Stefan Kisielewski nicknames Kisiel, Julia Hołyńska, Teodor Klon, Tomasz Staliński, was a Polish

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

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

, publicist

Publicist

A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a public figure, especially a celebrity, a business, or for a work such as a book, film or album...

, composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 and politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

, and one of the members of Znak, one of the founders of the UPR

UPR

UPR may refer to:*Popular Republican Union was a Christian democratic party in Alsace, France during the Third Republic. Founded in 1919, the UPR became the dominant party in Alsace during the Interwar era....

, the polish libertarian and conservative political party.

Kisielewski was born to a Polish father Zygmunt Kisielewski

Zygmunt Kisielewski

Zygmunt Jan Kisielewski was a Polish writer, brother of Jan August and father of Stefan. During World War I he was a combatant in the Polish Legions. He was an editor of Robotnik from 1918 to 1925. He also authored books on social-national and military subjects. His memoir is entitled Poranek....

 and a Jewish mother Salomea Szapiro.

As a composer, Kisielewski remained firmly rooted in French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 neo-classicism

Neoclassicism (music)

Neoclassicism in music was a twentieth-century trend, particularly current in the period between the two World Wars, in which composers sought to return to aesthetic precepts associated with the broadly defined concept of "classicism", namely order, balance, clarity, economy, and emotional restraint...

, although his writings supported contemporary musical trends in Poland more broadly (Thomas 2001).

His writing and political thought were generally marked by pragmatism

Pragmatism

Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition centered on the linking of practice and theory. It describes a process where theory is extracted from practice, and applied back to practice to form what is called intelligent practice...

 and support for liberalism

Classical liberalism

Classical liberalism is the philosophy committed to the ideal of limited government, constitutionalism, rule of law, due process, and liberty of individuals including freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and free markets....

.

In 1968, for criticizing censorship in communist Poland (at the meeting of the Polish Writers Union he used the designation 'dyktatura ciemniaków' - 'a dictatorship of dunces' - which became famous in Poland), he was forbidden to publish for three years. He was also beaten up by so-called "unknown perpetrators" (a euphemism for perpetrators of criminal acts of political violence who in all likelihood were members of the Communist secret police

Ministry of Public Security of Poland

The Ministry of Public Security of Poland was a Polish communist secret police, intelligence and counter-espionage service operating from 1945 to 1954 under Jakub Berman of the Politburo...

). In 1981 he coined the sentence "It's not a crisis, it's a result" to describe the down turn of the Polish economy at that time as a result of socialism. Another one of his famous statements was "socialism heroically overcomes difficulties unknown in any other system", referring to the fact that many of the economic and social ills found under socialism were self-created.

In 1990, together with the magazine Wprost

Wprost

Wprost is a weekly newsmagazine in Poland. It was founded on December 5, 1982 as a regional magazine in Greater Poland, but since 1989 it has been distributed nationwide. The editorial office is currently located in Warsaw. Wprost is an opinion weekly focused on politics and society. Marek Król is...

, he established the Kisiel Prize

Kisiel Prize

Kisiel Prize or Kisiel Award ) is an award awarded in three categories: publicist, politician and entrepreneur whose actions most closely portray the spirit and beliefs of the Polish publicist and politician, Stefan Kisielewski. The award was established in 1990 by Kisielewski himself, with support...

.

Political essays

• Polityka i sztuka (1949),
• Felietony zdjęte przez cenzurę - Warszawa 1998
• Rzeczy małe - Warszawa 1998
• Dzienniki - Warszawa 1997 (wydanie II)
• 100 razy głową w ścianę (Paryż 1972), Warszawa 1997
• Wołanie na puszczy - Warszawa 1997
• Testament Kisiela - Warszawa 1992
• Abecadło Kisiela - Warszawa 1990
• Na czym polega socjalizm? Stosunki Kościół-Państwo w PRL - Poznań 1990 (wydanie II)
• Kisiel przedwojenny - Warszawa 2001.

Various essays

• Rzeczy małe (1956),
• Opowiadania i podróże (1959),
• Z literackiego lamusa (1979),
• Materii pomieszanie (Londyn 1973),
• Moje dzwony trzydziestolecia (Chicago 1978).

Novels

• Sprzysiężenie (1947),
• Zbrodnia w dzielnicy Północnej (1948).
• Widziane z góry i Cienie w pieczarze (1971),
• Romans zimowy (1972),
• Śledztwo (1974),
• Ludzie z akwarium (1976),
• Przygoda w Warszawie (1977).
• Wszystko inaczej - Warszawa 1991 (wydanie IV)

Musical compositions

• Capriccio energico, for violin and piano (1956)
• Concerto, for chamber orchestra (1948)
• Concerto, for piano and orchestra (1980–91)
• Cosmos I, for orchestra (1970)
• Danse vive, for piano (1939)
• Dialogi, for 14 instruments (1970)
• Divertimento, for flute and string orchestra (1964)
• Impresja kapryśna, for flute alone (1982)
• Intermezzo, for clarinet and piano (1951)
• Kaprys wiejski [Rustic Caprice], for piano (1952)
• Kołysanka [Lullaby], for piano (1968)
• Melodia kurpiowska [Kurpian Melody], for female chorus and folk ensemble (1951)
• Perpetuum mobile, for orchestra (1955)
• Podróż w czasie [A Journey in Time], for string orchestra (1965)
• Rapsodia wiejska [Rustic Rhapsody], for chamber orchestra (1950)
• Serenade, for piano (1945, rev. 1974)
• Signały sportowe [Sports Signals], overture (1966)
• Sonata, for clarinet and, piano (1972)
• Sonata no. 1, for piano
• Sonata no. 2, for piano (1945, rev. 1955)
• Spotkania na pustyni [Meetings in a Desert], for ten players (1969)
• String Quartet (1935)
• Suite, for flute and clarinet (1961)
• Suite, for oboe and piano (1954)
• Suite, for piano (1955)
• Symfonia w kwadracie [Symphony in a Square], for orchestra (1978)
• Symphony no. 1 (1939, lost)
• Symphony no. 2 (1951)
• Symphony, for 15 players (1961)
• 3 sceny burzliwe [Three Stormy Scenes], for piano (1983)

Sources

• Thomas, Adrian. 2001. "Kisielewski, Stefan". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.

External links

• Kisielewski page at the Polish Music Center