Franciszek Fiszer (better known as Franc Fiszer; March 25, 1860 – April 9, 1937) was a Polish bon-vivant, gourmand, erudite and philosopher, a friend of the most notable writers and philosophers of contemporary

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

and one of Warsaw's semi-legendary people. He is best remembered for a large number of anecdotes, jokes and sayings coined by him and about him. Franciszek_Fiszer

Biography

Franciszek Józef Marian Fiszer was born in 1860 in the Ławy manor near

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, to Teresa née Glinczanka and Józef Fiszer. His father was from among the German nobility, polonised in the 18th century and a distant relative of General Stanisław Fiszer, while his mother was a member of the Polish gentry and owner of the said manor and village. Very little is known of Fiszer's childhood apart from the fact that he was a late child (both of his parents being over 40 at his birth) and that he became an orphan relatively soon. In the 1880s Fiszer moved to Warsaw, where he started spending most of his time in Warsaw's cafes, restaurants and some of the most notable clubs of the era. With time, he became a characteristic part of the Warsaw's social panorama and became friends with most of the contemporary Polish writers, poets, artists and politicians. Renowned for his existential monologues and anecdotes, Fiszer's only pastime was the restaurants. In the interbellum, Fiszer became one of the most notable members of Warsaw's high society. A frequent guest at balls and parties, he became a living legend. His family village became neglected and soon had to be parcellated for debts. However, Fiszer's lifestyle did not suffer, as he barely ever had to pay for his meals, since he was seen by the gastronomers as an advertisement for their restaurants. That is why he often was a guest of '' Udziałowa'', '' Ziemiańska'', ''

IPS IPS, ips, or iPS may refer to: Science and technology Biology and medicine * ''Ips'' (genus), a genus of bark beetle * Induced pluripotent stem cell or iPS cells * Intermittent photic stimulation, a neuroimaging technique * Intraparietal sulcus, ...

'', Oaza, Astoria or '' Blikle''. Among the closest friends of Franc Fiszer were

Bolesław Leśmian Bolesław Leśmian (born Bolesław Lesman; January 22, 1877The exact date of his birth is disputed: the act of birth mentions 1877, Leśmian himself used 1878, while the date mentioned on his tombstone is 1879. – November 5, 1937) was a Pol ...

(Fiszer is said to have invented his pen-name),

Stefan Żeromski Stefan Żeromski ( ; 14 October 1864 – 20 November 1925) was a Polish novelist and dramatist belonging to the Young Poland movement at the turn of the 20th century. He was called the "conscience of Polish literature". He also wrote under ...

Władysław Reymont Władysław Stanisław Reymont (, born Rejment; 7 May 1867 – 5 December 1925) was a Polish novelist and the 1924 laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature. His best-known work is the award-winning four-volume novel '' Chłopi'' (''The Peasant ...

, the '' Skamandrites''

Antoni Słonimski Antoni Słonimski (15 November 1895 – 4 July 1976) was a Polish poet, artist, journalist, playwright and prose writer, president of the Union of Polish Writers in 1956–1959 during the Polish October, known for his devotion to social justic ...

and Julian Tuwim, Jan Lechoń, Miriam,

Artur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein ( pl, Artur Rubinstein; 28 January 188720 December 1982) was a Polish-American pianist.

and

Antoni Lange Antoni Lange (1863 – 17 March 1929) was a Polish poet, philosopher, polyglot (15 languages), writer, novelist, science-writer, reporter and translator. A representative of Polish Parnassianism and symbolism, he is also regarded as belonging ...

. Although Fiszer never published any book himself, he is mentioned in nearly all memoirs by Warsaw's artists of the inter-war period. Also, he became the only person never to publish a book to be mentioned in both Stanisław Tatarkiewicz's ''Polish Biographical Dictionary'' and

Leszek Kołakowski Leszek Kołakowski (; ; 23 October 1927 – 17 July 2009) was a Polish philosopher and historian of ideas. He is best known for his critical analyses of Marxist thought, especially his three-volume history, '' Main Currents of Marxism'' (1976 ...

's ''Philosophy in Poland; Dictionary of Writers''. In 1985, most of the memoirs mentioning Franciszek Fiszer were collected by

Roman Loth Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

in a book titled ''Na rogu świata i nieskończoności'' (''At the Crossing of World and Infinity'').

Bibliography

# # {{DEFAULTSORT:Fiszer, Franciszek 1860 births 1937 deaths People from Warsaw Polish gourmands Polish people of German descent 20th-century Polish philosophers