Biography
In 1891, Morcinek was born in Karviná into a poor family, the youngest of four siblings. In 1892, his father Józef died and his mother was forced to provide for the family. Augustyn started work in the coal mine at the age of 16, which was quite late compared to the standard of those times. When he was 19, miners raised money for his education and he started attending a teachers' seminary in Biała Krakowska, from which he graduated in 1914. In 1914 he was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army and after 1918 served briefly in the Polish Army. In 1920, when Cieszyn Silesia was divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia, his hometown Karviná fell to Czechoslovakia. Morcinek was a pro-Polish activist and thus decided to stay in Poland. In the 1920s and 1930s he worked as a teacher inInterwar period
During the interwar period, Morcinek published many articles in various Silesian press. He wrote his most important books in the late 1920s and early 1930s becoming the only notable Silesian Polish-language prosaist of the interwar period. His works concentrate mostly on coal mining and Silesian themes. Morcinek shows miners' work and life in a realistic way and accentuates theWorld War II
He returned to Poland shortly before the outbreak of World War II. Morcinek was arrested by the Gestapo on 6 September 1939. He was initially imprisoned withAfter the war
From his release until November 1946, Morcinek resided in France, Italy and Belgium and cooperated with Polish émigré press there. He then returned to Silesia, Poland, and settled inPolitical activity
Morcinek was politically active from a young age. He was an active advocate of joining the whole Cieszyn Silesia to Poland. During the interwar period when he was an anti-German activist, some critics accused him of spreading hatred. After the war, he was a supporter of Polish United Workers' Party and was a member of the Sejm (parliament) from Katowice electoral district (1952–1957).Works
Novellas and novellas collections
* ''Noc listopadowa'' (1927) * ''W kwietniową noc'' (1928) * ''Zgaszony płomyk'' (1928) * ''O te świętą ziemeczkę'' (1929) * ''Serce za tamą'' (1929) * ''Cisza'' (1930) * ''Miód w sercu'' (1930) * ''Chleb na kamieniu'' (1931) * ''Na bieda-szybie'' (1932) * ''Sześć dni'' (1932) * ''Dzieje węgla'' (1933) * ''Kataryniarz'' (1933) * ''W zadymionym słońcu'' (1933) * ''Uśmiech na drodze'' (1935) * ''Gołębie na dachu'' (1936) * ''Po kamienistej drodze'' (1936) * ''W najmłodszym lesie'' (1937) * ''Maszerowa'' (1938) * ''Miasteczko nad rzeką'' (1938) * ''Królewski dług'' (1939)Short story collections
* ''Byli dwaj bracia'' (1930) * ''Wyrąbany chodnik'' (1931–32) * ''Inżynier Szeruda'' (1937) * ''Wyorane kamienie'' (1939) * ''Dziewczyna z Pól Elizejskich'' (1946) * ''Listy z mojego Rzymu'' (1946) * ''Wróżbita'' (1946) * ''Dwie korony'' (1948) * ''Zagubione klucze'' (1948) * ''Pod gongiem'' (1949) * ''Pokład Joanny'' (1951) * ''W Nysie na rynku'' (1952) * ''Odkryte skarby'' (1953) * ''Ondraszek'' (1953) * ''W Wiergulowej dziedzinie'' (1953) * ''Viktoria'' (1954) * ''Wskrzeszenie Herminy'' (1956) * ''Z mojej ziemi (publicystyka)'' (1956) * ''Judasz u Monte Sicuro'' (1957) * ''Czarna Julka'' (1959) * ''Siedem zegarków kopidoła Joachima Rybki'' (1960) * ''Opowieści o ludziach z pociągu'' (1963) * ''Górniczy zakon'' (1964)Fairy tales collections
* ''Jak górnik Bulandra diabła oszukał'' (1961) * ''Przedziwne śląskie powiarki'' (1961) * ''Przedziwna historia o zbójniku Ondraszku'' (1963)Books for children
* ''Narodziny serca'' (1932) * ''Gwiazdy w studni'' (1933) * ''Łysek z pokladu Idy'' (1933) * ''Ludzie są dobrzy'' (1935) * ''Miasteczko nad rzeką'' (1938)Other works
* ''Śląsk'' (1933) * ''Listy spod morwy'' (1945) * ''Listy spod morwy'' (1946) * ''Zabłąkane ptaki'' * ''Urodzaj ludzi'' * ''Ziemia cieszyńska''Notes
References
Further reading
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morcinek, Gustaw 1891 births 1963 deaths Writers from Karviná Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Polish Austro-Hungarians Polish military personnel Polish male writers Polish educators Polish communists Polish people from Trans-Olza Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in Poland Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors Dachau concentration camp survivors Members of the Polish Sejm 1952–1956 Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland)