The Letter of 59 (also known as the ''Memorial'' or ''Memorandum of 59'') was an

open letter An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter addressed to an indiv ...

signed by 66 (or 59 at first, hence the name) Polish

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...

s who protested against the changes of the

Constitution of the People's Republic of Poland The Constitution of the Polish People's Republic (also known as the July Constitution or the Constitution of 1952) was a supreme law passed in communist-ruled Poland on 22 July 1952. It superseded the post-World War II provisional Small Cons ...

that were made by the communist party of Poland in 1975. Additional people signed the letter in January 1976. The letter was closely related to the

Helsinki Accords The Helsinki Final Act, also known as Helsinki Accords or Helsinki Declaration was the document signed at the closing meeting of the third phase of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) held in Helsinki, Finland, between ...

. On September 1, 1975 the Polish socialist government signed "The Blue Book" of the OSCE (the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...

) committing to, among other things, respect for

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

and refraining from the threat or use of force. Meanwhile, the new changes to the Polish constitution proposed by 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 ...

after the Helsinki Accords, included new ideological clauses pronouncing and reaffirming the "steering role of the Party in the nation," the "socialist character of the nation," a "permanent and unbreakable alliance with the Soviet Union," and most of all, that the "government obligation to respect the rights of the citizens" is ''conditional'' only, and "dependent on the citizens fulfilling their obligations towards the country." The communist government criticized the letter of protest publicly, with

Edward Gierek Edward Gierek (; 6 January 1913 – 29 July 2001) was a Polish Communist politician and ''de facto'' leader of Poland between 1970 and 1980. Gierek replaced Władysław Gomułka as First Secretary of the ruling Polish United Workers' Party (P ...

calling the signatories "furious anticommunists, politically blind". Eventually, although the constitution was changed, the above fragments were redrafted to sound more neutral: # the steering role of the Party "in the nation" was changed to "in the building of socialism" # "alliance" with the USSR was replaced with "friendship" # citizens' rights were not linked with their obligations The government could not officially persecute the signatories for their letter, although various semi-official persecutions were implemented, for example, some authors had the government agencies refuse to print or distribute their books for several years thereafter.

Signatories

Italics refer to the additional signatories from early 1976 * Stefan Amsterdamski *

Stanisław Barańczak Stanisław Barańczak (, November 13, 1946December 26, 2014) was a Polish poet, literary critic, scholar, editor, translator and lecturer. He is perhaps most well known for his English-to- Polish translations of the dramas of William Shakespeare a ...

* Ewa Bieńkowska * Jacek Bierezin *'' Henryk Błachnio'' *

Irena Byrska The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organization mandated to facilitate cooperation, advance knowledge, and promote the adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy. It is the first international organis ...

* Tadeusz Byrski * Bohdan Chwedeńczuk * Ludwik Cohn * Andrzej Drawicz * Jerzy Ficowski *

Kornel Filipowicz Kornel Filipowicz (27 October 1913 – 28 February 1990) was a Polish novelist, poet and screenwriter, most notable for his Short story, short stories. Works (selection) Poetry * ''Mijani'' (''The Ones Passed By'', 1943) * ''Powiedz to słowo'' ( ...

* Zbigniew Herbert * Ryszard Herczyński * Maryla Hopfinger * Zdzisław Jaroszewski * Anna Kamieńska * Jakub Karpiński * Wojciech Karpiński * Jan Kielanowski * Stefan Kisielewski * Jacek Kleyff *

Leszek Kołakowski Leszek Kołakowski (; ; 23 October 1927 – 17 July 2009) was a Polish philosopher and historian of ideas. He is best known for his critical analyses of Marxist thought, especially his three-volume history, '' Main Currents of Marxism'' (1976 ...

* Julian Kornhauser * Maria Komiłowicz * Mieczysław Kotlarczyk * Marcin Król *

Ryszard Krynicki Ryszard Krynicki (Polish: ; born 28 June 1943) is a Polish poet and translator, member of the Polish "New Wave" Movement. He is regarded as one of the most prominent post-war contemporary Polish poets. In 2015, he was awarded the Zbigniew Herber ...

