Lucjan Wilhelm Wolanowski (Lucjan Kon; February 26, 1920 – February 20, 2006), pseudonyms: ''Wilk''; ''Waldemar Mruczkowski''; ''W. Lucjański''; (L.W.); lu; Lu; (lw); WOL., was a Polish

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

and traveller.

Early life, education, and Second World War

Wolanowski was born into an

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the wor ...

family 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 ...

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 ...

. His father, Henryk Kon, was a lawyer, and his mother, Róża Wolanowska, was the great-granddaughter of Majer Wolanowski (1844–1900), the well-known Polish

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or Production (economics), production of goods with the help of equipment, Work (human activity), labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary se ...

. His sister, Elżbieta (Kon) Wassongowa (1908–2007) was a Polish translator and book editor. Wolanowski studied

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

at the Grenoble Polytechnical Institute (France 1938-1939), but the outbreak of

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 ...

caught him during a vacation in his homeland. During World War II he fought as a soldier of the Polish clandestine resistance movement

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 ...

, and he acted as literary contributor to the Polish underground press.

Career

After the war he worked with the

Polish Press Agency The Polish Press Agency (, PAP) is Poland's national news agency, producing and distributing political, economic, social, and cultural news as well as events information. It was founded in 1918 as Polish Telegraphic Agency (PAT). PAP serves pri ...

(from 1945); he was a commentator from various conferences for journalists in the Foreign Secretary in

. In this period he met such famous people as

Edward R. Murrow Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American Broadcast journalism, broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broa ...

, Sydney Gruson,

Flora Lewis Flora Lewis (25 July 1922 – May 26, 2002) was an American journalist. Background Lewis was born into a Jewish family in Los Angeles. Her father Benjamin Lewis was a lawyer and mother Pauline Kallin a pianist. She graduated high school at t ...

Larry Allen Larry Christopher Allen Jr. (November 27, 1971 – June 2, 2024) was an American professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football ...

, Vicent Buist or Pierre Marechal, who were correspondents in

then. He worked as a journalist at the weekly magazine ''Przekrój'' (1945–1950); the illustrated weekly ''Świat'' (''The World'', 1951–1969); the magazine ''Dookoła świata'' (1969–1976) and with the magazine ''Magazyn Polski'' (1976–1988). He joined a ship-rescue operation in a Norwegian fiord, made a long trip aboard an Icelandic cutter in

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

waters. He went on five trips around the world (1960–1972) and also visited the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

region – he visited Australia, Japan, New Zealand,

Papua and New Guinea The Territory of Papua and New Guinea , officially the Administrative Union of the Territory of Papua and the Territory of New Guinea, was established by an administrative union between the Australian-administered territories of Papua and New ...

West Irian Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, and Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the island of New Guinea, formerly Dutch colonial empire, Dutch and granted to Indonesia in 1962. Given the island is alternatively n ...

French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

Hong-Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

; accredited to the headquarters of the UN Troops in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

during the landing operation (1962–1963); as the US stipendist (he was granted a scholarship

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

- "Program for Leaders"), he belonged to the team of reporters (as the only reporter from the

Eastern 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 ...

) to cover the take off of the space vessel

Gemini 5 Gemini 5 (officially Gemini V) With Gemini IV, NASA changed to Roman numerals for Gemini mission designations. was a 1965 crewed spaceflight in NASA's Project Gemini. It was the third crewed Gemini flight, the eleventh crewed American spacefligh ...

in 1965 (

Cape Kennedy Cape Canaveral () is a cape in Brevard County, Florida, in the United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic coast. Officially Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated from it by the Banana River. It i ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

); he acted as advisor to the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

Information Department in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, then in a similar capacity at the WHO branches in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

and

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

1967–1968. He traveled aboard an Australian light-house tender m.v.

Cape Moreton Cape Moreton is a rocky headland at the north eastern tip of Moreton Island in South East Queensland, Australia. The surrounding area is part of the Moreton Island National Park. Flinders Reef is north-west of Cape Moreton. The outcrop is mos ...

, servicing light-houses on the small

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down t ...

islands and took part in an Australian whaling expedition. Was rescued by black-trackers during his wanderings across the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

desert.

Publications

He wrote 25 books, translated into 7 languages and depicting mainly his travels. He did not specialize in economics or in politics, but always looked for "the human side of the story" and tried to see for himself the things he was going to write about. All his books are illustrated by pictures he shot himself. He died in Warsaw.

Organisational affiliations

He was a member of the Association of Polish Journalists (1951–1982 and 1991–2006), of the Polish Writers Union (1959–1983), of the Polish

PEN Club PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internati ...

