Arkady Fiedler (28 November 1894 in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

– 7 March 1985 in

Puszczykowo Puszczykowo () is a town in Poznań County, Poland, with 9,331 inhabitants (as of 2015). It is located about south of Poznań, the area is surrounded by the Wielkopolski National Park (located within the park buffer zone). From 1934–54, ther ...

) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

writer, journalist and adventurer.

Life

He studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

at the

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 ...

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 ...

and later in

and the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

. As an officer of the reserve of the Polish Army, he took part in the Greater Poland Uprising in 1918, was one of the organizers of the

Polish Military Organisation The Polish Military Organisation, PMO (, POW) was a secret military organization that was formed during World War I (1914–1918). Józef Piłsudski founded the group in August 1914. It adopted the name ''POW'' in November 1914 and aimed to gathe ...

from 1918 to 1920. He travelled to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

,Madagaskar 1937 - Arkady Fiedler.
/ref>

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, amongst other countries. He wrote 32 books that have been translated into 23 languages and sold over 10 million copies in total. His most famous and popular book, written in 1942, was '' Squadron 303'' about the legendary Kościuszko Squadron fighting during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...

; it sold over 1.5 million copies. ''Thank You, Captain, Thank You!'' similarly recounts the war efforts of Polish sailors. He wrote books about his travels, documenting cultures, customs and natural wonders. From 1954 he published a historical adventure series for young people.

Family

His family includes his wife Maria, and his two sons who are all alive today. The Arkady Fiedler Museum in Puszczykowo is run by the legacy's proud family.

Selected list of Arkady Fiedler books translated into the English language

* '' The River of Singing Fish'' (''Ryby śpiewają w Ukajali'', 1935) - about

Amazonia The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin encompasses , of which are covered by the rainf ...

* '' Squadron 303'' (''Dywizjon 303'', 1940) * '' Thank You, Captain, Thank You!'' (''Dziękuję ci, kapitanie'', 1944) * '' The Madagascar I Love''

Jan Bober series

* ''

Robinson Crusoe Island Robinson Crusoe Island (, ) is the second largest of the Juan Fernández Islands, situated 670 km (362 nmi; 416 mi) west of San Antonio, Chile, San Antonio, Chile, in the South Pacific Ocean. It is the more populous of the inhabit ...

'' (''Wyspa Robinsona'', 1954) * ''Orinoco'' (''Orinoko'', 1957) * '' White Jaguar'' (''Biały Jaguar'', 1980)

Travels

* 1927 - Northern Norway * 1928 - Southern Brazil * 1933 - Amazonia and eastern Peru * 1935 - Canada * 1937 - Madagascar (specifically Ambinanitelo) * 1939 - Tahiti * 1940 - France, Great Britain * 1942-1943 - USA, Trinidad, Guiana, Brasil * 1945 - Canada * 1948 - Mexico * 1952-1953 - USSR (Georgia) * 1956-1957 - Indochina (northern Vietnam, Laos, Camboja) * 1959-1960 - Africa (Guinea, Ghana) * 1961 - North-Western Canada * 1963-1964 - Brazil, Guiana * 1965-1966 - Madagascar * 1967 - Brazil * 1968 - USSR (eastern Siberia) * 1969 - Nigeria * 1970 - Peru * 1971 - West Africa * 1972 - Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec) * 1973 - South America * 1975 - Canada (Ontario, Quebec) * 1976-1977 - West Africa * 1978-1979 - Peru * 1980 - Canada * 1981 - West Africa

References

External links

Arkady Fiedler Museum (www.fiedler.pl)
*

Coche Island Isla de Coche (''Coche Island'') is one of three islands forming the Nueva Esparta State of Venezuela, located in the Caribbean between Isla Margarita and the mainland. The other two islands are Isla Margarita, the main island of the state, an ...

1894 births 1985 deaths Jagiellonian University alumni Polish travel writers Polish male writers Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1944–1989) Recipients of the Order of the Builders of People's Poland Recipients of the Order of the Banner of Work Leipzig University alumni Writers from Poznań 20th-century Polish journalists {{Poland-writer-stub