Juliusz Mieroszewski (; 2 February 1906 – 21 June 1976) was a Polish journalist, publicist and political commentator. He wrote under the pseudonyms "J. Calveley" and "Londyńczyk" (''Londoner''). He was born 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 ...

. In

interwar Poland The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...

he was co-editor of '' Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny'' (Illustrated Daily Courier), where his

beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery (c ...

was German politics and policy. 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he escaped from

Nazi occupied Poland Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

and worked for publications of the Polish government in exile, "Ku Wolnej Polsce" (''For a Free Poland''), "Orzeł Biały" (''The White Eagle''), "Parada" (''Parade''). After the war, with Poland falling under communist rule, he decided to stay in Great Britain. He wrote columns for the émigré weekly ''Wiadomości Literackie'' ('' Literary News''). Between 1950 and 1972 he was chief editor of the "English section" of the influential Parisian émigré journal "

Kultura ''Kultura'' (, ''Culture'')—sometimes referred to as ''Kultura Paryska'' ("Paris-based Culture")—was a leading Polish-émigré literary-political magazine, published from 1947 to 2000 by ''Instytut Literacki'' (the Literary Institute), ini ...

". In the 1970s Mieroszewski was the closest collaborator of the journal's chief editor,

Jerzy Giedroyc Jerzy Władysław Giedroyc (; 27 July 1906 – 14 September 2000) was a Polish writer and political activist and for many years editor of the highly influential Paris-based periodical, '' Kultura''. Early life Giedroyć was born into a Polish- ...

. While at the time Poland was an authoritarian communist state, controlled by the Soviet Union, Mieroszewski and Giedroyc, in the pages of the journal, sought to articulate a political programme for what they envisioned as a future independent Polish state and its relations with its former

Kresy Eastern Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Wschodnie) or simply Borderlands ( pl, Kresy, ) was a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the History of Poland (1918–1939), interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural ...

territories, annexed by Soviet Russia, known as the '' Gedroyc-Mieroszewski doctrine''. Mieroszewski was not only a dedicated socialist, but was strongly opposed to communism and the Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. A crucial, and at the time unique, consideration of the Kultura programme was the Polish relationship with the national aspirations of the country's former minorities, the

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

ians, Lithuanians and

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...

. Mieroszewski was a political adversary of fellow socialist,

Adam Pragier Adam Szymon Pragier (12 December 1886 - 24 July 1976) was a Polish economist, Doctor of Jurisprudence professor at the Free Polish University, socialist activist, politician, member of the Polish Legions and writer. A minister of information ...

, with whom he engaged in political and literary polemics through their respective columns published in Paris and London. Mieroszewski was also a translator - he translated George Orwell's ''

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

'', as well as works by

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

and Arnold Toynbee into Polish. He died in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1976 and was buried at South Ealing Cemetery (division HH). Juliusz Mieroszewski's grave

Selected works

* ''Ewolucjonizm''. Paris 1964, pub. Instytut Literacki * ''Polityczne neurozy''. Paris 1967, wyd.Instytut Literacki * '' Modele i praktyka''. Paris 1970, wyd. Instytut Literacki * ''Materiały do refleksji i zadumy''. Paris 1976, wyd. Instytut Literacki. II obieg – Krakowskie Towarzystwo Wydawnicze 1984 * ''Finał klasycznej Europy''. (selected and edited by Rafał Habielski);

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 ...

1997: Wyd. Towarzystwo Opieki Archiwum Instytut Literacki Archive in Paris; Lublin 1997: published by Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej, , (Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej in Lublin), Wers. *

, Juliusz Mieroszewski'' Listy 1949-1956''. Cz. 1 – 2; wybrał i wstępem poprzedził

Krzysztof Pomian Krzysztof Pomian (born 1934), is a Polish philosopher, historian and essayist. He is a professor of history at the Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika (Nicolaus Copernicus University) in Toruń and, in 2001, was academic director of the (now closed ...

; przypisami i indeksami opatrzyli Jacek Krawczyk i Krzysztof Pomian; szkicem o Mieroszewskich i Mieroszewskim uzup. Piotr Wandycz. Warszawa 1999: Wyd. "Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza „Czytelnik”, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mieroszewski, Juliusz 1906 births 1976 deaths Journalists from Kraków English–Polish translators Polish exiles 20th-century translators People associated with the magazine "Kultura"