Henryk Sienkiewicz was often described as a writer who wrote “to comfort” his readers, but his prose offered much more than literary solace during the times of Poland’s subjugation. Sienkiewicz combined gripping narratives with profound reflections on history and identity, creating works that have become indelibly embedded in the collective imagination of Poles. by Piotr…
King John III Sobieski is remembered as the commander of the victorious armies on the battlefield at Vienna. Yet this brave and talented commander was also a man of deep feelings, as evidenced by his love letters to his wife, Marie-Casimire de la Grange d’Arquien (Marysieńka). by Piotr Abryszeński Marie-Casimire came from the old…
It is easier to wipe a country off the map than to destroy its soul. In the 19th century, that truth was discovered by Russia, Prussia and Austria as the loss of independence had a mobilising effect on the Poles. It became an impulse for spreading patriotic attitudes as well as an unprecedented flourishing of…
He spent the last months of his life in an apartment in the Royal Castle in Warsaw provided by the president. It was a truly unique way to honor this extraordinary writer, making Żeromski equal to the kings who once ruled the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Stefan Żeromski certainly deserved such honors. by Tomasz Starzewski Żeromski…
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…
The black legend of the ‘god of war’, who died aged just 51, had even fewer supporters in partitioned Poland than in France. Only in the Polish anthem does his name appear: ‘Bonaparte has given us the example of how we should prevail’. by Wiesław Chełminiak Was it stomach cancer or poison that killed…
