Stefan Żeromski ( ; 14 October 1864 – 20 November 1925) was a Polish

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 wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...

belonging to the Young Poland movement at the turn of the 20th century. He was called the "conscience of Polish literature". He also wrote under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

s Maurycy Zych, Józef Katerla, and Stefan Iksmoreż. He was nominated four times for the

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

Life

Stefan Żeromski was born on 14 October 1864 at Strawczyn, near

Kielce Kielce (; ) is a city in south-central Poland and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the banks of the Silnic ...

. On 2 September 1892, he married a widow, Oktawia Rodkiewicz, ''née'' Radziwiłłowicz, whom he had met at a spa in

Nałęczów Nałęczów is a spa town (population 4,800) situated on the Nałęczów Plateau in Puławy County, Lublin Voivodeship, eastern Poland. Nałęczów belongs to Lesser Poland. History In the 18th century, the discovery there of healing waters ini ...

, co-owned by her stepfather. One of the witnesses at the wedding was the novelist Bolesław Prus, an admirer of Oktawia's who had not been in favor of the marriage. The newlyweds moved to Switzerland, where Żeromski worked from 1892 to 1896 as a

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

at the Polish National Museum in

Rapperswil Rapperswil (Swiss German: or ;Andres Kristol, ''Rapperswil SG (See)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', Centre de dial ...

. At Oktawia's request Prus, though no admirer of Żeromski's writings, helped the struggling couple as much as he could. In 1913 Żeromski started a new family with the painter Anna Zawadzka, whom he had met in 1908; they had a daughter, Monika. In 1924, in recognition of Żeromski's achievements, President

Stanisław Wojciechowski Stanisław Wojciechowski (; 15 March 1869 – 9 April 1953) was a Polish people, Polish politician and scholar who served as President of Poland between 1922 and 1926, during the Second Polish Republic. He was elected president in 1922, followi ...

gave him a three-room apartment on the second floor of

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

's Royal Castle. In the same year, Żeromski was shortlisted for the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

in literature.Polish culture: The Stefan Żeromski Museum
at www.culture.pl He died on 20 November 1925 in

Selected works

* Twilight (''Zmierzch'', short story, 1892) * Ravens and Crows Will Peck Us to Pieces (''Rozdziobią nas kruki, wrony'', 1895) * Doctor Peter (''Doktor Piotr'', 1895) * The Labors of Sisyphus (''Syzyfowe prace'', 1898), about 19th- and 20th-century

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

ist efforts to russify the Russian-occupied part of Poland) *

Homeless People Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

(''Ludzie bezdomni'', 1899) * Ashes (', 1904) * Forest Echoes (''Echa leśne'', 1905) * The Wages of Sin (''Dzieje grzechu'', 1908) * Elegy for a Hetman (''Duma o hetmanie'', 1908) * The Rose (''Róża'', 1909) * '' Sułkowski'' (1910) * The Faithful River (''Wierna rzeka'', 1912) * The Charm of Life (''Uroda życia'', 1912) * Struggles with Satan (''Walka z szatanem'', vols. 1-2, 1916; vol. 3, 1919) * Wind from the Sea (''Wiatr od morza'', 1922) * My Quail Has Fled (''Uciekła mi przepióreczka'', 1924) * The Spring to Come (''Przedwiośnie'', 1924) * Journals (''Dzienniki'', published posthumously, 1953-1956) Żeromski's works have been translated into several languages. They have been translated into Croatian by a member of the Croatian

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, Stjepan Musulin.

Films

Several of Żeromski's novels have been filmed, by

Walerian Borowczyk Walerian Borowczyk (21 October 1923 – 3 February 2006) was a Polish film director described by film critics as a "genius who also happened to be a pornographer". He directed 40 films between 1946 and 1988. Borowczyk settled in Paris in 1959. A ...

(''Dzieje grzechu'', " A Story of Sin"),

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the "P ...

(''Popioły'', " Ashes"), and

Filip Bajon Filip Michał Bajon (born 25 August 1947) is a Polish people, Polish film director and screenwriter. Selected filmography References External links

* 1947 births Living people Film people from Poznań Polish film directors Polish ...

(''Przedwiośnie'', " The Spring to Come"). In 2000, The Labors of Sisyphus (''Syzyfowe prace''), was adapted into a film of the same name by Paweł Komorowski.

Notes

References

* Irena Kwiatkowska-Siemieńska, ''Stefan Żeromski. La nature dans son expériences et sa pensée'' (Stefan Żeromski: Nature in His Experiences and Thought), ''Préface de Jean Fabre, Professeur à la Sorbonne'' (Preface by Jean Fabre, Professor at the Sorbonne), Paris, Nizet, 1964 (256 pp.). * Mortkowicz-Olczakowa, Hanna (1961). ''Bunt wspomnień.'' Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy.

External links