HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński (23 January 1905 – 6 December 1953), alias ''Karakuliambro'', was a Polish poet. He is well known for the "paradramatic" absurd humorous sketches of the ''Green Goose Theatre''.


Biography

Born to a lower-middle-class family in Warsaw, Gałczyński was evacuated with his parents at the outbreak of World War I, and from 1914 to 1918 he lived in Moscow, where he attended a Polish school. Returning to Poland in 1918, he studied classics and English language at the University of Warsaw, submitting a dissertation on a non-existent nineteenth-century English poet, Morris Gordon Cheats. His literary debut came in 1923 and was a member of the Kwadryga group of poets, and he was linked to
satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...
and political publications. In 1930 he married Natalia Avalov. From 1931-33, he held the post of cultural attaché in Berlin. From 1934-36 he was in Vilnius. He settled there at 2 Młynowa Street. There, in 1936, the couple's daughter Kira was born. Through his works, Gałczyński refers to the atmosphere of Vilnius, and that which Adam Mickiewicz left behind. With the outbreak of World War II, Gałczyński received a draft card from the army. He took part in the Polish September Campaign of 1939. On 17 September, he became a Russian prisoner of war and was later captured by the Germans. He spent the duration of the occupation in the
Stalag XI-A Stalag XI-A (also known as Stalag 341) was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp ('' Stammlager''), located just to the east of the village of Altengrabow and in the south of Dörnitz in Saxony-Anhalt, about south-west of Berlin. Camp his ...
prisoner-of-war camp in Altengrabow, his poems printed secretly in
anthologies In book publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed work ...
. After the war he travelled to Brussels and Paris, returning to Poland in 1946. He established The 13 Muses Club in
Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...
in 1948 before moving back to Warsaw, and produced work for numerous weekly magazines. Many of his postwar pieces, including "A Poem for the Traitor" ("Poemat dla zdrajcy"), an attack on Czesław Miłosz, "Chryzostom Bulwieć’s Trip to Ciemnogród" ("Podróż Chryzostoma Bulwiecia do Ciemnogrodu") and the
panegyric A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of grc, ...
"Stalin is Dead" ("Umarł Stalin") (1953), were written according to socialist realist conventions. In 1950, he became the object of an ideological battle, his artistic work denounced by Adam Ważyk at the Reunion of Polish Writers as
petit bourgeois ''Petite bourgeoisie'' (, literally 'small bourgeoisie'; also anglicised as petty bourgeoisie) is a French term that refers to a social class composed of semi-autonomous peasants and small-scale merchants whose politico-economic ideological ...
. In the later years of his life, he wrote several greater poetic forms: * "Jan Sebastian Bach's Easter" (1950) ("Wielkanoc Jana Sebastiana Bacha") * " Niobe" (1951) * "Wit Stwosz" (1952) * "Olsztyn Chronicle" (1952) ("Kronika Olsztyńska") From 1950 to 1953, he was associated with the forester’s lodge at Lake Nidzkie, where he wrote numerous works, including "Olsztyn Chronicle". It is there that his museum is currently located. He published the volumes of poetry ''Enchanted Droshky'' (1948) ("Zaczarowana dorożka"), ''Wedding Rings'' (1949) ("Ślubne obrączki") and ''Songs'' (1953) ("Pieśni"). He also produced translations, or paraphrases, of ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...
'' by William Shakespeare (1952) and '' Ode to Joy'' by
Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...
. He is portrayed, under the name of 'Delta,' in Miłosz's '' The Captive Mind'' (1953).


Death

He died on 6 December 1953, aged 48, following a third heart attack.


