Wojciech Karpiński facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
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Wojciech Karpiński (2016)
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| Born | 11 May 1943 Warsaw |
| Died | 18 August 2020 (aged 77) Paris |
| Occupation | Writer, historian of ideas |
| Nationality | Polish |
Wojciech Karpiński (born May 11, 1943, died August 18, 2020) was a Polish writer, a thinker who studied the history of ideas, and a literary critic. He was known for his writings and for supporting freedom of speech in Poland.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Wojciech Karpiński was born in Warsaw, Poland, on May 11, 1943. His grandfather, Wojciech Zatwarnicki, helped save many Jewish people during World War II. He hid them on his farm near Warsaw.
Karpiński studied Romance languages and literature at the University of Warsaw. He graduated in 1966 and became a teacher there in 1967.
Standing Up for Freedom
In the 1960s, Karpiński started writing for Kultura, a Polish magazine published outside of Poland. He used different pen names to avoid trouble with Poland's Communist government. This government controlled what people could read and say.
He traveled to Western Europe and met Polish writers who were not allowed to publish in Poland. These writers included Witold Gombrowicz and Czesław Miłosz. Karpiński worked to share their writings with more people.
In the late 1960s, he joined the Polish democratic opposition. This group worked against the Communist government. In 1970, he earned his doctorate degree. But he was soon expelled from the university. This happened because his brother, Jakub Karpiński, was put on trial for smuggling forbidden books.
From 1971 to 1973, he worked for the Polish Academy of Sciences. In the mid-1970s, he began writing for Tygodnik Powszechny. This was one of the few independent newspapers in Poland. He wrote about history and literature.
In 1974, he became an editor for Twórczość, an important literary magazine. In 1975, he signed the Letter of the 59. This letter protested changes to Poland's constitution that would make it fully controlled by the Soviet Union. He also helped create the Alliance for Polish Independence, a secret group working for democracy.
He worked with the Polish Section of Radio Free Europe starting in 1975. In 1979, he co-founded an independent journal called Res Publica.
Life Abroad
Karpiński joined the Solidarity trade union in 1980. This was a big movement for workers' rights and freedom in Poland. In 1981, he went to the United States. While he was there, the Polish government declared martial law. They listed him as an "extremist activist" even though he was out of the country.
In New York City, he helped create the Committee in Support of Solidarity. This group supported the freedom movement in Poland. In 1982, he taught at Yale University. He also spoke to the U.S. Senate about the problems in Poland.
From 1982 to 2002, he helped lead a fund in Paris that supported independent literature in Poland. He also became an editor for Zeszyty Literackie, a journal started in Paris during martial law.
Karpiński moved to France in 1982. He worked as a researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris until 2008. He also taught at the University of Texas and New York University. He passed away in Paris in 2020.
His Writings
Wojciech Karpiński started his writing career in 1964. He wrote an essay about a French writer named François de La Rochefoucauld. He published his works in many important magazines like Kultura, Res Publica, and Tygodnik Powszechny.
Even with strict Communist censorship in Poland, Karpiński found ways to publish articles. He wrote about banned Polish writers who lived outside Poland. He helped publish essays by Jerzy Stempowski and Konstanty A. Jeleński.
Ideas on Freedom and Politics
In 1974, Karpiński co-wrote Political figures of the 19th century. This book was very important to the democratic opposition in the 1970s. He continued to write about political ideas, democracy, and freedom in books like:
- Essays about freedom (1980)
- The Slavic quarrel (1981)
- Metternich's shadow (1982)
- My private history of freedom (1997)
Books About Writers and Artists
In 1980, Karpiński began a series of books about important Polish writers living abroad. His first book in this series was In Central Park. He also wrote about famous artists and writers from around the world. Some of his other books include:
- Outlaw books (1988)
- The Blazon of Exile (1982)
- Faces (2012)
He wrote two special biographies about artists:
- Van Gogh's pipe (1994), about the painter Vincent van Gogh.
- A portrait of Czapski (1996), about his close friend, the artist Józef Czapski.
Karpiński also wrote a lot about Czapski in other essays. He edited a book of Czapski's writings in French. He also wrote about the painter Krzysztof Jung. In 2016, he published Henryk, a book about Henryk Krzeczkowski.
Travel and Culture
His book A memory of Italy (1982) explored Italian art and culture. It was first published in parts in Twórczość magazine. After reading it, the poet Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz wrote a poem dedicated to Karpiński. While working on this book in Rome, Karpiński met Miriam Chiaromonte. She was the wife of Italian writer Nicola Chiaromonte. Karpiński later wrote about Chiaromonte and translated his works.
