Kazimierz Wyka (19 March 1910 – 19 January 1975) was a Polish literary historian, literary critic, and professor 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 ...

following World War II. He was a deputy to the Polish parliament (

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' ...

) from 1952 to 1956 during the era of Stalinism in Poland.

Life

Wyka was the son of a small sawmill owner, born and raised in

Krzeszowice Krzeszowice () is a town in southern Poland, situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. As of 2004, its population was 9,993. Krzeszowice belongs to ''Kraków Metropolitan Area'', and lies 25 kilometers west of the center of the city of Krakó ...

. He studied at the Jagiellonian University and during the occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany remained safely with the family in his small town. He became active politically only after the Soviet takeover, and obtained a position as a professor at his

Alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

in 1948. In 1952 Wyka co-founded and ran the Polish–Soviet Friendship Society (''Towarzystwo Przyjaźni Polsko-Radzieckiej''), a cover for the direct Soviet propaganda in Poland, which enabled him to also remain a Member of Parliament in 1952–56 before the collapse of Stalinism during the

Polish October The Polish October ( ), also known as the Polish thaw or Gomułka's thaw, also "small stabilization" () was a change in the politics of the Polish People's Republic that occurred in October 1956. Władysław Gomułka was appointed First Secretar ...

. Notably Wyka signed the so-called " Letter of 34" ''(List 34)'' against censorship, delivered in March 1964 to the

Council of Ministers (Poland) The Council of Ministers () is the Central government, central collective body of the Executive (government), executive government of Poland. The cabinet consists of the Prime Minister of Poland, Prime Minister, also known as the President of t ...

and then passed on to

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

.Jerzy Eisler, ''List 34'',

Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN (''Polish Scientific Publishers PWN''; until 1991 ''Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe'' - ''National Scientific Publishers PWN'', PWN) is a Polish book publisher, founded in 1951, when it split from the Wydawnictwa Szkolne i ...

, Warszawa 1993, . However, the resulting uproar in the communist party circles prompted Wyka to sign a counter letter against it, claiming that the

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

spreads false information about the Soviet repressions in Poland, which in its own right was an obscene lie, wrote

Norman Davies Ivor Norman Richard Davies (born 8 June 1939) is a British and Polish historian, known for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He has a special interest in Central and Eastern Europe and is UNESCO Profes ...

.Davies, N. ''Europe at War'' Pan Books . Page 195. Wyka was one of only two men who strategically withdrew their names from the original list to save their own jobs at the last moment. In 1980, the president (mayor) of Kraków established the commemorative Kazimierz Wyka Award in the field of

literary criticism A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature's ...

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

, and

history of literature The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment or education to the reader, as well as the development of the literary techniques used in the communication of these pie ...

. The award was given annually.

References

External links

Family home of K. Wyka in Krzeszowice
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyka, Kazimierz 1910 births 1975 deaths 20th-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers Polish literary critics Members of the Polish Sejm 1952–1956 Academic staff of Jagiellonian University Burials at Salwator Cemetery Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland) Recipients of the Medal of the 10th Anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland