Karol Irzykowski
Encyclopedia
Karol Irzykowski was a Polish
writer, literary critic, film theoretician, and chess player.
In 1903 he published one of the most original novel of that time, Pałuba. In this highly complex and avantgarde work he anticipated many innovations made by modern European experimentalists such as James Joyce
, Virginia Woolf
, William Faulkner
or André Gide
. The novel has never been translated, and in Poland it was only truly appreciated in the second half of the 20th century. (Parts of this novel were translated into German language after World War II).
In 1908 he moved to Kraków
, where he held a position as a stenographer and correspondent in the official correspondence office. Irzykowski played in chess tournaments at Lemberg and Kraków, winning against Kohn, von Popiel, Chajes and Ameisen, and drawing against Flamberg.
After World War I he moved to Warsaw
, where he headed the Sejm
(parliament) stenographic office. Irzykowski was coworker "Skamander", the Wiadomości Literackie and in the years 1921-1933 of the Robotnik. He raised his voice in many discussions on literature. He provided a theatre column on Polish radio and in the Rocznik Literacki, and was a member of the Polish Literary Academy. At the same time he gave stenography instruction (also in German) to meet living costs.
During the German occupation he was working on a novel "Wyspa" ("Island") and was taking part in the cultural life of the underground. Unfortunately, almost whole manuscript was lost when Germans destroyed the city after Warsaw Uprising
. He was wounded and died after release in Żyrardów.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
writer, literary critic, film theoretician, and chess player.
Life
Irzykowski came from an aristocratic land-owning family that had fallen on hard times. In 1889–93 he studied Germanistics in Lwów (Lemberg). In 1894–95 he worked occasionally as a teacher, but his outspokenness prevented him from obtaining further work in that line. From 1895 he lived in Lwów and worked as a parliamentary and court stenographer.In 1903 he published one of the most original novel of that time, Pałuba. In this highly complex and avantgarde work he anticipated many innovations made by modern European experimentalists such as James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
, Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
, William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
or André Gide
André Gide
André Paul Guillaume Gide was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1947. Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism between the two World Wars.Known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works, Gide...
. The novel has never been translated, and in Poland it was only truly appreciated in the second half of the 20th century. (Parts of this novel were translated into German language after World War II).
In 1908 he moved to Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, where he held a position as a stenographer and correspondent in the official correspondence office. Irzykowski played in chess tournaments at Lemberg and Kraków, winning against Kohn, von Popiel, Chajes and Ameisen, and drawing against Flamberg.
After World War I he moved to Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, where he headed the Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
(parliament) stenographic office. Irzykowski was coworker "Skamander", the Wiadomości Literackie and in the years 1921-1933 of the Robotnik. He raised his voice in many discussions on literature. He provided a theatre column on Polish radio and in the Rocznik Literacki, and was a member of the Polish Literary Academy. At the same time he gave stenography instruction (also in German) to meet living costs.
During the German occupation he was working on a novel "Wyspa" ("Island") and was taking part in the cultural life of the underground. Unfortunately, almost whole manuscript was lost when Germans destroyed the city after Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
. He was wounded and died after release in Żyrardów.
Works
- Pałuba [The Hag] (1903) novel
- Sny Marii Dunin [The Dreams of Maria Dunin] (1903) stories
- Dziesiąta Muza [The Tenth Muse] (1924) film theory
- Walka o treść [Fight for Content] (1929) Polemic against Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz
- Beniaminek (lampoon on Tadeusz Boy-ŻeleńskiTadeusz Boy-ZelenskiTadeusz Kamil Marcjan Żeleński was a Polish stage writer, poet, critic above all, and translator of over 100 French literary classics into Polish...
, 1933) - Słoń wśród porcelany (A Bull in a China Shop; sketches, 1934)
Further reading
- Mortkowicz-Olczakowa, Hanna (1961). Bunt wspomnień. Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy.
- Banks, Brian. Muse & Messiah. Inkermen Press, England 2006