Artistic legacy

Gałczyński's poetry is an inspiration to many authors of popular music; some of his poems having a number of interpretations. They were used by Olga Lipińska in her TV cabaret among others. At the time of 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 ...
, his poem ''Beloved Country'' (''
Ukochany kraj "Ukochany kraj" ("Beloved Country"; also known by its incipit, "Wszystko tobie, ukochana ziemio"; "Everything for You, Beloved Land") is a poem written by Polish poet Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński in 1953 and put to music as a song (in several ver ...
'') was made into a socialist feel-good song. A
musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
, ''Beloved Country'', was directed by Janusz Józefowicz at Studio Buffo musical theatre. The most famous songs based on a Gałczyński text include the following: * "The Ballad about Two Sisters" ("Ballada o dwóch siostrach"), with music by
Stanisław Staszewski Stanisław Staszewski (December 18, 1925 – January 22, 1973) was a Polish architect and poet. He was the father of Kazimierz Staszewski and the author of many songs and ballads, sung both by his son and by Jacek Kaczmarski. Biography Stani ...
, sung by Kazik Staszewski with Kult * "The Ballad about Two Sisters" ("Ballada o dwóch siostrach"), with music by
Adam Sławiński Adam Sławiński (born 27 November 1935, in Leśniczówka) is a Polish composer. In the years 1957–1962, he worked as an editor of music in Telewizja Polska. Then he composed music for television series and has written music for some 40 films ...
, sung by
Stan Borys Stan Borys or Stanisław Guzek (born September 3, 1941, in Załęże (now a district of Rzeszów)) is a Polish singer-songwriter, actor, director and poet. He is a charismatic person and a versatile artist who has a broad musical taste, acting ...
* "The Ballad about Easter Ham" ("Ballada o Wielkanocnej szynce"), with music by Krzysztof Knittel, sung by Jan Kobuszewski * "Barbara Ubryk" ("Barbara Ubryk"), with music by Krzysztof Knittel, sung by Jan Kobuszewski * "What Have I Done?"/"What am I Guilty of?" ("Cóżem winien"), with music by Adam Tkaczyk, sung by Tkaczyk with Wyspy Dobrej Nadziei * "The Woodpecker and the Girl" ("Dzięcioł i dziewczyna"), sung by
Maryla Rodowicz Maria Antonina Rodowicz, known professionally as Maryla Rodowicz, (Polish pronunciation: born 8 December 1945 in Zielona Góra), is a Polish singer, guitarist and actress. Throughout over 50 years of her career, she released twenty Polish and f ...
* "The Woodbine" ("Dzikie wino"), music Wojciech Trzciński, sung by Magda Umer * "Today I Was Lying Again" ("Dziś znowu leżałem"), with music by Jerzy Derfel, sung by Jan Kobuszewski * "If You Were to Stop Loving Me One Day" ("Gdybyś mnie kiedyś"), with music by Tomasz Łuc, sung by Katarzyna Groniec *·"I Say! Let Us In" - II and III part of "Seven Heaven" poem ("Hola, wpuść nas!"), with music by Grzegorz Turnau, sung by Turnau * "Darling, My Darling" ("The Letter of the Prisoner") ("Kochanie moje, kochanie" – "List jeńca"), with music by A. Panas, sung by Michał Bajor * "Cocaine" ("Kokaina"), with music by Jerzy Derfel, sung by Piotr Fronczewski * "Lyric, lyric" ("Liryka, liryka"), with music by Grzegorz Turnau, sung by Turnau * "Mother Earth" ("Matka Ziemia"), with music by Stanisław Syrewicz, sung by Piotr Fronczewski * "A Prayer to Guardian Angel" ("Modlitwa do Anioła Stróża"), with music by Adam Tkaczyk, sung by Tkaczyk with Wyspy Dobrej Nadziei * "A Prayer to Guardian Angel" ("Modlitwa do Anioła Stróża"), with music by Robert Kasprzycki, sung by Kasprzycki and Janusz Radek * "Everything Will Turn Out Well" ("Na sto dwa"), with music by Jerzy Derfel, sung by Jan Kobuszewski * "A Night" ("Noc"), with music by the ProForma quartet, sung by Przemysław Lembicz with ProForma * "I Don’t Write Letters" ("Nie piszę listów"), sung by Mroku on the album ''Mroczne Nagrania'' * "To Rescue from Oblivion" ("Ocalić od zapomnienia"), with music by Marek Grechuta, sung by Grechuta * "A Song" ("Piosenka"), with music by Artur Gadowski, sung by Gadowski * "Lament over Izolda" ("Płacz po Izoldzie"), with music by Grzegorz, sung by Turnau * "A Pump" ("Pompa"), with music by Grzegorz Turnau, sung by Turnau * "A Request for Happy Islands" ("Prośba o wyspy szczęśliwe"), with music by Stanisław Syrewicz, sung by Magda Umer * "With Lunar Dust" ("Pyłem księżycowym"), with music by Stanisław Syrewicz, sung by Magda Umer * "Romance about Three Emigrant Sisters" ("Romanca o trzech siostrach emigrantkach"), with music by Wojciech Waglewski, sung by Jacek Bończyk * "A Secretary" ("Sekretarka"), with music by Ewa Kornecka, sung by Jacek Wójcicki * "An Owl" ("In a Dream…") ("Sowa" – "We śnie"), sung by Grzegorz Turnau * "The Confession of a Fool" ("Spowiedź kretyna"), with music by Stanisław Syrewicz, sung by Piotr Fronczewski * "A Poet’s Death" ("Śmierć poety"), with music by Stanisław Staszewski, sung by Kazik Staszewski with Kult * "A Poet’s Death" ("Śmierć poety"), with music by Włodzimierz Korcz, sung by Marian Opania * "In a Dream" ("We śnie"), with music by Adam Tkaczyk, sung by Adam Tkaczyk with Wyspy Dobrej Nadziei * "Spring Is Supposed To Come Back, Baroness" ("Wróci wiosna, baronowo"), with music by Stanisław Staszewski, sung by Kazik Staszewski with Kult * "An Invitation for the Trip" ("Zaproszenie na wycieczkę"), with music by Adam Tkaczyk, sung by Tkaczyk with Wyspy Dobrej Nadziei


