Emil Zegadłowicz (20 July 1888 – 24 February 1941) was a Polish

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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, prose writer,

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

, expert of art; co-originator of Polish

expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

, member of expressionists' group ''Zdrój'', co-founder of group '' Czartak''.

Biography

Zegadłowicz was born on 20 July 1888 in Biała, now part of

Bielsko-Biała Bielsko-Biała (; ; , ; ) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 166,765 as of December 2022, making it the List of cities and towns in Poland#Largest cities and towns by population, 22nd largest city in Poland, and an a ...

in to the family of a teacher. From 1906 to 1911 he studied Polish philology, German philology and

history of art The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetics ...

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, then he continued his studies in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. Although born in a German language island of Bielsko and Biała, he wasn't much connected with this region and lived in

Gorzeń Górny Gorzeń Górny is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Wadowice, within Wadowice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately south-west of Wadowice and south-west of the regional capital Kraków. T ...

near

Wadowice Wadowice () is a town in southern Poland, southwest of Kraków with 17,455 inhabitants (2022), situated on the Skawa river, confluence of Vistula, in the eastern part of Silesian Foothills (Pogórze Śląskie). Wadowice is known for being the bir ...

and

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

. From 1917 to 1922 he collaborated with group of

expressionists related with periodical ''Zdrój''. In 1919 became an officeholder of the Ministry of Culture and Art. He initiated and co-founded regional literary group and periodical '' Czartak''. From 1927 to 1931 was a literary manager of Polish Theatre in Poznań. He was an editor of Roman Catholic periodical ''Tęcza'' (1928–1929), editor of theatre magazine ''Świat Kulis'', programme director in Poznań broadcasting station of ''

Polskie Radio The Polish Radio (PR; Polish: ''Polskie Radio'', PR) is a national public-service radio broadcasting organization of Poland, founded in 1925. It is owned by the State Treasury of Poland. On 27 December 2023, the Minister of Culture and Nationa ...

''. In 1933–1934 he was a literary manager in theatre of

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

. In 1934 he became an editor of periodical ''Wieś''. Later Zegadłowicz fall afoul of Roman Catholic Church and the Right, and in 1936 became a sympathiser of the

Left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

. He died on 24 February 1941 in

Sosnowiec Sosnowiec is an industrial city county in the Dąbrowa Basin of southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, which is also part of the Metropolis GZM municipal association.—— Located in the eastern part of the Upper Silesian Industrial Re ...

Works

* ''Powsinogi beskidzkie'' (1923) * ''Kolędziołki beskidzkie'' (1923) * ''Żywot Mikołaja Srebrempisanego'' (1927–1929) * ''Zmory'' (1935) * ''Motory'' (1938) * ''Wasz korespondent donosi'' (1939, theatre play, missing) * ''Domek z kart'' (1940, theatre play)

References

* * *

External links

Emil Zegadłowicz Museum

Works by Emil Zegadłowicz at Digital Silesian Library
1888 births 1941 deaths People from Bielsko-Biała Jagiellonian University alumni Expressionist poets Polish male novelists 20th-century Polish poets Polish male dramatists and playwrights Polish editors Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature 20th-century Polish novelists 20th-century Polish dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Polish translators Polish male poets 20th-century Polish male writers {{Poland-poet-stub