On Sunday, 21 March 2021, the great Polish poet Adam Zagajewski passed away. In his poetic heyday, he would write poems critics called ‘classicising’, showing the world’s hidden beauty as well as emphasising the mysteriousness and uniqueness of human fate. And still, for a poet who defended the categories of beauty, mindfulness and detail, he…
‘Ernest Malinowski 1818-1899. Polish Engineer. Peruvian Patriot. Hero of the Defence of Callao in 1866. Builder of the Central Trans-Andean Railway.’ Such an inscription adorns one of the monuments in the Peruvian Andes. Adam Ernest Malinowski was a Polish emigrant who designed and built the world’s highest railway line in Peru. by Piotr Bejrowski …
Moving from little Belluno to Venice – was this a necessity for an ambitious painter of the Baroque era? Especially if we take into account the fact that his father was a local painter who used to paint the folds of cloaks worn by saints. Dolabella ended up in the workshop of Antonio Vassilacchi and…
Alongside Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Karol Wojtyła was one of the leading figures of the Polish Catholic Church in the 1960s and 1970s. As the archbishop of Kraków and a lecturer at the Catholic University of Lublin, he enjoyed great popularity, especially among young people. His election as pope on October…
In historiography and literary tradition, he is commonly referred to as Gallus and was the first chronicler of the history of Poland. The dispute over the identity of this mysterious and talented monk has occupied scholars for several generations. by Piotr Abryszeński All that we know about him is what he wrote about himself….
Leopold Tyrmand was one of the most interesting figures of post-war Poland’s artistic milieu. Despite the oppression of the communist regime, he had his own way of opposing the system. by Piotr Bejrowski Tyrmand’s biographers aptly point out that he opposed communism not only ideologically, but also aesthetically. He wanted to maintain the continuity of…
