Jerzy Sławomir Kulczycki (12 October 1931 in

Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

– 18 July 2013 in London) was a Polish engineer, activist bookseller, and publisher. He was the founder in 1996 of the ''Kulczycki (Orbis Books) prize in Polish Studies.

Biography

In 1940, as a nine-year old, he was deported by the invading Soviets with his mother into captivity in

Kazachstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, U ...

. His father, a judge, had been murdered by the NKVD. In 1942 they were moved to Iran to join Anders' Army. From 1944 he was a pupil of the exiled

Corps of Cadets A corps of cadets, also called cadet corps, was originally a kind of military school for boys. Initially such schools admitted only sons of the nobility or gentry, but in time many of the schools were opened also to members of other social classes. ...

. In 1947 he settled in the United Kingdom, where in 1954 he graduated at the University of London with a degree in civil engineering. In 1958 he specialised in hydrology and in 1964 in road construction. That same year he married Aleksandra, also a Polish displaced person. They had three children.

Publishing and activism

As part of the Polish political emigré community, he was active in the Polish Labour Party (Stronnictwo Pracy), the Christian Democratic tendency. In 1964, as a sideline to his professional work, he established a publishing house, under the imprint, "Odnowa" (Renewal) in London, to produce emigré works and reprints in Polish, in particular the writings of Karol Popiel,

Amintore Fanfani Amintore Fanfani (; 6 February 1908 – 20 November 1999) was an Italian politician and statesman, who served as 32nd prime minister of Italy for five separate terms. He was one of the best-known Italian politicians after the Second World War an ...

, Jan Nowak-Jeziorański and

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

. He invited his friend and fellow activist,

Stanisław Gebhardt Stanisław Mieczysław Gebhardt (born 13 July 1928), Polish Resistance fighter, economist, émigré political activist, international social entrepreneur, veteran member of the Christian democratic movement. Since his return to Poland after the ...

, to be a co-director of the firm, which was active until 1990.

''Orbis Books''

In 1972 with his wife, he bought a Polish bookshop, ''Orbis Books'' (London) in New Oxford Street, a business begun in Edinburgh during the war in 1944. They moved to new premises at 66 Kenway Road in Earl's Court where much of the Polish elite had settled after World War II. The shop stayed there until 2005, before moving to Blyth Road,

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

. His bookstands were also available at the Polish Hearth Club and at

St Andrew Bobola Church, Hammersmith St Andrew Bobola Church, Hammersmith also known as the Polish Church in Shepherd's Bush is a Roman Catholic parish church serving the Polish community in West London. The building was designed in Gothic Revival style by Edmund Woodthorpe, and st ...

. The business finally closed in 2011. During the Communist régime in Poland, Orbis Books (London) was one of the main exporters of banned and other Western literature to Poland, which often required unorthodox means of despatch to ensure delivery into the rightful hands. He was a major retailer of the influential Paris-based periodical, ''

Kultura ''Kultura'' (, ''Culture'')—sometimes referred to as ''Kultura Paryska'' ("Paris-based Culture")—was a leading Polish-émigré literary-political magazine, published from 1947 to 2000 by ''Instytut Literacki'' (the Literary Institute), in ...

''. In 1996 Kulczycki and his family instituted a book prize as an award for peer reviewed titles focused on Polish culture and politics. The prize is administered by the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies in the United States. Kulczycki was for many years a director of the Institute of Polish-Jewish Studies. He died of cancer in London in 2013, aged 82. His edited memoire, ''Atakować książką'' ("Attack with the Book"), was published posthumously in 2016.

Distinctions

* The exiled Polish Writers Association honoured him as a bookseller with their award in 1981. * He was decorated with the Order of Polonia Restituta by the Polish President in Exile in 1990. * He was awarded the Officers Order of Polonia Restituta in 1998 * The Commanders Order of Polonia Restituta was conferred on him in 2005..

References

Bibliography

''ZPPnO. Pożegnania'' (Obituary in Polish)

''Jerzy Kulczycki (12 October 1931 – 18 July 2013)'' Polish Heritage Society
*

External links

Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies official websiteSlavic Review Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kulczycki, Jerzy 1931 births 2013 deaths People from London People from Lviv Polish anti-communists Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom Polish expatriates in the United Kingdom Polish engineers People associated with Kultura (magazine) Alumni of the University of London Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta Geopoliticians Polish people of World War II Polish people of Rusyn descent Polish philanthropists Polish politicians Polish publishers (people)