The Generation of Columbuses ( pl, pokolenie Kolumbów) is a term denoting the generation of Poles who were born soon after Poland regained its independence in 1918, and whose adolescence was marked by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The term itself was coined by

Roman Bratny 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 his 1957 novel ''Kolumbowie. Rocznik 20'' and was itself based on the name of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

, as Bratny described the entire generation as the ones who "discovered Poland". The term is generally applied to young

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the in ...

, but it also includes all young people who, instead of living a traditional young adulthood, had to fight against foreign occupation and study at secret universities.

Notable people

Among the notable people commonly associated with the generation are: *

Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, (; nom de guerre: Jan Bugaj; 22 January 1921 – 4 August 1944) was a Polish poet and Home Army soldier, one of the most well known of the Generation of Columbuses, the young generation of Polish poets, of whom several ...

, a

catastrophist In geology, catastrophism theorises that the Earth has largely been shaped by sudden, short-lived, violent events, possibly worldwide in scope. This contrasts with uniformitarianism (sometimes called gradualism), according to which slow incrementa ...

poet who was killed in the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...

Władysław Bartoszewski Władysław Bartoszewski (; 19 February 1922 – 24 April 2015) was a Polish politician, social activist, journalist, writer and historian. A former Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner, he was a World War II resistance fighter as part of the ...

Miron Białoszewski Miron Białoszewski (; born 30 June 1922, Warsaw; died 17 June 1983, Warsaw) was a Polish poet, novelist, playwright and actor. Biography Białoszewski studied linguistics at the clandestine courses of the University of Warsaw during the Germ ...

, a poet and a writer *

Teresa Bogusławska Teresa Bogusławska (13 July 1929 - 1 February 1945) was a Polish poet and a participant in the Warsaw Uprising. In 1941 she joined the resistance movement. In February 1944 was arrested by the Gestapo, imprisoned in the Pawiak Pawiak () w ...

, a poet, arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned in the

Pawiak Pawiak () was a prison built in 1835 in Warsaw, Congress Poland. During the January 1863 Uprising, it served as a transfer camp for Poles sentenced by Imperial Russia to deportation to Siberia. During the World War II German occupation of ...

, she died of meningitis in 1945 *

Wacław Bojarski Wacław Bojarski, pseudonym "Czarnota" (30 October 1921 – 5 June 1943) was a Polish poet belonging to the Generation of Columbuses and the Konfederacja Narodu Konfederacja Narodu (; ''Confederation of the Nation'') was one of the Polish res ...

, a wartime poet and journalist of underground newspapers, died 1943 *

Tadeusz Borowski Tadeusz Borowski (; 12 November 1922 – 3 July 1951) was a Polish writer and journalist. His wartime poetry and stories dealing with his experiences as a prisoner at Auschwitz are recognized as classics of Polish literature. Early life Borow ...

, a poet and writer who survived

Auschwitz-Birkenau Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

and the

Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

only to commit suicide in 1951 *

, writer *

Olgierd Budrewicz Algirdas ( be, Альгерд, Alhierd, uk, Ольгерд, Ольґерд, Olherd, Olgerd, pl, Olgierd; – May 1377) was the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He ruled the Lithuanians and Ruthenians from 1345 to 1377. With the help of his brot ...

, journalist and Varsavianist *

Jerzy Ficowski Jerzy Tadeusz Ficowski (; October 4, 1924 in Warsaw – May 9, 2006 in Warsaw) was a Polish poet, writer and translator (from Yiddish, Russian, Romani and Hungarian). Biography and works During the German occupation of Poland in World War II, ...

, poet, journalist and ethnologist, pioneer of research on post-war Jewish and Gypsy life in Poland *

Tadeusz Gajcy Tadeusz Stefan Gajcy (; 8 February 1922, Warsaw - 16 August 1944, Warsaw) pseudonym. ''Karol Topornicki”, „Roman Oścień”, „Topór”, „Orczyk“'' , was a Polish poet, playwright, editor-in-chief of the Sztuka i Naród (Art and Nati ...

, a poet, killed in the Warsaw Uprising *

Stanisław Grzesiuk Stanisław Grzesiuk (; 6 May 1918, Małków, Łęczna County – 21 January 1963) was a Polish writer, poet, singer, and comedian. He is notable as one of the few public figures to use and promote the singing style and dialect of pre-war Wars ...

