Piotr Krystian Domaradzki (June 21, 1946 – November 4, 2015) was a

Polish-American Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Poles, Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing abou ...

journalist, essayist and historian who, during a longtime association with

Chicago's Polish community Both immigrant Poles and Americans of Polish heritage live in Chicago, Illinois. They are a part of worldwide '' Polonia'', the Polish term for the Polish Diaspora outside of Poland. Poles in Chicago have contributed to the economic, social an ...

, worked for 30 years at '' Dziennik Związkowy'' (''Alliance Daily''), the oldest and largest Polish-language newspaper in the United States. From October 2009 to March 2013, he served as the paper's

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

. He emigrated from Poland in 1984 and became a

U.S. citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

in 1996.

Biography

Writer in Poland

Born in

Strzelce Opolskie Strzelce Opolskie (german: Groß Strehlitz, szl, Wielge Strzelce) is a town in southern Poland with 17,900 inhabitants (2019), situated in the Opole Voivodeship. It is the capital of Strzelce County. Demographics Strzelce Opolskie is one of th ...

, a town and county seat in south-western Poland, Domaradzki received his high school diploma from II Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. dra Władysława Pniewskiego in

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

. He graduated from

University of Gdańsk The University of Gdańsk ( pl, Uniwersytet Gdański) is a public research university located in Gdańsk, Poland. It is one of the top 10 universities in Poland and is also an important centre for the studies of the Kashubian language. History ...

with a major in

late antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...

military history Military history is the study of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to local and international relationships. Professional historians norma ...

. At the time martial law was declared in December 1981, Domaradzki was 35 years old and deeply involved as an activist and organizer in the Independent Self-governing Trade Union "Solidarity", with responsibility for frontline members as well as publications and press releases. Although martial law was lifted in July 1983, there was little immediate improvement in the country's political situation and, in January 1984, he left the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Ten months later he immigrated with his wife Janina and son Krystian (born 1979) to the U.S. where, in November 1985, they were granted

political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...

. The Domaradzkis became parents of another child, daughter Sara, in 1991, six years after they settled in Chicago.

Newspaper editor in Chicago

Almost immediately upon arriving in Chicago, Domaradzki began working for ''Dziennik Związkowy''. Before becoming editor-in-chief in 2009, he served as the newspaper's assistant editor from 1985 to 1987 and from 1998 to 2009. In 1996, along with another Chicago-based Polish exile, literary and film critic and academic Wojciech Wierzewski (1941–2008), he founded the discussion forum, Konwersatorium "Dialog 96" which, under the aegis of the Chicago chapter of the

Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America The Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America (PIASA) is a Polish-American scholarly institution headquartered in Manhattan (New York City), at 208 East 30th Street. History The Institute was founded during the height of World War II, in 1 ...

(PIASA), focused primarily on activities within the cultural and intellectual communities in Poland and abroad.

Death

On October 20, 2015, fire erupted at Domaradzki's home on Grace Street in the

Portage Park Portage Park is a park in the Portage Park community area of Chicago, Illinois on the National Register of Historic Places. The park stretches from Irving Park Road on the south to Berteau Avenue between Central and Long Avenues. The largest p ...

community of Chicago. He was unconscious when rescued by firefighters and taken to Community First Medical Center and subsequently to a special unit of Loyola University Hospital where he died on November 4, without regaining consciousness, from the aftereffects of

smoke inhalation Smoke inhalation is the breathing in of harmful fumes (produced as by-products of combusting substances) through the respiratory tract. This can cause smoke inhalation injury (subtype of acute inhalation injury) which is damage to the respirator ...

. He was 69.

Works

Domaradzki was a graphic artist, musician and painter, as well as author of numerous writings, including the novel ''Wiórki kokosowe oconut Shreds' published in Poland in 2003. He also translated into Polish Harvey Sarner's 1997 book ''

General Anders A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

and the Soldiers of the Second Polish Corps'' (published in Poland in 2006 as ''The Conquerors of Monte Cassino, General Anders and His Soldiers'', with a

Braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...

version in 2007). Among his historical treatises are ''Homo Armatus: History of Warfare in Antiquity'' (1979), ''The Defense of

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 ...

'' and ''Polish Corps in Russia 1917–1919'' (both published by Solidarity Press in 1981) and ''General Anders and the Soldiers of the II Polish Corps'' (2002). His numerous historical essays were a regular feature in ''Dziennik Związkowy's'' weekly culture and entertainment section, ''Kalejdoskop'' (''Kaleidoscope'').

Wikipedia activity

Under the user name "Belissarius", Domaradzki was a prolific and multifaceted contributor on numerous topics in the

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 ...

and

English Wikipedia The English Wikipedia is, along with the Simple English Wikipedia, one of two English-language editions of Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. It was founded on January 15, 2001, as Wikipedia's first edition, and, as of , has the most arti ...

. On Polish Wikipedia, his first edit was on September 26, 2004, and his final two edits were made on the day of the fatal fire, October 20, 2015. On English Wikipedia he was active in the Poland and Military history "

WikiProject A WikiProject, or Wikiproject, is a Wikimedia movement affinity group for contributors with shared goals. WikiProjects are prevalent within the largest wiki, Wikipedia, and exist to varying degrees within sister projects such as Wiktionary, Wikiqu ...

s," collaborative projects among Wikipedia editors. He frequently contributed to

Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons (or simply Commons) is a media repository of free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used across all of the Wikimedia projects in ...

, uploading photographs and drawings. He made over 110,000 edits to various Wikimedia projects, with most activity in Polish Wikipedia, where he made over 100,000 edits and created about 1,200 articles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Domaradzki, Peter K. 1946 births 2015 deaths Polish opinion journalists 20th-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers Polish male artists Solidarity (Polish trade union) activists University of Gdańsk alumni People from Strzelce Opolskie Polish emigrants to the United States Deaths by smoke inhalation Wikipedia people Polish-American culture in Chicago