Jerzy Zawieyski, born Henryk Nowicki, (2 October 1902, Radogoszcz, Piotrków Governorate – 18 June 1969,

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 ...

) was a Polish

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

writer, Catholic political activist and amateur stage

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. He wrote psychological, social, moral and historical novels, dramas, stories, essays and journals. As a secretary of the Towarzystwo Uniwersytetów Robotniczych, he did organizing work for the workers' educational and theatrical movement. Then he was an activist of the Związek Młodzieży Wiejskiej Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. 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 ...

, he was active in the underground cultural movement.

Biography

In 1921, Zawieyski made his debut with poems (''Strzępy'') under the pseudonym ''Konar-Nowicki''. In 1926, he graduated from the School of Drama in

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 ...

. From 1926 to 1928, he was an actor at the Reduta Theatre and editor of the magazine '' Teatr Ludowy''. From 1929 to 1931, he stayed in France, where he worked as an instructor of Polonia amateur drama groups. After returning to Poland, until 1939, he worked as the director of the ''Instytut Teatrów Ludowych'' (Institute for Folklore Theaters), actor and literary manager of the Ataneum Theatre. In his youth, Zawieyski had been an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

and did not convert to Catholicism until the 1930s. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Zawieyski worked as a lecturer at the

Catholic University of Lublin John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (, , abbreviation KUL) is a university established in 1918. History Father Idzi Benedykt Radziszewski founded the university in 1918. Lenin allowed the priest to take the library and equipment of ...

(''Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski'', KUL). He co-founded the Klub Inteligencji Katolickiej, whose president he was until 1957. He was a member of the editorial boards of ''

Tygodnik Powszechny ''Tygodnik Powszechny'' (, ''The Common Weekly'') is a Polish Roman Catholic weekly magazine, published in Kraków, which focuses on social, cultural and political issues. It was established in 1945 under the auspices of Cardinal Adam Stefan Sap ...

'' (From 1946 until 1952, and again from 1956) and '' Znak'' (1946–1951 and from 1957). In 1949, he was awarded by the Polish episcopate. In 1957–1969, he was a member of the

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

of 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. ...

. In 1957–1968, he was a member of the

Polish Council of State The Council of State of the Polish People's Republic, Republic of Poland () was introduced by the Small Constitution of 1947 as an organ of executive (government), executive power. The Council of State consisted of the President of Poland, Presid ...

when he was removed after a parliamentary protest in connection with the

March events The March Days or March Events () was a period of inter-ethnic strife and clashes which took place between 30 March – 2 April 1918 in the city of Baku and adjacent areas of the Baku Governorate of the Transcaucasian Commissariat. Facilitat ...

. Zawieyski was

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

. In 1933 he met Stanisław Trębaczkiewicz. They fell in love and lived together until Zawieyski's death in 1969. They were buried next to each other in the Laski Cemetery near Warsaw.

Notable works

; Novels * ''Gdzie jesteś, przyjacielu'' (1932) * ''Daleko do rana'' (1932) * ''Droga do domu'' (1946) * ''Wawrzyny i cyprysy'' (1966) * ''Konrad nie chce zejść ze sceny'' (1966) ; Dramas * ''Dyktator Faust'' * ''Powrót Przełęckiego'' * ''Mąż doskonały'' * ''Rozdroże miłości'' * ''Rzeka niedoli'' (1953) * ''Tyrteusz'' * ''Pożegnanie z Salomeą'' ; Stories * ''Romans z ojczyzną'' (1963) ; Essays * ''Próby ognia i czasu'' (1958) * ''Pomiędzy plewą i manną'' (1971) * ''Droga katechumena'' (1971) ; Film scenarios * ''Prawdziwy koniec wielkiej wojny'' (1957) * ''Odwiedziny prezydenta'' (1961) ; Memoirs * ''Dobrze, że byli'' (1974) * ''Kartki z dziennika 1955-1969'' (1983)

References

; Inline ; General * *

Biography

Notable works

References

Further reading