Leszek Włodzimierz Biały (born 28 March 1954 in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

) is a Polish writer, translator, and diplomat; between 2017 and 2023 he was serving as an ambassador to

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Life

Education

Leszek Włodzimierz Biały was born on 28 March 1954 in

, and grew up in

Płock Płock (pronounced ), officially the Ducal Capital City of Płock, is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by Central Statistical Office (Poland), GUS on 31 December 2021, the ...

, where he finished high school. Between 1973 and 1980 he studied

Hispanism Hispanism (sometimes referred to as Hispanic studies or Spanish studies) is the study of the literature and culture of the Spanish-speaking world, principally that of Spain and Hispanic America. It may also entail studying Spanish language ...

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 ...

at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

. In 1997 he became a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

, defending a

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño (17 January 160025 May 1681) (, ; ) was a Spanish dramatist, poet, and writer. He is known as one of the most distinguished Spanish Baroque literature, poets and ...

. In addition to native

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

, he speaks

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and

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 countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

languages.

Career

After graduating, until 1986, he was a lecturer of art and history of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

at the University of Warsaw Institute of Iberian and Ibero-American Studies. In 1986 he started working for the New Theater in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

as a script translator. He was a

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

member at that time. In 1990 he began his career at the

diplomatic service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtain diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

. Between 1990 and 1994 he was working at the embassy in Madrid, as a I secretary responsible for cultural and scientific relations. Between 1998 and 2003 he was working in Madrid again, this time as a deputy ambassador. While working at the MFA in Warsaw, he was in charge of relations with Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries. From 2013 to 2017 he was deputy director of the

Polish Institute The Polish Institutes is a network of cultural diplomatic missions reporting to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland. , there were 27 of them.Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

. In August 2017 he was nominated as a Poland ambassador to

. He presented his credentials to the president

Juan Carlos Varela Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez (; born 13 December 1961) is a Panamanian businessman and former politician who served as the 37th president of Panama from 2014 to 2019. Varela previously was the vice president of Panama from 2009 to 2014 and M ...

on 24 October 2017. He is accredited to

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

, and

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

as well. He ended his term on 31 December 2023.

Writer and translator

Leszek Włodzimierz Biały is also a writer and translator. He debuted in 1986 with translation of ''

The Great Theater of the World ''The Great Theater of the World'' (''El Gran Teatro del Mundo'') is a c. 1634 play from Spanish writer Pedro Calderón de la Barca (17 January 1600 – 25 May 1681). The play is an allegorical explanation of man's place in world according to the ...

'' by

. Several of his translations have been adapted as scripts by such directors as

Tadeusz Kwinta Tadeusz Kwinta (born 18 October 1938) is a Polish actor. Biography He started acting when he was 13 in the young artists' theatre created by Maria Biliżanka. He was an artist of Piwnica pod Baranami. After graduating from Ludwik Solski Academy ...

and Tadeusz Słobodzianek. He is a member of the Polish Writers' Association. In 2010 his novel '' Źródło Mamerkusa'' was awarded with Warsaw Literary Premiere Award – a title of the book of 2010.

Works

Translations * "Zwodziciel z Sewilli" Tirsa de Moliny i "Don Juan" Moliera, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 1985. *Pedro Calderón de la Barca, ''Książę Niezłomny'', Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1989. * Pedro Calderón de la Barca, ''Autos sacramentales'', Wrocław; Warszawa; Kraków: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, 1997. * Tirso de Molina, ''Dramaty'', 1999. Books *''Dzieje Inkwizycji Hiszpańskiej'', Warszawa: Książka i Wiedza, 1989. *''Źródło Mamerkusa,'' Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Nowy Świat, 2010. *''Czarny huzar'', Gdynia: Novae Res, 2017.

References