* Jacek Kuroń * Stanisław Leśniewski * Edward Lipiński * Jan Józef Lipski * Zdzisław Łapiński *'' Hanna Malewska'' *ks. Stanisław Małkowski *

Jerzy Markuszewski Jerzy Markuszewski (16 December 1930 – 16 October 2007) was a Polish theater director and anti- Communist dissident. Born in Warsaw, Markuszewski was one of the co-signers of Letter of 59, which protested the altering of the Constitution of th ...

* Adam Mauersberger *

Adam Michnik Adam Michnik (; born 17 October 1946) is a Polish historian, essayist, former dissident, public intellectual, and editor-in-chief of the Polish newspaper, ''Gazeta Wyborcza''. Reared in a family of committed communists, Michnik became an opponen ...

* Halina Mikołajska * Jan Nepomucen Miller * Ludwik Muzyczka * Zygmunt Mycielski * Jerzy Narbutt *

Jan Olszewski Jan Ferdynand Olszewski (; 20 August 1930 – 7 February 2019) was a Polish conservative lawyer and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Poland for five months between December 1991 and early June 1992 and later became a leading figure ...

* Antoni Pajdak * Krzysztof Pomian *'' Hanna Rudzka-Cybisowa'' * Józef Rybicki *o. Jacek Salij * Władysław Siła-Nowicki *

Stanisław Skalski Stanisław Skalski, (27 November 1915 – 12 November 2004) was a Polish aviator and fighter ace who served with the Polish Air Force and British Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Skalski was the top Polish fighter ace of the war and ...

* Antoni Słonimski * Aniela Steinsbergowa * Julian Stryjkowski * Jan Józef Szczepański * Adam Szczypiorski * Kazimierz Szelągowski *

Wisława Szymborska Maria Wisława Anna SzymborskaVioletta Szosta gazeta.pl, 9 February 2012. ostęp 2012-02-11 (; 2 July 1923 – 1 February 2012) was a Polish poet, essayist, translator, and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Prowent ( ...

* Jacek Trznadel *'' Tadeusz Wojnarowski'' * Maria Wosiek *

Adam Zagajewski Adam Zagajewski (21 June 1945 – 21 March 2021) was a Polish poet, novelist, translator, and essayist. He was awarded the 2004 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, the 2016 Griffin Poetry Prize Lifetime Recognition Award, the 2017 P ...

* Wacław Zawadzki *'' Barbara Zbrożyna'' *ks. Jan Zieja *

Wojciech Ziembiński Wojciech () is a Polish name, equivalent to Czech Vojtěch , Slovak Vojtech, and German Woitke. The name is formed from two components in archaic Polish: * ''wój'' (Slavic: ''voj''), a root pertaining to war. It also forms words like ''wojownik ...

In addition in January 1976, 78 emigrants and exiled Polish intellectuals also signed the letter, including: * Adam Ciołkosz * Lidia Ciołkosz * Maria Danilewiczowa * Józef Garliński * Gustaw Herling-Grudziński * Jan Kott *

Józef Łobodowski Józef Stanisław Łobodowski (19 March 1909 – 18 April 1988) was a Polish poet and political thinker. His poetic works are broadly divided into two distinct phases: the earlier one, until about 1934, in which he was sometimes identified as ...

* Tadeusz Nowakowski *

Edward Bernard Raczyński Count Edward Bernard Raczyński (December 19, 1891 – July 30, 1993) was a Polish diplomat, writer, politician, President of Poland- in-exile (between 1979 and 1986). He was the longest living (101), and oldest serving Polish President (f ...

* Zofia Romanowiczowa * Tymon Terlecki * Wiktor Trościanko *

Leopold Tyrmand Leopold Tyrmand (May 16, 1920 – March 19, 1985) was a Polish novelist, writer, and editor. Tyrmand emigrated from Poland to the United States in 1966, and five years later married an American, Mary Ellen Fox. He served as editor of an anti-com ...

* Józef Wittlin {{Authority control Open letters 1975 in Poland 1975 documents