Paweł Hulka-Laskowski (25 June 1881 – 29 October 1946) was a Polish writer, translator, journalist and social worker. He was born in

Żyrardów Żyrardów is a town and former industrial hub in central Poland with approximately 41,400 inhabitants (2006). It is the capital of Żyrardów County in the Masovian Voivodeship, west of Warsaw. Etymology Żyrardów, initially a textile settleme ...

in working class, Protestant family of Czech ancestry. His parents were textile factory workers. In 1903 he enrolled to the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

. After his return to Poland, he settled with his wife Kazimiera and daughter Elżbieta in

Grodzisk Mazowiecki Grodzisk Mazowiecki () is a town in central Poland, the capital of Grodzisk Mazowiecki County in the Masovian Voivodeship, with 34,718 inhabitants (2024). Grodzisk Mazowiecki is a town that developed from an Early Middle Ages, early medieval forti ...

. In June 1910 Hulka-Laskowski and his wife were arrested by Tsarist Russian authorities, being accused on complicity in the assassination attempt of a local Russian gendarmerie commander. After their release from prison they moved to

. In the interwar period, Hulka-Laskowski contributed to many newspapers and magazines, such as ''Bluszcz'', ''Echo Literacko-Artystyczne'', ''Sfinks'', ''Myśl Niepodległa'', ''Wiadomości Literackie'' and ''Jednota''. He was a prolific translator, translating i.a. the works of

Karel Čapek Karel Čapek (; 9 January 1890 – 25 December 1938) was a Czech writer, playwright, critic and journalist. He has become best known for his science fiction, including his novel '' War with the Newts'' (1936) and play '' R.U.R.'' (''Rossum' ...

Božena Němcová Božena Němcová () (4 February 1820 in Vienna – 21 January 1862 in Prague) was a Czech writer of the final phase of the ''Czech National Revival'' movement. Her image is featured on the 500 CZK denomination of the Česká koruna. Biography ...

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...

James Fenimore Cooper James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonial and indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought h ...

Dmitry Merezhkovsky Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky ( rus, Дми́трий Серге́евич Мережко́вский, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪrʲɪˈʂkofskʲɪj; – December 9, 1941) was a Russian novelist, poet, religious think ...

Ernst Kretschmer Ernst Kretschmer (8 October 18888 February 1964) was a German psychiatrist who researched the human constitution and established a Personality type, typology. Life Kretschmer was born in Wüstenrot near Heilbronn. He attended Cannstatt Gymnas ...

Emil Ludwig Emil Ludwig (25 January 1881 – 17 September 1948) was a German-Swiss author, known for his biographies and study of historical "greats." Biography Emil Ludwig (originally named Emil Cohn) was born in Breslau (now part of Poland) on 25 Ja ...

and

Roger Martin du Gard Roger Martin du Gard (; 23 March 1881 – 22 August 1958) was a French novelist, winner of the 1937 Nobel Prize in Literature. Biography Trained as a paleographer and archivist, he brought to his works a spirit of objectivity and a scrupulous ...

. He is most known for the Polish translation of

Jaroslav Hašek Jaroslav Hašek (; 1883–1923) was a Czechs, Czech writer, Humorism, humorist, Satire, satirist, journalist, Bohemianism, bohemian, first anarchist and then communist, and commissar of the Red Army against the Czechoslovak Legion. He is best k ...

's ''

The Good Soldier Švejk ''The Good Soldier Švejk'' () is an unfinished satirical dark comedy novel by Czech writer Jaroslav Hašek, published in 1921–1923, about a good-humored, simple-minded, middle-aged man who appears to be enthusiastic to serve Austria-Hungary i ...

''. He died in a hospital in

Cieszyn Cieszyn ( , ; ; ) is a border town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship. The town has 33,500 inhabitants ( and lies opposite Český Těšín in the Czech Repu ...

from a

brain stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop ...

, and was buried at the Evangelical Lutheran cemetery, Cieszyn.

Works

* 1927 ''Porucznik Regier'' (Lieutenant Regier) * 1934 ''Mój Żyrardów'' (My Żyrardów) * 1938 ''Śląsk za Olzą'' (Silesia Behind Olza) * 1946 ''Księżyc nad Cieszynem'' (Moon over Cieszyn)

References

* Snoch, Bogdan, ''Górnośląski Leksykon Biograficzny. Suplement do wydania drugiego.''

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 ...

Silesian Museum Silesian Museum in Katowice (; ) is a museum in the city of Katowice, Poland. History The museum was founded in 1929 by the Silesian Sejm, while the region was recovering from the Silesian Uprisings. In the XX century interbellum, the Siles ...

, 2006, p. 50–51. 1881 births 1946 deaths People from Żyrardów Polish male writers 20th-century Polish translators Polish Calvinist and Reformed Christians Polish people of Czech descent Translators from Czech 20th-century Polish journalists {{Poland-journalist-stub