Włodzimierz Sokorski (2 July 1908, Oleksandrivsk – 2 May 1999,

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 officiall ...

) was a Polish

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

official, writer, military journalist and a

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...

in the

People's Republic of Poland 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 ne ...

. He was the Minister of Culture and Art responsible for the implementation of the socialist realist doctrine 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 ...

. 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he escaped to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. In 1949 at the ''Congress of Polish Composers'' in Łagów he banned

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, after a four-and-a-half-hour diatribe on the "imperialist rot" poisoning people's minds.Igor Pietraszewski
"O przemianach edukacyjnych w muzyce jazzowej po 89’." Page 169.
In ''Edukacja, wychowanie, poradnictwo w kulturze popularnej'' by Marta Kondracka and Alina Łysak. Wrocław 2009. Following the socialist thaw of the

Polish October Polish October (), also known as October 1956, Polish thaw, or Gomułka's thaw, marked a change in the politics of Poland in the second half of 1956. Some social scientists term it the Polish October Revolution, which was less dramatic than the ...

revolution, Sokorski headed the Polish radio and television

committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

of the

Polish United Workers' Party The Polish United Workers' Party ( pl, Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza; ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other lega ...

in the 1960s, and later, the ''Miesięcznik Literacki'' ideological monthly magazine (dismantled in 1990).Katarzyna Samojluk
Czasopisma kulturalne w zbiorach Dolnośląskiej Biblioteki Publicznej.
''Dolnośląska Biblioteka Publiczna im. T. Mikulskiego we Wrocławiu''. Retrieved November 5, 2011. Despite promoting socialist realism and the line of the PZPR, it is emphasized that as the minister of culture and art, he also saved some writers and people of culture from repression. He wrote memoirs, novels with strong sexual undertones, and was showered with state medals and awards.
''Presspublica "Archiwum.rp.pl"''. Retrieved November 4, 2011. He is buried at the

Powązki Military Cemetery Powązki Military Cemetery (; pl, Cmentarz Wojskowy na Powązkach) is an old military cemetery located in the Żoliborz district, western part of Warsaw, Poland. The cemetery is often confused with the older Powązki Cemetery, known colloquial ...

in Warsaw.

References

1908 births 1999 deaths People from Oleksandrivsk People from Yekaterinoslav Governorate Communist Party of Poland politicians Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Polish Workers' Party politicians Polish United Workers' Party members Government ministers of Poland Members of the State National Council Members of the Polish Sejm 1947–1952 Members of the Polish Sejm 1952–1956 Members of the Polish Sejm 1965–1969 Members of the Polish Sejm 1969–1972 Members of the Polish Sejm 1972–1976 Polish expatriates in the Soviet Union Polish male novelists Polish People's Army generals Polish military personnel of World War II Grand Crosses of the Order of Polonia Restituta Commanders with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Gold Cross of the Virtuti Militari Recipients of the Order of the Builders of People's Poland Recipients of the Order of the Banner of Work Recipients of the Order of Lenin Burials at Powązki Military Cemetery 20th-century Polish novelists {{Poland-mil-bio-stub

See also

References