Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz

Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, also known under his literary pseudonym Eleuter (20 February 1894 – 2 March 1980), was a Polish poet, essayist, dramatist and writer. He is mostly recognized for his literary achievements in poetry before World War II, but also criticized as a long-term political opportunist in the communist Poland, actively participating in the slander of Czesław Miłosz and other expatriates. He was removed from school textbooks by the new liberal regime in the early nineties.

Iwaszkiewicz was born in Kalnik in Kiev Governorate (now in Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine). After the death of his father (an accountant), he and his mother lived in Warsaw between 1902–1904, and then moved back to Ukraine in 1904–1912. He graduated from a secondary school in Kiev in 1912 and enrolled at the Law Faculty of Kiev University. After World War I, in October 1918 he returned to Warsaw. There, he joined a group of local artists who had started Pro Arte et Studio arts magazine. Iwaszkiewicz with Julian Tuwim and Antoni Słonimski co-founded the Skamander group of experimental poets in 1919.

In 1922 he married Anna Lilpop (1897-1979), a daughter of a wealthy entrepreneur, and the couple settled in Podkowa Leśna in the suburb of Warsaw. In 1928 they moved to a newly built house that Iwaszkiewicz named Stawisko. Maciej Rataj, the Speaker of the Lower Chamber of the Polish Parliament (Sejm) appointed him to be his secretary. Iwaszkiewicz worked for a magazine called "Wiadomości Literackie" and also published his works in numerous periodicals like "Gazeta Polska" (1934–1938) and "Ateneum" (1938–1939). Later he was a secretary to the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts (Towarzystwo Zachęty Sztuk Pięknych), and a member of the Polish PEN Club. The Foreign Ministry first appointed him the head of the art promotion section and later sent him as a secretary to Copenhagen (1932-1925) and Brussels (1935–1936). He was a member of Związek Zawodowy Literatów Polskich (ZZLP, The Trade Union of Polish Writers) and in 1939 voted its vice-president.

As a novelist he wrote Sława i Chwała (Glory and Vainglory) - a saga depicting a panorama of the life of Polish intelligentsia in years 1914-1947 and a few other novels but is most highly regarded for his short stories. He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize.

Works

• Panny z Wilka; Brzezina (The Wilko Girls; The Birch Grove), Warsaw 1933
• Młyn nad Utratą (The Mill on the River Utrata), Warsaw 1936
• Dwa opowiadania (Two Stories), Warsaw 1938
• Nowa miłość i inne opowiadania (New Love and Other Stories), Warsaw 1946
• Tatarak i inne opowiadania (Calamus and Other Stories), Warsaw 1960
• Heidenreich. Cienie. Dwa opowiadania (Heidenreich. Shadows. Two Stories), Poznan 1964

• Ucieczka do Bagdadu (Escape to Bagdad), Warsaw 1923
• Zenobia Palmura, Poznan 1920
• Czerwone tarcze (Red Shields), Warsaw 1934
• Sława i chwała (Glory and Vainglory), vol. 1-3, Warsaw 1956-1962
• Hilary, syn buchaltera (Hilary, Son of a Bookkeeper), Warsaw 1923
• Księżyc wschodzi (The Moon Rises) Warsaw 1925
• Zmowa mężczyzn (Conspiracy of Men), Warsaw 1930

• Oktostychy (Octostichs), Warsaw 1919
• Kaskady zakończone siedmioma wierszami (Cascades Ending in Seven Poems), Warsaw 1925
• Dionizje (Dionysiacs), Warsaw 1922
• Pejzaże sentymentalne (Sentimental Landscapes), Warsaw 1926
• Ksiega dnia i księga nocy (Book of the Day and Book of the Night), Warsaw 1929
• Powrót do Europy (Return to Europe), 1931
• Inne życie (Another Life), 1938
• Lato 1932 (Summer 1932), 1933

Polish composer Karol Szymanowski was a cousin and friend of Iwaszkiewicz, and they worked together on the libretto for the opera King Roger, Szymanowski largely rewriting the third act. The Summer at Nohant a play written in 1936 is based on an episode in Chopin's life and Masquerade on Pushkin's final days.[1]

• Libretto: Karol Szymanowski King Roger, The World Premiere: Warsaw, Teatr Wielki 1926
• Kochankowie z Werony. Tragedia romatyczna w 3 aktach (Lovers of Verona. Romantic Tragedy in 3 Acts), Warsaw 1929; The World Premiere: Warsaw, Teatr Nowy 1930
• Lato w Nohant. Komedia w 3 aktach (The Summer at Nohant. Comedy in 3 Acts), Warsaw 1937; The World Premiere: Warsaw, Teatr Mały 1936
• Maskarada. Melodramat w 4 Aktach (Masquerade. Melodrama in 4 Acts), Warsaw 1939; The World Premiere: Teatr Polski 1938
• Odbudowa Błędomierza. Sztuka w 3 aktach (Rebuilding Bledomierz. Play in 3 Acts), Warsaw 1951; The World Premiere: Kraków, Teatr Stary 1951
• Wesele Pana Balzaka (Mr. Balzac's Wedding), The World Premiere: Warsaw, Teatr Kameralny 1959
• Kosmogonia (Cosmogony), The World Premiere: Warsaw, Teatr Polski 1967

Adaptations

• Mother Joan of the Angels (pol. Matka Joanna od aniołów) by Jerzy Kawalerowicz 1961
• Kochankowie z Marony by Jerzy Zarzycki 1966
• The Maids of Wilko (pol. Panny z Wilka) by Andrzej Wajda 1979
• The Birch Wood (pol. Brzezina ) by Andrzej Wajda 1970
• Ryś (on the basis of short story Kościół w Skaryszewie) by Stanisław Różewicz 1981
• Kochankowie z Marony by Izabela Cywińska 2005
• Sweet Rush (film) (pol. Tatarak ) by Andrzej Wajda 2009