Arkady Fiedler (28 November 1894 in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

– 7 March 1985 in

Puszczykowo Puszczykowo (german: Puszczykowo; Unterberg) is a town in Poznań County, Poland, with 9,331 inhabitants (as of 2015). It is located about south of Poznań, the area is surrounded by the Wielkopolski National Park (located within the park buff ...

) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

writer, journalist and adventurer.

Life

He studied philosophy and natural science at the Jagiellonian University in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

and later in

and the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

. As an officer of the reserve of the Polish Army, he took part in the Greater Poland Uprising in 1918, was one of the organizers of the

Polish Military Organisation The Polish Military Organisation, PMO ( pl, Polska Organizacja Wojskowa, POW) was a secret military organization which formed during World War I (1914-1918). Józef Piłsudski founded the group in August 1914; it adopted the name ''POW'' in Novem ...

from 1918 to 1920. He travelled to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

,Madagaskar 1937 - Arkady Fiedler.
/ref>

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, amongst other countries. He wrote 32 books that have been translated into 23 languages and sold over 10 million copies in total. His most famous and popular book, written in 1942, was '' Squadron 303'' about the legendary Kościuszko Squadron fighting during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

; it sold over 1.5 million copies. ''Thank You, Captain, Thank You!'' similarly recounts the war efforts of Polish sailors. He wrote books about his travels, documenting cultures, customs and natural wonders. From 1954 he published a historical adventure series for young people.

Family

His family includes his wife Maria, and his two sons who are all alive today. The Arkady Fiedler Museum in Puszczykowo is run by the legacy's proud family.

Selected list of Arkady Fiedler books translated into the English language

* '' Squadron 303'' (''Dywizjon 303'', 1940) * '' Thank You, Captain, Thank You!'' (''Dziękuję ci, kapitanie'', 1944) * '' The Madagascar I Love'' * '' The River of Singing Fish'' (''Ryby śpiewają w Ukajali'', 1935) - about

Amazonia The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

Jan Bober series

* ''

Robinson Crusoe Island Robinson Crusoe Island ( es, Isla Róbinson Crusoe, ), formerly known as Más a Tierra (), is the second largest of the Juan Fernández Islands, situated 670 km (362 nmi; 416 mi) west of San Antonio, Chile, in the South Pacific Oc ...

'' (''Wyspa Robinsona'', 1954) * ''Orinoco'' (''Orinoko'', 1957) * '' White Jaguar'' (''Biały Jaguar'', 1980)

Travels

* 1927 - Northern Norway * 1928 - Southern Brazil * 1933 - Amazonia and eastern Peru * 1935 - Canada * 1937 - Madagascar (specifically Ambinanitelo) * 1939 - Tahiti * 1940 - France, Great Britain * 1942-1943 - USA, Trinidad, Guiana, Brasil * 1945 - Canada * 1948 - Mexico * 1952-1953 - USSR (Georgia) * 1956-1957 - Indochina (northern Vietnam, Laos, Camboja) * 1959-1960 - Africa (Guinea, Ghana) * 1961 - North-Western Canada * 1963-1964 - Brazil, Guiana * 1965-1966 - Madagascar * 1967 - Brazil * 1968 - USSR (eastern Siberia) * 1969 - Nigeria * 1970 - Peru * 1971 - West Africa * 1972 - Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec) * 1973 - South America * 1975 - Canada (Ontario, Quebec) * 1976-1977 - West Africa * 1978-1979 - Peru * 1980 - Canada * 1981 - West Africa

References

External links

Arkady Fiedler Museum (www.fiedler.pl)
*

Coche Island Isla de Coche (''Coche Island'') is one of three islands forming the Nueva Esparta State of Venezuela, located in the Caribbean between Isla Margarita and the mainland. The other two islands are Isla Margarita, the main island of the state, and ...

1894 births 1985 deaths Jagiellonian University alumni Polish travel writers Polish male writers Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1944–1989) Recipients of the Order of the Builders of People's Poland Recipients of the Order of the Banner of Work Leipzig University alumni Writers from Poznań 20th-century Polish journalists {{Poland-writer-stub