Jerzy Ficowski
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Jerzy Tadeusz Ficowski (; October 4, 1924 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 ...
– May 9, 2006 in Warsaw) was a Polish poet, writer and translator (from
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
,
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
,
Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
and Hungarian).


Biography and works

During the
German occupation of Poland 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 ...
in World War II, Ficowski who lived in
Włochy Włochy () is one of the districts of Warsaw, located in the south-western part of city. Włochy borders districts Bemowo and Wola from the north, Ochota and Mokotów from the east, and Ursus and Ursynów from the south. History It is not k ...
near Warsaw was a member of the Polish resistance. He was a member of the
Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) esta ...
(Armia Krajowa, AK), was imprisoned in the infamous
Pawiak Pawiak () was a prison built in 1835 in Warsaw, Congress Poland. During the January 1863 Uprising, it served as a transfer camp for Poles sentenced by Imperial Russia to deportation to Siberia. During the World War II German occupation of ...
and took part in the
Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...
of 1944. His codename was ''Wrak'' and he fought in
Mokotów Mokotów , is a ''dzielnica'' (borough, district) of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Mokotów is densely populated, and is a seat to many foreign embassies and companies. Only a small part of the district is lightly industrialised (''Służewiec ...
region. Following the
Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...
, Ficowski entered a camp with other survivors of the battle. After the war, Ficowski returned to Warsaw and enrolled at the university in order to study philosophy and sociology. There he published his first volume of poetry, ''Ołowiani żołnierze'' (The Tin Soldiers, 1948). This volume reflected the
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 ...
atmosphere of the early postwar Poland, in which heroes of the Armia Krajowa Warsaw Uprising were treated with suspicion at best, arrested and executed at worst, together with the sense of a new city arising from the ashes of the old. His early works show the influence of
Julian Tuwim Julian Tuwim (13 September 1894 – 27 December 1953), known also under the pseudonym "Oldlen" as a lyricist, was a Polish poet, born in Łódź, then part of the Russian Partition. He was educated in Łódź and in Warsaw where he studied la ...
. Later he became interested in the poems of the
interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...
, with elements of
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
and
grotesque Since at least the 18th century (in French and German as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...
. In the later period his poems reflected various moral and social aspects of life 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 nea ...
. From 1948 to 1950 Ficowski chose to travel with Polish
Gypsies The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
and came to write several volumes on or inspired by the Roma way of life, including ''Amulety i defilacje'' (Amulets and Definitions, 1960) and ''Cyganie na polskich drogach'' (Gypsies on the Polish Roads, 1965). He was the member of the
Gypsy Lore Society The Gypsy Lore Society was founded in Great Britain in 1888 to unite persons interested in the history and lore of Gypsies and rovers and to establish closer contacts among scholars studying aspects of such cultures. History David MacRitchie w ...
and translated the poems of
Bronisława Wajs Bronisława Wajs (17 August 1908, Lublin – 8 February 1987, Inowrocław) was a Polish-Romani people, Romani classic poet and singer. Life Bronisława Wajs, commonly known by her Romani people, Romani name Papusza (meaning ''Doll''), was one ...
(''Papusza''). He was interested in many aspects of international poetry. He translated the poems of the
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
poet,
Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...
, and he was also a known specialist of
Jewish folklore Jewish folklore are legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales, stories, tall tales, and customs that are the traditions of Judaism. Folktales are characterized by the presence of unusual personages, by the sudd ...
and
Modern Hebrew poetry Modern Hebrew poetry is poetry written in the Hebrew language. It was pioneered by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, and it was developed by the Haskalah movements, that saw poetry as the most quality genre for Hebrew writing. The first Haskalah poet, wh ...
, becoming an editor of the Jewish poem anthology ''Rodzynki z migdałami'' (Raisins with Almonds, 1964). Ficowski devoted many years of his life to the study of the life and works of
Bruno Schulz Bruno Schulz (12 July 1892 – 19 November 1942) was a Polish writer, fine artist, literary critic and art teacher. He is regarded as one of the great Polish-language prose stylists of the 20th century. In 1938, he was awarded the Polish Academy ...
, and in 1967 published the first edition of what is considered the definitive biography of him, entitled ''Regions of the Great Heresy''. He received the award of the Polish
Pen Club PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internation ...
in 1977. His 1979 collection of poems, ''A Reading of Ashes'', has been called the most moving account of the
Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
written by a non-Je

