata'', 1958), ''

All Souls' Day All Souls' Day, also called The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, is a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed, observed by Christians on 2 November. In Western Christianity, including Roman Catholicism and certain p ...

'' (''Zaduszki'', 1961), as well as for his masterpieces Salto (1962) and '' How Far Away, How Near'' (''Jak daleko stąd, jak blisko'', 1973), as well as film adaptations: of Nobel Prize Winner Czesław Miłosz's book ''Issa Valley'' (''Dolina Issy'', 1982), and of Adam Mickiewicz's drama ''Forefather's Eve'' – ''

Lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...

'' (1989). He is widely known for two novels, published by the Polish underground press: '' The Polish Complex'' (1977) and '' A Minor Apocalypse'' (1979). The latter work, a bitter satire about a washed-up writer who is asked to burn himself in front of the Soviet-built Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw; the novel was adapted as a 1993 French

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

, directed by

Costa-Gavras Konstantinos "Kostas" Gavras (; born 12 February 1933), known professionally as Costa-Gavras, is a Greek-French film director, screenwriter, and producer who lives and works in France. He is known for political films, such as the political thril ...

. ''A Minor Apocalypse'' is a post-Orwellian parody that refers to specific historical events, such as self-immolation protests against the communist regime by Ryszard Siwiec in Poland and

Jan Palach Jan Palach (; 11 August 1948 – 19 January 1969) was a Czech student of history and political economics at Charles University in Prague. His self-immolation in 1969 at age 20 was a political protest against the end of the Prague Spring resul ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

Literary works

* * * * * * * *

Films

Writer/Director

* '' The Last Day of Summer'' (''Ostatni dzień lata'', 1958) * ''

'' (''Zaduszki'', 1961) * ''Matura'', short film, a segment of a French-German-Polish coproduction ''The Moment of Peace'' (''Chwila pokoju'' / ''Le Moment de paix'', 1965) * '' Salto'' (1965) * '' How Far Away, How Near'' (''Jak daleko stąd, jak blisko'', 1973) * '' Issa Valley'' (''Dolina Issy'', 1982), based on a novel by

Czesław Miłosz Czesław Miłosz ( , , ; 30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American poet, prose writer, translator, and diplomat. He primarily wrote his poetry in Polish language, Polish. Regarded as one of the great poets of the ...

* ''

'' (''Lawa '', 1989), based on a poetic drama by

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. He also largely influenced Ukra ...

Writer

* ''Career'' (''Kariera'', 1954, dir. Jan Koecher), co-written with Kazimierz Sumerski * ''Winter Twilight'' (''Zimowy zmierzch'', 1956, dir. ) * '' Mother Joan of the Angels'' (''Matka Joanna od Aniołów'', 1961, dir.

Jerzy Kawalerowicz Jerzy Franciszek Kawalerowicz (19 January 1922 – 27 December 2007) was a Polish film director, screenwriter and politician, having been a member of Polish United Workers' Party from 1954 until its dissolution in 1990 and a deputy in Polish pa ...

), co-written with Kawalerowicz, based on a novella by

Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz Jarosław Leon Iwaszkiewicz (; also known under his literary pseudonym Eleuter; 20 February 1894 – 2 March 1980), was a Polish writer, poet, essayist, dramatist and translator.Bartłomiej Szleszyński, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. 2003 Culture.plJ ...

* ''

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

'' (''Faraon'', 1966, dir.

), co-written with Kawalerowicz, based on a novel by

Bolesław Prus Aleksander Głowacki (20 August 1847 – 19 May 1912), better known by his pen name Bolesław Prus (), was a Polish journalist, novelist, a leading figure in the history of Polish literature and philosophy, and a distinctive voice in world ...

* ''Jowita'' (1967, dir. Janusz Morgenstern), based on a novel by Stanisław Dygat * '' Austeria'' (1982, dir.

), co-written with Kawalerowicz and

Julian Stryjkowski Julian Stryjkowski (born Pesach Stark; April 27, 1905 – August 8, 1996) was a Polish journalist and writer, known for his social prose and radical leftist leanings. He was considered one of the best Polish-Jewish writers of the People's Republi ...

, based on a novel by Stryjkowski * '' A Chronicle of Amorous Accidents'' (''Kronika wypadków miłosnych'', 1985, dir.

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the "P ...

), based on Konwicki's novel

References

External links

*
Tadeusz Konwicki
at Culture.pl {{DEFAULTSORT:Konwicki, Tadeusz 1926 births 2015 deaths People from Wilno Voivodeship (1926–1939) Polish film directors Polish journalists Polish United Workers' Party members Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1944–1989) Polish male novelists 20th-century Polish novelists Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland) Writers from Vilnius Recipients of the Medal of the 10th Anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland