Wojciech Żukrowski (14 April 1916 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 ...

– 26 August 2000 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 ...

) was a Polish prosaist,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

reporter 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 journalism ...

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

and

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

Life

In 1936, Żukrowski graduated from High School Zana in Pruszkow. In the same year he made his writing debut in a youth magazine, ''Kuźnia Młodych''. After basic military training, in 1937, he matriculated at

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

. He began his studies at the Faculty of Law in accordance with the wishes of his father, a lawyer and economist. However, in 1938, he transferred his studies to the Faculty of Humanities, studying Polish

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

.Stone Tablets by Wojciech Zukrowski (Author), Stephanie Kraft (Translator) Paul Dry Books, Philadelphia; At the outbreak of World War II, he joined the Polish Army horse artillery. He was wounded in his right leg. Stephanie Kraft, who translated his novel, ''Kamienne tablice'' (''Stone Tablets''), to English wrote that during the German occupation of Poland in World War II, Żukrowski worked at the Solvay limestone quarry alongside Karol Józef Wojtyła, who became

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 ...

. The quarry was not watched closely by the Germans and was a refuge for Polish intellectuals. The two were part of an underground acting group called the Rhapsodic Theatre. They continued to correspond by letter until Żukrowski's death in 2000. He was after the war an officer in the People's Army and 1953/54 Front correspondent in Vietnam. From 1956 to 1959 he was in the diplomatic service in India. Żukrowski was also a Sejm deputy. He wrote novels, short stories, children's books, stories and film scenarios which have been translated into numerous languages. His debut Żukrowski 1943 with the work Rdza. At the request of the children, he received the international award as a Knight of the Order of the Smile. He completed ''Stone Tablets'' in 1965. The Polish censors initially blocked its publication, but their decision was overturned in person by Poland's head of state,

Władysław Gomułka Władysław Gomułka (; 6 February 1905 – 1 September 1982) was a Polish communist politician. He was the ''de facto'' leader of post-war Poland from 1947 until 1948. Following the Polish October he became leader again from 1956 to 1970. Go ...

. The book was published in Poland in 1966. The public reaction to the book's criticisms of

Stalinist Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory o ...

abuses and its conceptual sympathy with the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

led to problems with its subsequent print runs. Permission for a film version was refused in 1966 but eventually a film version was made in 1984. In 1970, Czechoslovak government intervention prohibited public distribution of the first Czech translation print run. When the ban was lifted, the warehouse had already been emptied as the warehouse workers had smuggled the books out to readers. Żukrowski won the Reymont Prize for lifetime literary achievement in 1996. He died in 2000. He had written 44 books and won 20 literary awards. The English translation of ''Kamienne tablice'' (''Stone Tablets'') was released in 2016.Elliot Ackerman. ''Thou Shalt Not. A novel that explores the bloody legacy of Stalinism through an affair between a diplomat and a doctor.'' Wall Street Journal July 22, 201

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Works

*''Rdza'' (1943) * ''Bal w agreście'' (1944) * ''Porwanie w Tiutiurlistanie'' (1946) * ''Z kraju milczenia'' (1946) * ''Piórkiem flaminga czyli opowiadania przewrotne'' (1947) * ''Ręka ojca'' (1948) * ''Wiersze'' (1948) * ''Mądre zioła'' (1951) * ''Córeczka'' (1952) * ''Szabla Gabrysia'' (1952) * ''Słoneczne lato'' (1952) * ''Dni klęski'' (1952) * ''Poszukiwacze skarbów'' (1953) * ''W kamieniołomie i inne opowiadania'' (1954) * ''Dom bez ścian. Dziennik pobytu w Wietnamie'' (1954) * ''Ognisko w dżungli. Opowieści i baśnie z Wietnamu'' (1955) * ''Desant na Kamiennej Wyspie'' (1955) * ''Wybór opowiadań'' (1956) * ''Mój przyjaciel słoń'' (1957) * ''Kantata'' (1957) * ''Opowieści z dreszczykiem'' (1957) * ''Okruchy weselnego tortu'' (1958) * ''Wędrówki z moim Guru'' (1960) * ''Skąpani w ogniu'' (1961) * ''W królestwie miliona słoni'' (1961) * ''Nieśmiały narzeczony'' (1964) * ''Opowieści z Dalekiego Wschodu'' (1965) * ''Kamienne tablice'' (1966); English translation "Stone Tablets" (2016), * ''Szczęściarz'' (1967) * ''Noce Ariadny'' (1968) * ''Lotna'' (1969) * ''Kierunek Berlin'' (1970) * ''Wybór opowiadań'' (1972) * ''Karambole'' (1973) * ''W głębi zwierciadła. Gawędy o pisarzach i książkach'' (1973) * ''Plaża nad Styksem'' (1976) * ''Ostrożnie ze Złotym Lisem'' (1978) * ''Białe zaproszenie i inne opowiadania'' (1979) * ''Zapach psiej sierści'' (1980) * ''Opowiadania z czasu wojny'' (1983) * ''Na tronie w Blabonie'' (1986) * ''Kamienny pies. Baśnie wietnamskie'' (1989) * ''Rozmowy o książkach'' (1989) * ''Czarci tuzin'' (compilation of series published in 2000)

References

* * http://polki.pl/rodzina/nastolatki,wojciech-zukrowski-biografia-utwory,10365910,artykul.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Zukrowski, Wojciech 1916 births 2000 deaths Writers from Kraków People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Members of the Polish Sejm 1972–1976 Members of the Polish Sejm 1976–1980 Members of the Polish Sejm 1980–1985 Members of the Polish Sejm 1985–1989 Polish literary critics Polish essayists Polish male writers Male essayists 20th-century essayists Polish military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Order of the Builders of People's Poland Diplomats from Kraków Politicians from Kraków 20th-century Polish journalists Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland)