Jan Jakub Twardowski (1 June 1915 – 18 January 2006) was a Polish

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

and

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

. He was a chief Polish representative of contemporary religious lyrics. He wrote short, simple poems, humorous, which often included

colloquial Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...

isms. He joined observations of

nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

with

philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

reflections.

Biography

Jan Twardowski was born on 1 June 1915 in

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 ...

, Congress Poland. His parents were Jan Twardowski and Aniela Maria Konderska. Several weeks after his birth, due to the events of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, his family moved to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

After 3 years, they returned to Warsaw. He finished middle school in 1935. In 1932 he began working with the youth newspaper "Kuźnia Młodych" ("Forge of the Young"). He had his own column there, for which he wrote poems, short stories, and interviewed various writers. After middle school, he began studying literature at the Józef Piłsudski University (University of Warsaw). In 1937 he published his first book of poetry. During

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 opposing ...

he took part in various operations organised by the Armia Krajowa and fought in the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

. After the war, he joined a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

and began studying

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

at the

Warsaw University The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

. He became a priest in 1948. In 1959 he became a provost of the

Visitationist Church Church of St. Joseph of the Visitationists ( pl, Kościół Opieki św. Józefa w Warszawie) commonly known as the Visitationist Church ( pl, Kościół Wizytek) is a Roman Catholic church in Warsaw, Poland, situated at '' Krakowskie Przedmieście ...

. His writings were published in a popular Polish Catholic magazine,

Tygodnik Powszechny ''Tygodnik Powszechny'' (, ''The Common Weekly'') is a Polish Roman Catholic weekly magazine, published in Kraków, which focuses on social, cultural and political issues. It was established in 1945 under the auspices of Cardinal Adam Stefan Sa ...

. He gained fame in 1960 after publishing his first poetry book, "Znak Ufności" ("The Sign of Trust"). In 1980 he received the

PEN Club PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internation ...

and Robert Graves lifetime achievement awards, and, in 1996, the

Order Uśmiechu The Order of the Smile ( Polish: ''Order Uśmiechu'') is an international award given by children to adults distinguished in their love, care and aid for children. History The idea of the Order of the Smile was established in 1968 by the Polis ...

(The Order of the Smile). In 2000, Twardowski won the IKAR prize, and was rewarded with the TOTUS prize a year later. Jan Twardowski died on 18 January 2006 in Warsaw. He was buried within the crypts of the

Temple of Divine Providence The Temple of Divine Providence ( pl, Świątynia Opatrzności Bożej) and Pantheon of Great Poles (in Polish, Panteon Wielkich Polaków, in southern Warsaw's Wilanów district, is a principal Roman Catholic church in Poland. The backstory of i ...

on the outskirts of the Polish capital, despite the fact that he wanted to be buried at the Powązki cemetery in Warsaw.

Works

Poetry: *

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

: ''Wiersze,'' ("Verses"); WarsawWeb pages titled "Jan Twardowski" (i
English
an
Polish
), at the Instytut Książki ("Books Institute") website , "Bibliography" sections, retrieved February 28, 2010 *

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

: ''Znaki ufności'', ("Signs of Trust"), Kraków: Znak * 1980: ''Niebieskie okulary'', ("Blue Sunglasses"), Kraków: Znak *

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

: ''Który stwarzasz jagody'' ("Who Made the Blueberry"), Kraków: Wydawnictwo literackie *

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

: ''Nie przyszedłem pana nawracać. Wiersze z lat 1937-1985'' "I Have Not Come to Convert You: Poems From the Years 1937-1985"), Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Archidiecezji Warszawskiej ("Warsaw Archdiocese Publisher") *

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

: ''Tak ludzka'' ("So Human"), Poznań: Księgarnia św. Wojciech *

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

: ''Uśmiech Pana Boga. Wiersze dla dzieci'' ("The Smile of God. Poems for children"), Warsaw: Nasza Księgarnia *

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

: ''Kasztan dla milionera. Wiersze dla dzieci'' ("A Chestnut For a Millionaire. Poems for Children"), Warsaw: Nasza Księgarnia *

: ''Krzyżyk na drogę'' ("A cross for the road"), Kraków: Znak * 1996: ''Rwane prosto z krzaka'' ("Torn Right Off the Bush"), Warsaw: PIW *

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

: ''Bóg prosi o miłość - Gott fleht um Liebe'' ("God Asks for Love"), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literary *

: ''Niebo w dobrym humorze'' ("Heaven in Good Mood"), Warsaw: PIW *

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

: ''Miłość miłości szuka'', Volumes 1 and 2 ("Love Seeks Love"), Warsaw: PIW, Księgarnia i Drukarnia Świętego Wojciecha *

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

: ''Elementarz księdza Twardowskiego dla najmłodszego, średniaka i starszego'', Kraków: Wydawnictwo literackie * 2001: ''Kiedy mówisz'' ("When You Say"), Kraków: Wydawnictwo literackie * 2006: ''Kilka myśli o cierpieniu, przemijaniu i odejściu'', Poznan: Księgarnia Św. Wojciecha ("A few thoughts about suffering, passing and leaving") Prose: *

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

: ''Zeszyt w kratkę'' ("The Graph-Paper Notebook"), Kraków: Znak *

: ''Nowy zeszyt w kratkę'' ("The New Graph-Paper Notebook"), Poznan: Pallotinum *

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

: ''Patyki i patyczki'' ("Sticks and Twigs"), Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Archidiecezji Warszawskiej "Publisher of the Archdiocese of Warsaw" *

: ''Niecodziennik'' ("Not Quite a Diary"), Kraków: Maszachaba

References

External links

* Group memory in the network Vkontakte - club18291564 (rus) {{DEFAULTSORT:Twardowski, Jan 1915 births 2006 deaths Polish male poets 20th-century Polish Roman Catholic priests Polish resistance members of World War II Warsaw Uprising insurgents Catholic poets 20th-century Polish poets 20th-century Polish male writers 21st-century Polish poets 21st-century Polish male writers Writers from Warsaw