Zbigniew Herbert Zbigniew Herbert (; 29 October 1924 – 28 July 1998) was a Polish poet, essayist, drama writer and moralist. He is one of the best known and the most translated post-war Polish writers. While he was first published in the 1950s (a volume title ...

Gustaw Herling-Grudziński Gustaw Herling-Grudziński (; May 20, 1919 − July 4, 2000) was a Polish writer, journalist, essayist, World War II underground fighter, and political dissident abroad during the communist system in Poland. He is best known for writing a personal ...

Krystyna Krahelska Krystyna Krahelska "Danuta" (24 March 1914 – 2 August 1944) was a Polish poet, ethnographer, member of the Home Army, and a participant in the Warsaw Uprising. Life She was born in a family estate in Mazurki near Baranovichi in the Russian ...

, a girl-guide, poet and singer, model for the monument of the Warsaw's Siren, killed in the Warsaw Uprising *

Stanisław Lem Stanisław Herman Lem (; 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006) was a Polish writer of science fiction and essays on various subjects, including philosophy, futurology, and literary criticism. Many of his science fiction stories are of satirical ...

Stanislas Likiernik Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Stanislaus County, Cali ...

Wojciech Mencel Wojciech () is a Polish name, equivalent to Czech Vojtěch , Slovak Vojtech, and German Woitke. The name is formed from two components in archaic Polish: * ''wój'' (Slavic: ''voj''), a root pertaining to war. It also forms words like ''wojownik ...

, a poet killed in the Warsaw Uprising *

Włodzimierz Pietrzak Włodzimierz Pietrzak (; 7 July 1913 – 22 August 1944) was a Polish poet and literary critic. He was active in the underground cultural life in occupied Poland, editing underground magazines. He took part and died in the Warsaw Uprising. A lite ...

, an art critic and author, killed in the Warsaw Uprising *

Jan Romocki Jan Romocki codename: Bonawentura (17 April 1925 – 18 August 1944) was a Polish Scoutmaster ( podharcmistrz), Second Lieutenant of AK-Szare Szeregi, poet and younger brother of fellow resistance figure Andrzej "Morro" Romocki. Romocki was bor ...

, a scouting instructor and poet, died in the Warsaw Uprising *

Tadeusz Różewicz Tadeusz Różewicz (9 October 1921 – 24 April 2014) was a Polish poet, playwright, writer, and translator. Różewicz was in the first generation of Polish writers born after Poland regained its independence in 1918, following the century of f ...

Stanisław Staszewski Stanisław Staszewski (December 18, 1925 – January 22, 1973) was a Polish architect and poet. He was the father of Kazimierz Staszewski and the author of many songs and ballads, sung both by his son and by Jacek Kaczmarski. Biography Stani ...

* Zdzisław Stroiński, a poet killed in the Warsaw Uprising * Andrzej Trzebiński, a dramatist, novelist and a poet, arrested by the Germans and shot to death in 1943 *

Józef Szczepański Józef Szczepański (; 30 November 1922 in Łęczyca - 10 September 1944 in Warsaw) was a Polish poet who was a member of the Armia Krajowa Polish resistance. Commander of the Battalion Parasol during the Warsaw Uprising, known under his codename ...

, a poet killed in the Warsaw Uprising *

Andrzej Szczypiorski Andrzej Szczypiorski (; 3 February 1928 – 16 May 2000) was a Polish novelist and politician. He served as a member of the Polish legislature, and was a Solidarity activist interned during the military crackdown of 1981. He was a secret polic ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

References

* Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer, ''History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe'', John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2004,
Print, p.146
* Bolesław Klimaszewski, ''An Outline History of Polish Culture'', Interpress, 1984,
Print, p.343
*

Marek Haltof Marek Haltof (Józef Marek Haltof, born 1957 in Cieszyn, Poland,) is a professor ( dr.hab.) of film studies. specializing in the cultural histories of Polish and Australian film. He studied at the University of Silesia ( Uniwersytet Śląski) in P ...

, ''Polish National Cinema'', Berghahn Books, 2002,
Print, p.76
* Stanislas Likiernik "By devil's luck

* Stanislas Likiernik interviewed by Emil Marat and Michal Wojcik "Made in Poland

Notable people

References

See also