Jerzy Pietrkiewicz or Peterkiewicz (29 September 1916 – 26 October 2007) was a Polish poet, novelist, translator, and literary critic who spent much of his life in British exile.

Life

He was born in Fabianki, Poland, the son of a well-read peasant, Jan Pietrkiewicz, and a woman of aristocratic descent, Antonina Politowska, who was about fifty years old at his birth. Both his parents died while he was still a child, his mother of cancer when he was twelve, and his father two years later. He attended the Jan Długosz Catholic School in

Włocławek Włocławek (Polish pronunciation: ; german: Leslau) is a city located in central Poland along the Vistula (Wisła) River and is bordered by the Gostynin-Włocławek Landscape Park. As of December 2021, the population of the city is 106,928. Loc ...

, and then went to Warsaw to study journalism. His first published writing was poetry in ''Okolica Poetów'' in 1934. He also contributed articles to ultra-nationalist newspapers. The left-wing poet and literary critic Ignacy Fik (19041942), in his magisterial history of Polish literature during the

Interbellum In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...

, will reserve a special mention for the "horrific poems of Pietrkiewicz", published in the " Prosto z mostu" magazine, in which the "national myth" receives its "racist" incarnation. His ''Wiersze o dzieciństwie'' ("Poems about Childhood"; 1935) did not receive any accolades from the critics in general; Kazimierz Andrzej Jaworski writing in the literary journal ''Kamena'' observed that the compositions included in the collection "bore the reader with their monotony", and if they have any value "it is only apparent to the author himself, for they ring hollow to others". Kazimierz Andrzej Jaworski, "Przegląd poezyj" (A Review of Poetry), ''Kamena: miesięcznik literacki'', vol. 3, No. 89 (2829), AprilMay 1936, p. 188. 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 fled first to France and then to Britain. On his arrival he knew no English. He attended the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, earning by 1944 a master's degree in English literature, and in 1948 he completed a doctorate at King's College London, where he would go on to teach Polish language and literature. He began writing novels in English in 1953, reserving Polish for his poetical works. His novels were successful, and led to a friendship with

Muriel Spark Dame Muriel Sarah Spark (née Camberg; 1 February 1918 – 13 April 2006). was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist. Life Muriel Camberg was born in the Bruntsfield area of Edinburgh, the daughter of Bernard Camberg, an ...

. On the accession of 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 ...

, Pietrkiewicz translated his poems into English, and as a result his own work became known in Poland. He was awarded the Prize of the Ministry of Culture and Art in 1987. He was married twice, first to Danuta Karel, a Polish actress, and then to

Christine Brooke-Rose Christine Frances Evelyn Brooke-Rose (16 January 1923 – 21 March 2012) was a British writer and literary critic, known principally for her experimental novels.

. Both marriages ended in divorce. He died in London.

Works

In Polish

* ''Wiersze o dzieciństwie'' (1935) * ''Prowincja'' (1936) * ''Po chłopsku'' (novel, 1941) * ''Pokarm cierpki'' (1943) * ''Pogrzeb Europy'' (1946) * ''Piąty poemat'' (1950) * ''Poematy londyńskie i wiersze przedwojenne'' (Paris, 1965) * ''Kula magiczna'' (1980) * ''Poezje wybrane'' (Warsaw, 1986) * ''Modlitwy intelektu'' (1988) * ''Wiersze dobrzyńskie'' (1994) * ''Słowa są bez poręczy'' (1998) * ''Zdobycz i wierność'' (2018)

Novels in English

*''The Knotted Cord'' (1953) *''Loot and Loyalty'' (1955) *''Future To Let'' (1958) *''Isolation: a novel in five acts'' (1959) *''The Quick and the Dead'' (1961) *''That Angel Burning at My Left Side'' (1963) *''Inner Circle'' (1966) *''Green Flows the Bile'' (1969)

Other works in English

* ''Polish prose and verse'' (1956) * ''Five Centuries of Polish Poetry'' (1960) * ''Polish Literature in its European Context'' (1962) * ''The Other Side of Silence'' (1970) * ''The Third Adam'' (1975) * ''In the scales of fate: an autobiography'' (1993) * ''Metropolitan idyll'' (1997) * ''Polish literature from the European perspective: studies and treaties'' (2006)

Translations

* ''Easter vigil and other poems'' (

, 1979) * ''Collected poems'' (

, 1982) * ''Poems, letters, drawings'' ( Cyprian Norwid, 2000) * ''Roman triptych: meditations'' (translation of

's ''Tryptyk rzymski: medytacje'', 2003)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pietrkiewicz, Jerzy 1916 births 2007 deaths Antisemitism in Poland 20th-century Polish novelists Polish male novelists Polish translators Polish expatriates in the United Kingdom People from Włocławek County Alumni of the University of St Andrews 20th-century Polish poets 20th-century translators Polish male poets Alumni of King's College London 20th-century Polish male writers