8. Tadeusz Różewicz
English version | Wersja polska
Tadeusz Różewicz, born October 9, 1921 in Radomsko, was one of the most outstanding Polish poets, playwrights and prose writers of the 20th century. His work has become a permanent part of the canon of postwar literature. The experience of World War II, in which Różewicz fought as a soldier of the Home Army, molded his literary sensibility forever. Therefore, the war with its brutal reality was the main theme of his work.
After the war, Różewicz studied art history at the Jagiellonian University. It was there that he made the acquaintance of Andrzej Wróblewski, Andrzej Wajda and Mieczysław Porębski, a prominent art theorist and critic who played a key role in the intellectual life of that milieu. He and Porębski stayed friends for years to come sharing conversations about art and culture.
“Poems and Paintings” of 1951 and “The Plain,” of 1954 are among the most important books in Różewicz's early work which gained particular significance for the art community, including Andrzej Wróblewski. The two artists shared a similar sensibility of the postwar trauma and disintegration of the world. The roughness of Różewicz's poetry, its minimalist language and lack of embellishments harmonized with Wróblewski's direct painting. Just like the painter's canvases, Różewicz's poems echoed themes of executions, dismemberment, suffering and search for meaning in a post-catastrophic world. The “I, One of Many” exhibition is accompanied by Różewicz's poems from those two early volumes, including the poem “Plain” illustrated by Wróblewski; one of the gouaches is on display.
Różewicz had a significant impact on contemporary theater introducing innovative solutions and changing the way of thinking about the stage. His 1960 drama “The Card Index” broke with the traditional form of theater introducing an open structure that became one of his trademarks. Another fundamentally important drama, still interpreted in theaters across Poland, “The Old Woman Broods” of 1968 brings a synthesizes of a poetic interest in old age and passing while being a praise of female experience and wisdom.
Różewicz's poetry, though deeply rooted in Polish realities, dealt with universal themes such as death, passing, morality, meaning of existence, loneliness of contemporary man. His simple, rough style earned him international recognition. He was repeatedly mentioned as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Tadeusz Różewicz died on April 24, 2014 in Wroclaw, Poland, leaving behind an extremely rich heritage of literary work. His work continues to be read, interpreted, and performed in theaters around the world.
Tadeusz Różewicz was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta and the Gold Medal for “Meritorious Service to Culture Gloria Artis.” He was a Doctor Honoris Causa of the Universities of Wroclaw, Silesia, Opole, Warsaw, Gdansk, the Jagellonian University and the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw.
In 2000, he was awarded the Nike Prize, for his book “Mother Departs”