As a consequence of his signing, in 1975, of the
letter of 59 The Letter of 59 (also known as the ''Memorial'' or ''Memorandum of 59'') was an open letter signed by 66 (or 59 at first, hence the name) Polish intellectuals who protested against the changes of the Constitution of the People's Republic of Poland ...
, practically all of Ficowski's writings had become banned in Poland for the remainder of the decade, and only the emergence of
Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...
in the early 1980s has brought his works back to Poland's bookshelves. Both his prose and poems continued to be widely translated in
the West West is a cardinal direction or compass point. West or The West may also refer to: Geography and locations Global context * The Western world * Western culture and Western civilization in general * The Western Bloc, countries allied with NATO ...
. He was active in the opposition movement, and was a member of the
Workers' Defence Committee The Workers' Defense Committee ( pl, Komitet Obrony Robotników , KOR) was a Polish civil society group that was established to give aid to prisoners and their families after the June 1976 protests and ensuing government crackdown. KOR was an examp ...
(Komitet Obrony Robotników, KOR) and subsequently of the Committee for Social Self-defence KOR. Under the communist regime he had urged his fellow writers to voice their concerns over
censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
and the suppression of workers. His most public statement was a letter to the Writers Union in which he said, "I do not believe deeply in the immediate effectiveness of letters to the government, but even less do I believe in the effectiveness of silence." Following the
fall of communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...
, liberalisation of Poland and its breaking with the
Soviet bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
, Ficowski continued to write and translate works from languages as diverse as
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
and
Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
, not to mention the Yiddish and
Roma language Romani (; also Romany, Romanes , Roma; rom, rromani ćhib, links=no) is an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities. According to '' Ethnologue'', seven varieties of Romani are divergent enough to be considered languages of their ...
s that had always fascinated him.


Selected publications

;Poetry *''Ołowiani żołnierze'' (1948) *''Zwierzenia'' (1952) *''Po polsku'' (1955) *''Moje strony świata'' (1957) *''Makowskie bajki'' (1959) *''Amulety i defilacje'' ("Amulets and Definitions") (1960), inspired by his stay with Gypsies *''Pismo obrazkowe'' (1962) *''Ptak poza ptakiem'' (1968) *''Odczytanie popiołów'' (1979); on the Jews and their suffering; illustrated by Marc Chagall; translated by
Keith Bosley Keith Anthony Bosley (16 September 1937 – 24 June 2018) was a British poet and translator. Bosley was born in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, and grew up in Maidenhead, Berkshire. He was educated at Sir William Borlase's Grammar School in Marlow ...
as ''A Reading of Ashes'', 1981) *''Errata'' (1981) *''Śmierć jednorożca'' (1981) *''Przepowiednie. Pojutrznia'' (1983) *''Inicjał'' (1994) *''Mistrz Manole i inne przekłady'' (2004; collected translations of poetry) *''Zawczas z poniewczasem'' (2004) *''Pantareja'' (2006) ;Poetic prose *''Wspominki starowarszawskie'' (1959) *''Czekanie na sen psa'' (1970; translated by Soren A. Gauger and Marcin Piekoszewski as ''Waiting for the Dog to Sleep'', 2006) ;Others *''Cyganie polscy'' (1953) *''Cyganie na polskich drogach'' (1965) *''Gałązka z drzewa słońca'' (1961) *''Rodzynki z migdałami'' (1964) *''Regiony wielkiej herezji'' (1967, revised editions 1975, 1992, 2002; translated by Theodosia S. Robertson as ''Regions of the Great Heresy'', 2000) *''Okolice sklepów cynamonowych'' (1986) *''Demony cudzego strachu'' (1986) *''Cyganie w Polsce. Dzieje i obyczaje'' (1989; translated by Eileen Healey as ''The Gypsies in Poland. History and Customs'', 1989) *''Letters and Drawings of Bruno Schulz, with Selected Prose'' (1988, edited by Jerzy Ficowski; translated by Walter Arndt, with Victoria Nelson Harper & Row, NY)


References

*


External links


Activist, Adventurer, Poet - the Incarnations of Jerzy Ficowski
at Culture.pl


Jerzy Ficowski, Poet and Translator

Jerzy Ficowski Laid To Rest



Interview with Soren Gauger on translating Jerzy Ficowski
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ficowski, Jerzy Members of the Committee for Social Self-Defense KOR Members of the Workers' Defence Committee Polish translators Yiddish–Polish translators Translators from Spanish Translators from Romani Translators from Russian Warsaw Uprising insurgents 1924 births 2006 deaths Writers from Warsaw 20th-century translators 20th-century Polish poets Polish male poets 20th-century Polish male writers