(1971–2006), of the Association of Polish Writers (1989–2006); former member of the Polish Socialist Party (PPS; 1945–1948), and of the Polish United Workers Party (PZPR; 1948–1980).

Awards

Wolanowski received many awards, including: Order of the

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Star (1949), Award of the Polish Club of International Publicists (1962); Prize of the Polish Journalists Association for the Best Book of the Year (1973); the Cavalier's Cross of Polonia Restituta; the Golden Cross of Merit; Honorary Citizen of Springfield, United States (1965).

Works

*''Ośmiornica'' (''Octopus''), 1952 (History of the Unilever Syndicate); *''Przeważnie o ludziach'' (''Mostly about people''), 1953; *''Na południe od Babiej Góry'' (''To the East of

Babia Góra Babia Góra (in Polish), or Babia hora (in Slovak) is a massif situated on the border between Poland and Slovakia in the Western Beskid Mountains. The name is also applied to the culmination of the massif, Diablak ("Devil's Peak"), which i ...

''), 1954 (reports from

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

); *''Śladami brudnej sprawy'' (''In the steps of a dirty affair''), 1954 (historical reports); *''Czy Stanisław Talarek musiał umrzeć?'' (''Had Stanisław Talarek to die?''), 1955 (with Mirosław Azembski); *''Cichy front'' (''The Silent Front''), 1955, 1956; *''Dokąd oczy poniosą'' (''To go just anywhere''), 1958, 1959 (reports); *''Żywe srebro'' (''Quick-silver''), 1959, 1963 (with Henryk Kawka); *''Zwierciadło bogini'' (''The goddess's mirror''), 1961, 1962, 1964 (reports from Japan); *''Klejnot korony'' (''The crown jewel''), 1963 (report from

); *''Księżyc nad Tahiti'' (''Moon over Tahiti''), 1963; *''Dalej niż daleko'' (''Farther than far''), 1964 (report from New Zealand); *''Basia nad biegunem'' (''Basia at the pole''), 1964 (book for children); *''Ocean nie bardzo spokojny'' (''The not very Pacific Ocean''), 1967; *''Poczta do Nigdy-Nigdy'' (''Post to Never-Never Land''), 1968, 1970, 1972, 1978, 1989 (reports from Australia); *''Z zapartym tchem'' (''Breathtaking reports''), 1969; *''Upał i gorączka'' (''Heat and fever''), 1970, 1973, 1996; *''Westchnienie za Lapu-Lapu'' (''Longing for

Lapu-Lapu Lapulapu (fl. 1521) or Lapu-Lapu, whose name was first recorded as Çilapulapu, was a datu (chief) of Mactan, an island now part of the Philippines. Lapulapu is known for the 1521 Battle of Mactan, where he and his men defeated Spanish forc ...

''), 1973, 1976; *''Min-Min. Mała opowieść o wielkim lądzie'' ('' Min-Min. Short story about a Large Land''), 1977; *''Walizka z przygodami. Reporter tu, reporter tam'' (''A luggage full of adventures. A reporter at large''), 1977; *''Buntownicy Mórz Południowych. Reporter na tropie buntu na Okręcie Jego Królewskiej Mości "Bounty"'' (''The mutineers of the South Seas. A Reporter on the trail of the Mutiny on HMS "Bounty"''), 1980, 1986; *''Ani diabeł, ani głębina. Dzieje odkryć Australii, opowiedziane ludziom, którym się bardzo śpieszy'' (''Neither the devil, nor the deep water. A story of Australia's discovery, told to the people who are in hurry''), 1987.

Image gallery

Image:Lucjan Wolanowski 1998.jpg, Lucjan Wolanowski,

, 1998 Image:Lucjan Wolanowski Articles.JPG, Articles of Wolanowski in the Polish newspapers "Przekrój" and "Dookoła świata", 1947 - 1973 Image:Lucjan Wolanowski house.JPG, Writer's study, 23 Odolanska Str.,

(

), 2005 Image:Lucjan Wolanowski monument 01.JPG , Wolanowski's grave stone, Jewish Cemetery,

, September 10, 2006 Image:Lucjan Wolanowski monument 02.JPG , Wolanowski's grave stone, Jewish Cemetery,

, September 10, 2006

External links

Lucjan Wolanowski (1920-2006) – Official Website (PL)

Lucjan Wolanowski in Facebook

Lucjan Wolanowski (1920-2006) – Life and Work; "University Daily", April 2006; University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland (PL)

Book about Lucjan Wolanowski: "Wokół reportażu podróżniczego" - Katowice (Poland), October 2009 - pdf file (PL)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolanowski, Lucjan 1920 births 2006 deaths 20th-century Polish writers Jewish Polish writers Polish reporters and correspondents 20th-century Polish Jews Writers from Warsaw Home Army members