Karpiński continued to write about art and culture in his travel essays. These included American shadows (1982) and Images of London (2014).
Interviews and Essays
In the 1980s, Karpiński published book-length interviews with important thinkers like Leszek Kołakowski and Alain Besançon. He also wrote essays about Kołakowski and spoke at the ceremony where Kołakowski received the Erasmus Prize. His essays were also included in a collection of classic Polish essays from the 20th century.
Awards and Honors
Wojciech Karpiński received many awards for his work, including:
- Prize of the Kościelski Foundation (1975)
- Ingram Merrill Award (1977)
- Herminia Naglerowa Prize of the Union of Polish Writers in Exile (1984)
- Zygmunt Hertz Prize of Kultura (1989)
- Alfred Jurzykowski Foundation Prize (1989)
- Prize of the Minister of Culture, Poland (2004)
- Officer's Cross of Polonia Restituta (2012)
- Włada Majewska Prize of the Union of Polish Writers in Exile (2013)
Books Published
In Polish
- Sylwetki polityczne XIX wieku (Political figures of the 19th century), Kraków: Znak, 1974.
- Szkice o wolności (Essays about freedom), Chicago: Polonia Book Fund, 1980.
- W Central Parku (In Central Park), Warsaw: Klin, 1980.
- Słowiański spór (The Slavic quarrel), Kraków: KOS, 1981.
- Cień Metternicha (Metternich’s shadow), Warsaw: PIW, 1982.
- Pamięć Włoch (A memory of Italy), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1982.
- Amerykańskie cienie (American shadows), Paris: Instytut Literacki, 1983.
- Książki zbójeckie (Outlaw books), London: Polonia Book Fund, 1988.
- Herb Wygnania (The Blazon of Exile), Paris: Zeszyty Literackie, 1989.
- Polska a Rosja (Poland and Russia), Warszawa, PWN, 1994.
- Fajka van Gogha (Van Gogh’s pipe), Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie, 1994.
- Portret Czapskiego (A portrait of Czapski), Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie, 1996.
- Prywatna historia wolności (My private history of freedom), Warsaw: Iskry, 1997.
- Twarze (Faces), Warsaw: Zeszyty Literackie, 2012.
- Obrazy Londynu (Images of London), Warsaw: Zeszyty Literackie, 2014.
- Henryk, Warsaw: Zeszyty Literackie, 2016.
- Szkice sekretne (Secret essays), Warsaw: Zeszyty Literackie, 2017.
- 120 dni Kultury, Warsaw–Paris, 2020.
Interviews
- With Leszek Kołakowski, Warsaw: Głosy, 1983.
- With Alain Besançon, Ełk: Lotnia, 1983.
In French
- Ces livres de grand chemin, Montricher: Noir sur Blanc, 1992.
- Portrait de Czapski, Lausanne: L’Age d’Homme, 2003.
Editorial Works
- Antologia współczesnej krytyki literackiej we Francji (Anthology of modern literary criticism in France), Warsaw: Czytelnik 1974.
- Jerzy Stempowski, Eseje (Essays), Kraków: Znak, 1984.
- Witold Gombrowicz, Diary, Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1988 (introduction).
- Konstanty Jeleński, Szkice (Essays), Kraków: Znak, 1990.
- Jerzy Giedroyc, Konstanty Jeleński, Listy 1950–1987 (Correspondence 1950–1987), Warsaw: Czytelnik, 1995.
- Józef Czapski, L’Art et la vie, Paris: L’Age d’Homme-UNESCO, 2002.
- Konstanty Jeleński Listy z Korsyki do Józefa Czapskiego (Letters from Corsica to Józef Czapski), Warsaw: Zeszyty Literackie, 2003.
- Jerzy Stempowski, Notes pour une ombre; suivi de Notes d'un voyage dans le Dauphiné, Montricher: Noir Sur Blanc, 2004.
- Nicola Chiaromonte, Fra me e te la verità. Lettere a Muska, Forli: Una città, 2013.
- Józef Czapski, Proust a Grjazovec, conferenze clandestine, Milano: Adelphi Edizioni, 2015 (introduction).
- Krzysztof Jung : Peintures, dessins, photographies, Paris: Bibliothèque polonaise, 2017.
- Zbigniew Karpiński, Wspomnienia, Warsaw: Biblioteka Kroniki Warszawy, 2018
