Bruno Jasieński facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bruno Jasieński
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Bruno Jasieński
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| Born | Wiktor Zysman 17 July 1901 Klimontów, Congress Poland |
| Died | 17 September 1938 (aged 37) Kommunarka shooting ground, Moscow, Soviet Union |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Language | Polish |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Notable works | But w butonierce ('A Boot in the Boutonniere') Pieśń o głodzie ('Song of Hunger') |
Bruno Jasieński (born Wiktor Bruno Zysman, 17 July 1901 – 17 September 1938) was a famous Polish poet, writer, and playwright. He was a leader of the Futurist movement in Poland between the two World Wars. Futurism was an art movement that celebrated new technology and speed. Jasieński was also involved in communism, a political idea about sharing wealth and resources. He was active in Poland, France, and the Soviet Union. Sadly, he was executed in the Soviet Union during a time called the Great Purge, when many people were arrested and punished by the government. Today, many modern artists see him as an important figure. An annual festival called Brunonalia is held in his hometown of Klimontów, Poland, where a street is also named after him.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Wiktor Bruno Zysman was born in Klimontów, Congress Poland. His father, Jakub Zysman, was a local doctor and social worker. His mother, Eufemia Maria, came from a Polish noble family. His father changed his religion to Lutheranism so he could marry his mother. They had three children: Wiktor Bruno, Jerzy, and Irena.
Jasieński went to a secondary school, called a gymnasium, in Warsaw. In 1914, during World War I, his family moved to Russia. He finished secondary school in Moscow in 1918. In Moscow, he became very interested in a type of Futurism called Ego-Futurism, created by Igor Severyanin. He also read works by other famous Futurist poets like Velimir Chlebnikov and Vladimir Mayakovsky.
Literary Career and Political Activism
Starting His Writing Career
In 1918, Jasieński moved to Kraków, Poland. He studied Polish literature, law, and philosophy at the Jagiellonian University. He quickly became part of the avant-garde art scene. Avant-garde means new and experimental. In 1919, he helped start a Futurist club called Katarynka, which means "Barrel Organ." This name showed they wanted to connect with ordinary people and not be seen as an elite group.
Jasieński wrote many poems and was involved in social activities across Poland. He worked with other important Polish Futurists like Stanisław Młodożeniec and Anatol Stern.
Polish Futurist Movement
In 1921, Jasieński published one of his first Futurist works, Nuż w bżuhu ('Knife in the Stomach'). He and Młodożeniec became known as the founders of the Polish Futurist movement. That same year, he published many other works, including manifestos (public declarations of their ideas), leaflets, and posters. These were all new forms of art in Poland. His book of poems, But w butonierce ('A Boot in the Boutonniere'), was also published.
He became famous as an "enfant terrible" (a shocking but talented person) in Polish literature. Critics in cities like Warsaw and Lwów liked his work. He wrote for several newspapers, including the leftist Trybuna Robotnicza. In 1922, he published Pieśń o głodzie ('Song of Hunger'). In 1924, he wrote Ziemia na lewo ('Earth Leftwards') with Anatol Stern. In 1923, he married Klara Arem.
Joining the Communist Movement
In 1923, Jasieński saw a workers' rebellion in Kraków. This event led him to join the Polish communist movement. He gave talks about Marxist philosophy, which is a set of ideas about how society should be organized, and how workers could fight for their rights.
Life Abroad: France and the Soviet Union
Writing in Paris
Because of his political activities, Jasieński and his wife moved to France in 1925. They lived in Paris and worked as journalists for Polish newspapers. Jasieński also helped create an amateur theater group for Polish workers living in Saint-Denis. He wrote many poems, essays, and books that showed his strong political views. He became an active member of the French Communist Party. He also studied Polish history and folklore.
In 1928, he published his most famous work, Palę Paryż ('I Burn Paris'). This was a Futurist novel that showed the collapse of a city and the problems in capitalism, an economic system where private businesses own most things. The novel was published in French in the newspaper L'Humanité and then translated into Russian. It made Jasieński very famous in France. However, it also led to him being deported from France in 1929 because the government thought his ideas were dangerous. He tried to go to Belgium and Luxembourg but was not allowed. He stayed in Frankfurt, Germany, for a short time before returning to France, only to be expelled again.
Moving to the Soviet Union
In 1929, Jasieński moved to the Soviet Union and settled in Leningrad. He became a Soviet citizen and was supported by the government. His novel I Burn Paris was very popular there, selling 130,000 copies in one day. He became the editor of a Polish language magazine called Kultura mass ('Culture of the Masses') and worked as a journalist. He divorced Klara and married Anna Berzin, with whom he had a daughter. He started writing in Russian.
In 1932, he joined the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and became an important member. He moved to Moscow and held various positions in the party's literary departments and at the Union of Soviet Writers. He even became an honorary citizen of Tajikistan.
Challenges and Later Life
By the mid-1930s, Jasieński supported the government's efforts to remove people they saw as disloyal, a period known as the Great Purge. However, the situation changed quickly. In 1937, his powerful protector, Genrikh Yagoda, was arrested. Soon after, Jasieński's former wife, Klara, was also arrested and executed. Jasieński himself was expelled from the party and caught up in the purges. He was arrested and executed on 17 September 1938, near Moscow. In 1955, he was officially "rehabilitated," meaning the government admitted he was wrongly punished.
Family Life
Jasieński's second wife, Anna, was arrested in 1939 and spent seventeen years in Soviet labor camps, known as gulags. His young son was sent to an orphanage and grew up without knowing about his family's past. He escaped during World War II. After the war, he faced many challenges. He eventually learned about his true family and became involved in groups that opposed the communist government.
See also
- Polish Operation of the NKVD
- Tomasz Dąbal
