Difference between revisions of "Aleksander Wat"
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Polish poet, writer and art theoretician, one of the precursors of Polish futurism movement in early 1920s. | Polish poet, writer and art theoretician, one of the precursors of Polish futurism movement in early 1920s. | ||
| − | Born Aleksander Chwat in 1900 in Warsaw. After a brief service with the Polish Army he graduated from the Faculty of Philology of the Warsaw University. In 1919 he was among the young poets to proclaim the advent of new, futuristic poetry. | + | Born Aleksander Chwat in 1900 in Warsaw. After a brief service with the Polish Army he graduated from the Faculty of Philology of the Warsaw University, where he studied philosophy, psychology, and logic. In 1919 he was among the young poets to proclaim the advent of new, futuristic poetry. |
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| + | In 1920 he published the first set of his poems ''Me from One Side and Me from the Other Side of My Pug Iron Stove'', which gained much popularity among the supporters of the new trends in literature of the epoch. Until 1922 he was one of the creators of the [[Nowa Sztuka]] monthly, and then Almanachy Nowej Sztuki and Miesięcznik literacki, disseminating the work of Mayakovsky and the futurists in Poland, before forming an allegiance with the Communist Party. Until 1931 he was one of the main journalists of the Marxist Tygodnik literacki. Until the outbreak of World War II he was also the literary director of Gebethner i Wolff, the biggest and the most renown Polish printing house of the time. | ||
After the Polish Defensive War he moved to Lwów, then under Soviet occupation. Despite his sympathy for Communism, he was arrested by the NKVD and, together with his wife Paulina (usually called Ola) and his 9 years old son Andrzej, exiled to Kazakhstan. Set free in 1948, he was allowed to return to Poland. He became one of the chiefs of the Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy. However, his nine years spent in the Soviet Union cured his Communist sympathies and Wat was considered not reliable enough by the Soviet-sponsored Communist authorities of Poland to allow him to publish his own works. Instead, he devoted most of his time to translating of several classical pieces of English, French, German and Russian literature to Polish. In 1959 he emigrated to France and settled in Paris. | After the Polish Defensive War he moved to Lwów, then under Soviet occupation. Despite his sympathy for Communism, he was arrested by the NKVD and, together with his wife Paulina (usually called Ola) and his 9 years old son Andrzej, exiled to Kazakhstan. Set free in 1948, he was allowed to return to Poland. He became one of the chiefs of the Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy. However, his nine years spent in the Soviet Union cured his Communist sympathies and Wat was considered not reliable enough by the Soviet-sponsored Communist authorities of Poland to allow him to publish his own works. Instead, he devoted most of his time to translating of several classical pieces of English, French, German and Russian literature to Polish. In 1959 he emigrated to France and settled in Paris. | ||
Wat was invited in 1964 to the University of California, Berkeley, where he taped a series of conversations about his life and times with his countryman the poet [[Czeslaw Milosz]]. Edited by Milosz, these were published posthumously as 'My Century'. Died in 1967 in Antony. | Wat was invited in 1964 to the University of California, Berkeley, where he taped a series of conversations about his life and times with his countryman the poet [[Czeslaw Milosz]]. Edited by Milosz, these were published posthumously as 'My Century'. Died in 1967 in Antony. | ||
Revision as of 12:31, 3 November 2011
Polish poet, writer and art theoretician, one of the precursors of Polish futurism movement in early 1920s.
Born Aleksander Chwat in 1900 in Warsaw. After a brief service with the Polish Army he graduated from the Faculty of Philology of the Warsaw University, where he studied philosophy, psychology, and logic. In 1919 he was among the young poets to proclaim the advent of new, futuristic poetry.
In 1920 he published the first set of his poems Me from One Side and Me from the Other Side of My Pug Iron Stove, which gained much popularity among the supporters of the new trends in literature of the epoch. Until 1922 he was one of the creators of the Nowa Sztuka monthly, and then Almanachy Nowej Sztuki and Miesięcznik literacki, disseminating the work of Mayakovsky and the futurists in Poland, before forming an allegiance with the Communist Party. Until 1931 he was one of the main journalists of the Marxist Tygodnik literacki. Until the outbreak of World War II he was also the literary director of Gebethner i Wolff, the biggest and the most renown Polish printing house of the time.
After the Polish Defensive War he moved to Lwów, then under Soviet occupation. Despite his sympathy for Communism, he was arrested by the NKVD and, together with his wife Paulina (usually called Ola) and his 9 years old son Andrzej, exiled to Kazakhstan. Set free in 1948, he was allowed to return to Poland. He became one of the chiefs of the Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy. However, his nine years spent in the Soviet Union cured his Communist sympathies and Wat was considered not reliable enough by the Soviet-sponsored Communist authorities of Poland to allow him to publish his own works. Instead, he devoted most of his time to translating of several classical pieces of English, French, German and Russian literature to Polish. In 1959 he emigrated to France and settled in Paris.
Wat was invited in 1964 to the University of California, Berkeley, where he taped a series of conversations about his life and times with his countryman the poet Czeslaw Milosz. Edited by Milosz, these were published posthumously as 'My Century'. Died in 1967 in Antony.
