The ''Czytelnik'' Publishing House () is a publishing company 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 ...

. It was established in 1944 behind the Soviet front line as the ''Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza "Czytelnik"'' ("Czytelnik" Publishing Cooperative). As of now, it is the oldest post–World War II publisher in Poland.History of Czytelnik
/ref> The word ''czytelnik'' means "reader" in Polish. Intended to be located in

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 ...

after the Nazi German withdrawal, it was temporarily headquartered in

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

and

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

. In July 1945 the headquarters were moved to Warsaw. Initially, the ''Czytelnik'' published newspapers, periodicals, as well as books. Since 1951 publishing of newspapers and periodicals was transferred to the Workers' Publishing Cooperative "Prasa" ("Press"), which was reorganized and greatly expanded in 1973 as the Prasa-Książka-Ruch ("Press-Book-Movement") monopoly financing the PZPR until the end of Soviet domination. In 1945–48 the publishing house was under heavy influence of a committed

Stalinist Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism in ...

Jerzy Borejsza Jerzy Borejsza (; born Beniamin Goldberg; 14 July 1905 in Warsaw – 19 January 1952 in Warsaw) was a Polish communist activist and writer. During the Stalinist period of communist Poland, he was chief of a state press and publishing syndicate ...

. It was a publishing monopoly in Communist Poland, described 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 ...

as Borejsza's "personal state-within-a-state for books and press". Borejsza was removed from his role during the ousting of

Władysław Gomułka Władysław Gomułka (; 6 February 1905 – 1 September 1982) was a Polish Communist politician. He was the ''de facto'' leader of Polish People's Republic, post-war Poland from 1947 until 1948, and again from 1956 to 1970. Born in 1905 in ...

in 1948, part of the Soviet-led campaign against the so-called "right-wing and nationalist deviation" in

Polish Workers' Party The Polish Workers' Party (, PPR) was a communist party in Poland from 1942 to 1948. It was founded as a reconstitution of the Communist Party of Poland (KPP) and merged with the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) in 1948 to form the Polish United W ...

Presidents

*1944:

*1948: Jerzy Pański *1952: Jan Stefczyk *1955: Ludwik Kasiński *1975: Stanisław Bębenek *1989: Wacław Sadkowski *1990: Jerzy S. Sito *1991: Stefan Bratkowski *1992: Marek Bogucki *1994: Włodzimierz Michalak *1995: Marek Żakowski

Book series

* Archiwum Kultury (English, "Culture Archive") * Biblioteka Dwudziestolecia (English, "Library of the Interwar Period") * Biblioteka Expressu Wieczornego (English, "Library of the Evening Express") * Biblioteka Gazety Poznanskiej (English, "Library of Poznan Newspapers") * Biblioteka Literatury Faktu XXX-lecia (English, "30th Anniversary of Fact Literature Library") * Biblioteka Naukowa Mlodego Czytelnika (English, "Scientific Library of the Young Reader") * Biblioteka Popularnonaukowa "Mathesis Polskiej" (English, "'Polish Knowledge' Popular Science Library") * Biblioteka Powszechna (English, "Public Library") * Biblioteka Romansow i Powiesci (English, "Library of Romance and Novels") * Biblioteka Satyry (English, "Library of Satire") * Biblioteka Szpilek (English, "Pins Library") * Biblioteka Trybuny Wolnosci (English, "Library of Freedom Tribune") * Biblioteka Uniwersytetow Robotniczych (English, "Library of Workers' Universities") * Dom i Swiat (English, "Home and World") * Klasycy Literatury XX Wieku (English, "Classics of 20th Century Literature") * Kolekcja Polskiej Literatury Wspolczesnej (English, "Collection of Polish Contemporary Literature") * Ksiazka Nowego Czytelnika (English, "New Reader's Book") * Klub Dobrej Ksiazki (KDK) (English, "Good Book Club") * Mala Biblioteczka Towarzystwa Wiedzy Powszechnej (English, "Little Library of Universal Knowledge") * Maly Album Malarstwa Polskiego (English, "The Small Album of Polish Painting") * Muzyczna Biblioteka Pedagogiczna (English, "Pedagogical Music Library") * Nike (English translation (from Greek): "Victory") * Nowy Sympozjon (English, "New Symposium") * Oni Zmienili Swiat (English, "They Changed the World") * Pamietniki kobiet (English, "Women's Diaries") * Panorama (English, "Panorama") * Pejzaże Kultury (English, "Cultural Landscapes") * Piosenki Czytelnika (English, "Reader Songs") * Poeci Polscy (English, "Polish Poets") * Polska Krytyka Literacka (English, "Polish Literary Criticism") * Prace Polskiego Instytutu Socjologicznego Studium Problemow Chlopskich i Robotniczych (English, "Works of the Polish Sociological Institute of the Study of Peasants' and Workers' Problems")Prace Polskiego Instytutu Socjologicznego
worldcat.org. Retrieved 27 February 2021. * Prace Slasko-Dabrowskiego Towarzystwa Przyjaciol Nauk (English, "Works of the Silesian-Dabrowski Society of Friends of Sciences") * Seria z Faunem (English, "Series with Faun") * Seria z Jamnikiem (English, "Series with a Dachshund") * Studia z Dziejow Mysli i Ruchu Demokratycznego (English, "Studies from the History of Thought and the Democratic Movement") * Symposion * U Podstaw Wiedzy (English, "Basic Knowledge") * Wiedza Powszechna (English, "Common Knowledge") * Wielka wojna bialych ludzi (English, "Great War of the White People") – Polish translations of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

novels by

Arnold Zweig Arnold Zweig (; 10 November 1887 – 26 November 1968) was a German writer, pacifist, and socialist. Early life and education Zweig was born in Glogau, Prussian Silesia (now Głogów, Poland), the son of Adolf Zweig, a Jewish shipping agent and ...

* Wielkie Problemy Dziejow Czlowieka (English, "Great Problems of Human History") * Wzorowy Zawodowiec (English, "Exemplary Professional") * Z Kosmonauta (English, "From the Cosmonaut") * Z Prac Instytutu Badan Literackich Polskiej Akademii Nauk (English, "From the works of the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences") * Z Prac Instytutu Sztuki Polskiej Akademii Nauk (English, "From the works of the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences")

References

{{Authority control Publishing companies of Poland Organisations based in Warsaw 1944 establishments in Poland Book publishing companies of Poland Czytelnik books