Jacek Baluch (17 March 1940, Kraków – 3 July 2019, Kraków) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

scholar, writer, poet, translator and politician.

Life

Jacek Baluch studied Slavic philology at the

Jagellonian University The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

in Cracow and at

Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

in Prague. He was a Slavist, and in the first place a Bohemist. He took an M.A. in 1962, earned his doctor's degree in 1968 and obtained habilitation in 1982. Much later, in 2008, he was nominated a professor. He had a wife and three children.

Political activity

Baluch was very active in the

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...

movement in the early eighties. Because of that, he was imprisoned at Załęże by

Martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

. In the years 1990–1995 he was the ambassador of the Republic of Poland to

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

and (after the secession of

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

) to the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. He is said to play an important role in establishing cooperation in the Visegrád Group. In 2015 he was awarded by the Czech government for his work for Polish-Czech good relations with the prize Gratia Agis.

Scholarly work

Baluch wrote many books and papers on Czech literature, especially about avant garde (''poetismus'' in Czech) and fiction by

Bohumil Hrabal Bohumil Hrabal (; 28 March 1914 – 3 February 1997) was a Czech writer, often named among the best Czech writers of the 20th century. Early life Hrabal was born in Židenice (suburb of Brno) on 28 March 1914, in what was then the province ...

. He has been a teacher of some generations of students in Cracow and

Opole Opole (; german: Oppeln ; szl, Ôpole) ; * Silesian: ** Silesian PLS alphabet: ''Ôpole'' ** Steuer's Silesian alphabet: ''Uopole'' * Silesian German: ''Uppeln'' * Czech: ''Opolí'' * Latin: ''Oppelia'', ''Oppolia'', ''Opulia'' is a city loc ...

. His main interest were versification and the theory of translation.

Poetry and translations

Baluch was a writer and poet. He writes chiefly short pure nonsense poems, for example

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

s. He also translated some books and poems from Czech into Polish. Among others, he translated and edited a book of Medieval Czech love poetry. He made a translation of the famous children's poem ''Lokomotywa'' (''The Locomotive'') by

Julian Tuwim Julian Tuwim (13 September 1894 – 27 December 1953), known also under the pseudonym "Oldlen" as a lyricist, was a Polish poet, born in Łódź, then part of the Russian Partition. He was educated in Łódź and in Warsaw where he studied la ...

from Polish into Czech.

Honours

*Officer of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...

(Poland, 2014) *Knight of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2001) *Commander of the

Order of the White Double Cross The Order of the White Double Cross ( sk, Rad Bieleho dvojkríža) is the highest state decoration of the Slovak Republic. The Order was instituted on 1 March 1994 after Slovakia became independent on 1 January 1993. It continues the Czechoslova ...

(Slovakia, 1998) *

Medal of Merit Several countries award a military or civil medal called Medal of Merit: * Medal of Merit (Czech Republic) * Medal of Merit (Denmark) * Medal of Merit of the Dominican Woman * Medal of Merit of the National People's Army (East Germany) * Medal of M ...

, 1st Grade (Czech Republic, 1997)

References

Bibliography

* ''Poetyzm. Propozycja czeskiej awangardy lat dwudziestych'', Wrocław 1969. * ''Język krytyczny F.X. Šaldy'', Kraków 1982. * ''Czescy symboliści, dekadenci, anarchiści przełomu XIX i XX wieku'', Wrocław 1983. * d. František Halas, ''Wybór poezji'', Wrocław 1975. * ''Drzewo się liściem odziewa'', Kraków 1981 (translation). * ''Ladislav Klíma, ''Cierpienia księcia Sternenhocha'' (translation). * ''Jaroslav Hašek, ''Historia Partii Umiarkowanego Postępu (w Granicach Prawa)'' (translation) * (together with Piotr Gierowski, ''Czesko-polski słownik terminów literackich'', Kraków 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:Baluch, Jacek 1940 births Slavists Polish translators 2019 deaths Jagiellonian University alumni Academic staff of Jagiellonian University Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic) Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta Ambassadors of Poland to Czechoslovakia Ambassadors of Poland to the Czech Republic Burials at Salwator Cemetery Politicians from Kraków Diplomats from Kraków 20th-century translators