The Generation of Columbuses ( pl, pokolenie Kolumbów) is a term denoting the generation of Poles who were born soon after Poland regained its independence in 1918, and whose adolescence was marked by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The term itself was coined by Roman Bratny in his 1957 novel ''Kolumbowie. Rocznik 20'' and was itself based on the name of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

, as Bratny described the entire generation as the ones who "discovered Poland". The term is generally applied to young

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

, but it also includes all young people who, instead of living a traditional young adulthood, had to fight against foreign occupation and study at secret universities.

Notable people

Among the notable people commonly associated with the generation are: *

Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, (; nom de guerre: Jan Bugaj; 22 January 1921 – 4 August 1944) was a Polish poet and Home Army soldier, one of the most well known of the Generation of Columbuses, the young generation of Polish poets, of whom several ...

, a catastrophist poet who was killed in the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

Władysław Bartoszewski Władysław Bartoszewski (; 19 February 1922 – 24 April 2015) was a Polish politician, social activist, journalist, writer and historian. A former Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner, he was a World War II resistance fighter as part of th ...

Miron Białoszewski Miron Białoszewski (; born 30 June 1922, Warsaw; died 17 June 1983, Warsaw) was a Polish poet, novelist, playwright and actor. Biography Białoszewski studied linguistics at the clandestine courses of the University of Warsaw during the Germ ...

, a poet and a writer *

Teresa Bogusławska Teresa Bogusławska (13 July 1929 - 1 February 1945) was a Polish poet and a participant in the Warsaw Uprising. In 1941 she joined the resistance movement. In February 1944 was arrested by the Gestapo, imprisoned in the Pawiak Pawiak () w ...

, a poet, arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned in the

Pawiak Pawiak () was a prison built in 1835 in Warsaw, Congress Poland. During the January 1863 Uprising, it served as a transfer camp for Poles sentenced by Imperial Russia to deportation to Siberia. During the World War II German occupation o ...

, she died of meningitis in 1945 * Wacław Bojarski, a wartime poet and journalist of underground newspapers, died 1943 * Tadeusz Borowski, a poet and writer who survived

Auschwitz-Birkenau Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed int ...

and the

Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

only to commit suicide in 1951 * Roman Bratny, writer * Olgierd Budrewicz, journalist and Varsavianist *

Jerzy Ficowski Jerzy Tadeusz Ficowski (; October 4, 1924 in Warsaw – May 9, 2006 in Warsaw) was a Polish poet, writer and translator (from Yiddish, Russian, Romani and Hungarian). Biography and works During the German occupation of Poland in World War II ...

, poet, journalist and ethnologist, pioneer of research on post-war Jewish and Gypsy life in Poland *

Tadeusz Gajcy Tadeusz Stefan Gajcy (; 8 February 1922, Warsaw - 16 August 1944, Warsaw) pseudonym. ''Karol Topornicki”, „Roman Oścień”, „Topór”, „Orczyk“'' , was a Polish poet, playwright, editor-in-chief of the Sztuka i Naród (Art and Nati ...

, a poet, killed in the Warsaw Uprising * Stanisław Grzesiuk *

Zbigniew Herbert Zbigniew Herbert (; 29 October 1924 – 28 July 1998) was a Polish poet, essayist, drama writer and moralist. He is one of the best known and the most translated post-war Polish writers. While he was first published in the 1950s (a volume titled ...

Gustaw Herling-Grudziński Gustaw Herling-Grudziński (; May 20, 1919 − July 4, 2000) was a Polish writer, journalist, essayist, World War II underground fighter, and political dissident abroad during the communist system in Poland. He is best known for writing a personal ...

Krystyna Krahelska Krystyna Krahelska "Danuta" (24 March 1914 – 2 August 1944) was a Polish poet, ethnographer, member of the Home Army, and a participant in the Warsaw Uprising. Life She was born in a family estate in Mazurki near Baranovichi in the Russian ...

, a girl-guide, poet and singer, model for the monument of the Warsaw's Siren, killed in the Warsaw Uprising *

Stanisław Lem Stanisław Herman Lem (; 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006) was a Polish writer of science fiction and essays on various subjects, including philosophy, futurology, and literary criticism. Many of his science fiction stories are of satirical ...

* Stanislas Likiernik * Wojciech Mencel, a poet killed in the Warsaw Uprising * Włodzimierz Pietrzak, an art critic and author, killed in the Warsaw Uprising * Jan Romocki, a scouting instructor and poet, died in the Warsaw Uprising *

Tadeusz Różewicz Tadeusz Różewicz (9 October 1921 – 24 April 2014) was a Polish poet, playwright, writer, and translator. Różewicz was in the first generation of Polish writers born after Poland regained its independence in 1918, following the century of f ...

* Stanisław Staszewski * Zdzisław Stroiński, a poet killed in the Warsaw Uprising * Andrzej Trzebiński, a dramatist, novelist and a poet, arrested by the Germans and shot to death in 1943 *

Józef Szczepański Józef Szczepański (; 30 November 1922 in Łęczyca - 10 September 1944 in Warsaw) was a Polish poet who was a member of the Armia Krajowa Polish resistance. Commander of the Battalion Parasol during the Warsaw Uprising, known under his codename ...

, a poet killed in the Warsaw Uprising *

Andrzej Szczypiorski Andrzej Szczypiorski (; 3 February 1928 – 16 May 2000) was a Polish novelist and politician. He served as a member of the Polish legislature, and was a Solidarity activist interned during the military crackdown of 1981. He was a secret poli ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

References

* Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer, ''History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe'', John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2004,
Print, p.146
* Bolesław Klimaszewski, ''An Outline History of Polish Culture'', Interpress, 1984,
Print, p.343
* Marek Haltof, ''Polish National Cinema'', Berghahn Books, 2002,
Print, p.76
* Stanislas Likiernik "By devil's luck

* Stanislas Likiernik interviewed by Emil Marat and Michal Wojcik "Made in Poland

Notable people

References

See also