Jerzy Tadeusz Ficowski (; 4 October 1924 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 ...
– 9 May 2006 in Warsaw) was a Polish poet, writer, ethnographer and translator (from
Yiddish
Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
,
Russian,
Romani and
Hungarian).
Biography and works
During the
German occupation of Poland
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
in World War II, Ficowski who lived in
Włochy near Warsaw was a member of the
Polish resistance. He was a member of 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 ...
(Armia Krajowa, AK), was imprisoned in the infamous
Pawiak and took part in the
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...
of 1944. His codename was ''Wrak'' and he fought in
Mokotów region. Following the
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...
, Ficowski entered a camp with other survivors of the battle.
After the war, Ficowski returned to Warsaw and enrolled at the university in order to study philosophy and sociology. There he published his first volume of poetry, ''Ołowiani żołnierze'' (The Tin Soldiers, 1948). This volume reflected the
Stalinist atmosphere of the
early postwar Poland, in which heroes of the Armia Krajowa Warsaw Uprising were treated with suspicion at best, arrested and executed at worst, together with the sense of a new city arising from the ashes of the old.
His early works show the influence of
Julian Tuwim. Later he became interested in the poems of the
interwar period
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...
, with elements of
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures.
The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
and
grotesque. In the later period his poems reflected various moral and social aspects of life in the
People's Republic of Poland
The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...
.
From 1948 to 1950 Ficowski chose to travel with Polish
Gypsies and came to write several volumes on or inspired by the Roma way of life, including ''Amulety i defilacje'' (Amulets and Definitions, 1960) and ''Cyganie na polskich drogach'' (Gypsies on the Polish Roads, 1965). He was the member of the
Gypsy Lore Society and translated the poems of
Bronisława Wajs (''Papusza''). He was interested in many aspects of international poetry. He translated the poems of the
Spanish poet,
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...
, and he was also a known specialist of
Jewish folklore and
Modern Hebrew poetry
Modern Hebrew poetry is poetry written in the Hebrew language. Moshe Chaim Luzzatto is considered one of the earliest modern Hebrew poets.
History
Modern Hebrew poetry was promoted by the Haskalah movement. The first Haskalah poet, who heavily in ...
, becoming an editor of the Jewish poem anthology ''Rodzynki z migdałami'' (Raisins with Almonds, 1964).
Ficowski devoted many years of his life to the study of the life and works of
Bruno Schulz
Bruno Schulz (12 July 1892 – 19 November 1942) was a History of the Jews in Poland, Polish Jewish writer, fine artist, Literary criticism, literary critic and Art education, art teacher. He is regarded as one of the great Polish (language), Po ...
, and in 1967 published the first edition of what is considered the definitive biography of him, entitled ''Regions of the Great Heresy''. He received the award of the Polish
Pen Club in 1977. His 1979 collection of poems, ''A Reading of Ashes'', has been called the most moving account of the
Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
written by a non-Je
As a consequence of his signing, in 1975, of the
letter of 59, practically all of Ficowski's writings had become banned in Poland for the remainder of the decade, and only the emergence of
Solidarity
Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...
in the early 1980s has brought his works back to Poland's bookshelves. Both his prose and poems continued to be widely translated in
the West. He was active in the opposition movement, and was a member of the
Workers' Defence Committee (Komitet Obrony Robotników, KOR) and subsequently of the
Committee for Social Self-defence KOR.
Under the communist regime he had urged his fellow writers to voice their concerns over
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...
and the suppression of workers. His most public statement was a letter to the Writers Union in which he said, "I do not believe deeply in the immediate effectiveness of letters to the government, but even less do I believe in the effectiveness of silence."
Following the
fall of communism, liberalisation of Poland and its breaking with the
Soviet bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...
, Ficowski continued to write and translate works from languages as diverse as
Spanish and
Romanian, not to mention the Yiddish and
Roma languages that had always fascinated him.
Selected publications
;Poetry
*''Ołowiani żołnierze'' (1948)
*''Zwierzenia'' (1952)
*''Po polsku'' (1955)
*''Moje strony świata'' (1957)
*''Makowskie bajki'' (1959)
*''Amulety i defilacje'' ("Amulets and Definitions") (1960), inspired by his stay with Gypsies
*''Pismo obrazkowe'' (1962)
*''Ptak poza ptakiem'' (1968)
*''Odczytanie popiołów'' (1979); on the Jews and their suffering; illustrated by Marc Chagall; translated by
Keith Bosley as ''A Reading of Ashes'', 1981)
*''Errata'' (1981)
*''Śmierć jednorożca'' (1981)
*''Przepowiednie. Pojutrznia'' (1983)
*''Inicjał'' (1994)
*''Mistrz Manole i inne przekłady'' (2004; collected translations of poetry)
*''Zawczas z poniewczasem'' (2004)
*''Pantareja'' (2006)
;Poetic prose
*''Wspominki starowarszawskie'' (1959)
*''Czekanie na sen psa'' (1970; translated by
Soren A. Gauger and
Marcin Piekoszewski as ''Waiting for the Dog to Sleep'', 2006)
;Others
*''Cyganie polscy'' (1953)
*''Cyganie na polskich drogach'' (1965)
*''Gałązka z drzewa słońca'' (1961)
*''Rodzynki z migdałami'' (1964)
*''Regiony wielkiej herezji'' (1967, revised editions 1975, 1992, 2002; translated by
Theodosia S. Robertson as ''Regions of the Great Heresy'', 2000)
*''Okolice sklepów cynamonowych'' (1986)
*''Demony cudzego strachu'' (1986)
*''Cyganie w Polsce. Dzieje i obyczaje'' (1989; translated by Eileen Healey as ''The Gypsies in Poland. History and Customs'', 1989)
*''Letters and Drawings of Bruno Schulz, with Selected Prose'' (1988, edited by Jerzy Ficowski; translated by
Walter Arndt, with Victoria Nelson Harper & Row, NY)
References
*
External links
Activist, Adventurer, Poet - the Incarnations of Jerzy Ficowskiat Culture.pl
Jerzy Ficowski, Poet and TranslatorJerzy Ficowski Laid To RestInterview with Soren Gauger on translating Jerzy Ficowski
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ficowski, Jerzy
Members of the Committee for Social Self-Defense KOR
Members of the Workers' Defence Committee
Yiddish–Polish translators
Translators from Spanish
Translators from Romani
Translators from Russian
Warsaw Uprising insurgents
1924 births
2006 deaths
Writers from Warsaw
20th-century Polish translators
20th-century Polish poets
Polish male poets
20th-century Polish male writers