Richard Krygier
Encyclopedia
Henry Richard Krygier was an Australian anti-Communist publisher and journalist, and a founder of Quadrant
magazine.
He was born in 1917 in Warsaw
, of Jewish parents, and as a law student was active in student politics at the Józef Piłsudski (Warsaw) University
. His early sympathies with Communism
were shattered by events such as the Soviet purges of the 1930s and the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact
and he remained a vigorous life-long anti-Communist. In 1939 he and his wife Roma escaped to Kaunas
, Lithuania, where they obtained Japanese transit visas. They reached Sydney
via Vladivostok
, Japan and Shanghai
in 1941. In Sydney he was active in Polish journalism and import-export businesses.
Krygier's anti-totalitarian, liberal-democratic perspective led him to sympathies with the international Congress for Cultural Freedom, founded in Berlin in 1950. In 1954, he formed and became secretary of its Australian arm, the Australian Committee (later Association) for Cultural Freedom. His and the Association's greatest achievement was the creation in 1956 of the literary-political magazine Quadrant
, under the editorship of James McAuley
. Krygier was publisher, business manager and fund-raiser. In addition, he organised lecture tours of prominent overseas political and cultural figures and conferences on the problems on establishing democracy in developing states.
He remained active in Quadrant up to his death in 1986. For the last four years of his life he wrote a regular Quadrant column, and he had contributed a few other pieces to the magazine before that.
Quadrant (magazine)
Quadrant is an Australian literary and cultural journal. The magazine takes a conservative position on political and social issues, describing itself as sceptical of 'unthinking Leftism, or political correctness, and its "smelly little orthodoxies"'. Quadrant reviews literature, as well as...
magazine.
He was born in 1917 in 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...
, of Jewish parents, and as a law student was active in student politics at the Józef Piłsudski (Warsaw) University
University of Warsaw
The University of Warsaw is the largest university in Poland and one of the most prestigious, ranked as best Polish university in 2010 and 2011...
. His early sympathies with Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
were shattered by events such as the Soviet purges of the 1930s and the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
and he remained a vigorous life-long anti-Communist. In 1939 he and his wife Roma escaped to Kaunas
Kaunas
Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...
, Lithuania, where they obtained Japanese transit visas. They reached Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
via Vladivostok
Vladivostok
The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
, Japan and Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
in 1941. In Sydney he was active in Polish journalism and import-export businesses.
Krygier's anti-totalitarian, liberal-democratic perspective led him to sympathies with the international Congress for Cultural Freedom, founded in Berlin in 1950. In 1954, he formed and became secretary of its Australian arm, the Australian Committee (later Association) for Cultural Freedom. His and the Association's greatest achievement was the creation in 1956 of the literary-political magazine Quadrant
Quadrant (magazine)
Quadrant is an Australian literary and cultural journal. The magazine takes a conservative position on political and social issues, describing itself as sceptical of 'unthinking Leftism, or political correctness, and its "smelly little orthodoxies"'. Quadrant reviews literature, as well as...
, under the editorship of James McAuley
James McAuley
James Phillip McAuley was an Australian academic, poet, journalist, literary critic and a prominent convert to Roman Catholicism.-Life and career:...
. Krygier was publisher, business manager and fund-raiser. In addition, he organised lecture tours of prominent overseas political and cultural figures and conferences on the problems on establishing democracy in developing states.
He remained active in Quadrant up to his death in 1986. For the last four years of his life he wrote a regular Quadrant column, and he had contributed a few other pieces to the magazine before that.