Franciszek Fiszer (better known as Franc Fiszer; March 25, 1860 – April 9, 1937) was a Polish metaphysician and

alchemist Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

, a friend of the most notable writers and philosophers of contemporary

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 ...

and one of Warsaw's semi-legendary people. Described as an erudite bon vivant and

gourmand A gourmand is a person who takes great pleasure and interest in consuming particularly good food and drink. ''Gourmand'' originally referred to a person who was "a glutton for food and drink", a person who eats and drinks excessively. Etymolo ...

, he is remembered for a large number of anecdotes, jokes and sayings coined by him and about him. The fictional character Ambroży Kleks in author

Jan Brzechwa Jan Brzechwa (; 15 August 1898 – 2 July 1966) was a Polish poet, author and lawyer, known mostly for his contribution to children's literature. He was born Jan Wiktor Lesman to a Polish Jew, Polish family of Jewish descent.

Biography

Franciszek Józef Marian Fiszer was born in 1860 in the Ławy manor near

Ostrołęka Ostrołęka (; ) is a small city in northeastern Poland on the Narew river, about northeast of Warsaw, with a population of 51,012 (2021) and an area of . It is the capital of both Ostrołęka County and Ostrołęka City County in the Masovian V ...

, to Teresa née Glinczanka and Józef Fiszer. His father was from among the German nobility, polonised in the 18th century and a distant relative of General Stanisław Fiszer, while his mother was a member of the Polish gentry and owner of the said manor and village. Very little is known of Fiszer's childhood apart from the fact that he was a late child (both of his parents being over 40 at his birth) and that he became an orphan relatively soon. In the 1880s Fiszer moved to Warsaw, where he started spending most of his time in Warsaw's cafes, restaurants and some of the most notable clubs of the era. With time, he became a characteristic part of the Warsaw's social panorama and became friends with most of the contemporary Polish writers, poets, artists and politicians. Renowned for his existential monologues and anecdotes, Fiszer's only pastime was the restaurants. In the interbellum, Fiszer became one of the most notable members of Warsaw's high society. A frequent guest at balls and parties, he became a living legend. His family village became neglected and soon had to be parcellated for debts. However, Fiszer's lifestyle did not suffer, as he barely ever had to pay for his meals, since he was seen by the gastronomers as an advertisement for their restaurants. That is why he often was a guest of '' Udziałowa'', '' Ziemiańska'', '' IPS'', Oaza, Astoria or '' Blikle''. Among the closest friends of Franc Fiszer were Bolesław Leśmian (Fiszer is said to have invented his pen-name), Stefan Żeromski,

Władysław Reymont Władysław Stanisław Reymont (; born Rejment; 7 May 1867 – 5 December 1925) was a Polish novelist and the laureate of the 1924 Nobel Prize in Literature. His best-known work is the award-winning four-volume novel '' Chłopi'' (''The Peasant ...

, the '' Skamandrites''

Antoni Słonimski Antoni Słonimski (15 November 1895 – 4 July 1976) was a Polish poet, artist, journalist, playwright and prose writer, president of the Union of Polish Writers in 1956–1959 during the Polish October, known for his devotion to social justic ...

and Julian Tuwim, Jan Lechoń,

Miriam Miriam (, lit. ‘rebellion’) is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus. The Torah refers to her as "Miria ...

, Artur Rubinstein and Antoni Lange. Although Fiszer never published any book himself, he is mentioned in nearly all memoirs by Warsaw's artists of the inter-war period. Also, he became the only person never to publish a book to be mentioned in both Stanisław Tatarkiewicz's ''Polish Biographical Dictionary'' and

Leszek Kołakowski Leszek Kołakowski (; ; 23 October 1927 – 17 July 2009) was a Polish philosopher and historian of ideas. He is best known for his critical analysis of Marxism, Marxist thought, as in his three-volume history of Marxist philosophy ''Main Current ...

's ''Philosophy in Poland; Dictionary of Writers''. In 1985, most of the memoirs mentioning Franciszek Fiszer were collected by Roman Loth in a book titled ''Na rogu świata i nieskończoności'' (''At the Crossing of World and Infinity'').

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# # {{DEFAULTSORT:Fiszer, Franciszek 1860 births 1937 deaths People from Warsaw Polish alchemists Polish gourmands Polish people of German descent 20th-century Polish philosophers Metaphysicians

Biography

See also

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