Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer (12 February 1865 – 18 January 1940) was a Polish Goral poet,

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

, playwright,

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and writer. He was a member of the

Young Poland Young Poland ( pl, Młoda Polska) was a modernist period in Polish visual arts, literature and music, covering roughly the years between 1890 and 1918. It was a result of strong aesthetic opposition to the earlier ideas of Positivism. Young Pol ...

movement.

Life

Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer was born in

Ludźmierz Ludźmierz is a village in Poland in the Lesser Poland voivodeship, in the county of Nowy Targ. Ludźmierz is the oldest village in Podhale and is located about 85 kilometres south of Kraków. It lies approximately west of Nowy Targ and south o ...

Podhale Podhale (literally "below the mountain pastures") is Poland's southernmost region, sometimes referred to as the "Polish Highlands". The Podhale is located in the foothills of the Tatra range of the Carpathian mountains. It is the most famous ...

near the

Tatra Mountains The Tatra Mountains (), Tatras, or Tatra (''Tatry'' either in Slovak () or in Polish () - '' plurale tantum''), are a series of mountains within the Western Carpathians that form a natural border between Slovakia and Poland. They are the hi ...

, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire now in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, and died 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 ...

. His older half-brother was the painter

Włodzimierz Tetmajer Włodzimierz Tetmajer (December 31, 1861 in Harklowa – December 26, 1923 in Kraków) was a Polish painter with works in collections of the Warsaw National Museum and Kraków. Biography Włodzimierz Tetmajer was born in Harklowa near Krako ...

. Przerwa-Tetmajer studied classics and philosophy at the Jagiellonian University in 1884–1889. He then became a journalist at ''

Kurier Polski The ''Kuryer Polski'' was the first Polish-language daily newspaper in the United States. It was founded by Michał Kruszka in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in June 1888. History Kruszka had come to the United States in 1880 and relocated in 1883 to Milw ...

'', and lived both in the Tatras and in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

(Cracow). After

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 ...

he moved to

to serve as president of the Society of Writers and Journalists. In 1934 he was made honorary member of the Polish Academy of Literature. Przerwa-Tetmajer suffered from a mental illness in the latter years of his life, which prevented him from writing. He was living in a hospice in 1940 when the

German occupants German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

evicted all the patients. He was left homeless and died shortly afterwards in a

hospital.

Work

Przerwa-Tetmajer wrote seven collections of poetry before

. He is particularly well known for his works about the

Tatra mountains The Tatra Mountains (), Tatras, or Tatra (''Tatry'' either in Slovak () or in Polish () - '' plurale tantum''), are a series of mountains within the Western Carpathians that form a natural border between Slovakia and Poland. They are the hi ...

. At least one of his poems, ''

Kriváň Kriváň can refer to: * Kriváň (peak), peak in the High Tatras, Slovakia * Veľký Kriváň, the highest peak in Malá Fatra, Slovakia * Kriváň (village) Kriváň ( hu, Krivány) is a village and municipality in Detva District, in the Bansk� ...

, High Kriváň!'' ('' Krywaniu, Krywaniu wysoki!'') is now often taken for an authentic folk song and was credited as such on a similarly named 1972 folk-rock album by

Skaldowie Skaldowie (namesake: The Skalds) is an art rock band which formed in Kraków, Poland in 1965. With their musical training and proximity to the folklore-rich area of Podhale, many of their tracks incorporate themes of rock, folk Folk or Folks m ...

. According to Barry Keane from ''The Warsaw Voice'':

Przerwa Tetmajer was primarily a lyrical poet who articulated the birth pangs of modernism at the turn of the century, but he will be best remembered for his erotic verse and for poems evoking his beloved Tatra mountains. He broke with age-old subtleties and niceties common to amorous poetry and wrote on love in frank and provocative terms. The poet simultaneously attracted huge praise from legions of readers and loud accusations of depravity from other quarters... at the close of the 19th century.

His work was also part of the literature event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics.

Life

Work

References

See also