Commemoration

Since 1998 a biennial poetry competition has been organised in Szczecin, named ''Gałczynalie'' in honour of the poet. A ''Green Goose'' foundation was formed in Warsaw in September 2007. Gałczyński was portrayed in the book '' The Captive Mind'' (''Zniewolony umysł'') by Czesław Miłosz; he is Delta. There is Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński Street in Warsaw.


Institutions named after Gałczyński

Approximately 30 schools in Poland are named after Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński, among them Secondary School No 1 in Otwock, Secondary School No 2 in Olsztyn, Gymnasium No 7 in
Częstochowa Częstochowa ( , ; german: Tschenstochau, Czenstochau; la, Czanstochova) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta River with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship (admin ...
, Primary School No 7 in
Legnica Legnica (Polish: ; german: Liegnitz, szl, Lignica, cz, Lehnice, la, Lignitium) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River (left tributary of the Oder) and the Czarna Woda (Kaczawa), Czarna Woda ...
, Gymnasium No 2 in Stargard Szczeciński and in Poznań Secondary School No 20 and, until 2000, the former Primary School No 37. Gałczyński is also the patron of libraries, one community centre and the Happy Islands Foundation for Friends of Children with Cancer.


The Green Goose Theatre

Among Gałczyński's best known works are the satirical mini-pieces of the ''Green Goose Theatre'' ("Teatrzyk Zielona Gęś"). Several hundred of these ostensible dramas, usually only a few lines long, appeared in the Kraków literary journal ''Przekrój''. They frequently parody serious drama and cultural icons – in ''Hamlet and the Waitress'', Hamlet is unable to choose between coffee and tea in a café and expires from indecision to be buried in a coffin marked HAMLET IDIOT, while in ''Greedy Eve''
Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
fails to get a bite of the apple, causing the entire Bible to be "a total loss".Gerould, Daniel (ed.), ''Twentieth-Century Polish Avant-Garde Drama: Plays, Scenarios, Critical Documents'' (Cornell University Press 1977), pp.231, 237 The final curtain is frequently brought into the action, being variously scripted as falling "optimistically", as coming down accidentally and then going up again, or as being lowered by an anteater.


Further reading

* Mortkowicz-Olczakowa, Hanna (1961). ''Bunt wspomnień.'' Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy.


References


External links


Official Website of Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński -- English sub-site of the Polish website

Konstanty Ildefons Galczynski Museum

Biography



The Vices and Virtues of Versemaker Gałczyński
Culture.pl {{DEFAULTSORT:Galczynski, Konstanty Ildefons 1905 births 1953 deaths Burials at Powązki Military Cemetery Polish translators Polish military personnel of World War II World War II prisoners of war held by the Soviet Union World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Polish prisoners of war Writers from Warsaw 20th-century translators 20th-century Polish poets Polish male poets 20th-century Polish male writers People from Warsaw Governorate