Jan Lechoń | |
|---|---|
 Jan Lechoń | |
| Born | Leszek Józef Serafinowicz (1899-03-13)13 March 1899 Warsaw,Congress Poland |
| Died | 8 June 1956(1956-06-08) (aged 57) New York City,United States |
| Resting place | Forest Cemetery in Laski |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Language | Polish |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Literary movement | Skamander |
Leszek Józef Serafinowicz (pen name:Jan Lechoń; 13 March 1899 – 8 June 1956) was a Polishpoet, literary and theater critic, diplomat, and co-founder of theSkamander literary movement and thePolish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America.
Lechoń studied the Polish language and literature at theUniversity of Warsaw, by which point he had already authored two collections of poetry and a play. He was co-editor ofPro arte et studio magazine. Lechoń created the nameSkamander for that literary group and delivered the opening speech at the group's first meeting on 6 December 1919. During thePolish–Soviet War (1919–21), he worked in the press office ofChief of StateJózef Piłsudski.
Lechoń was a member of thePikador literary cabaret, a member of the Polish Writers' Union, and secretary-general of thePEN Club. In 1926–29, he edited the satirical magazineCyrulik Warszawski ('The Barber of Warsaw'—named in reference toThe Barber of Seville). In 1925, he received an award from the Polish Book Publishers' Association, and in 1935 an award from thePolish Academy of Literature.[1][2]
In 1921, he attempted suicide and spent some time in hospitals or sanatoriums trying to overcomedepression. A troubled homosexual affair influenced Lechoń's decision to abandon Warsaw.[3] From 1930 to 1939, he was acultural attaché at the Polish embassy inParis. After thefall of France to Nazi Germany, he left forBrazil and later settled inNew York City. There, he co-edited many Polish newspapers and magazines; in 1942, he co-founded thePolish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America.
On the suggestion of a psychiatrist, Lechoń started writing a diary (1949–56). Amid recondite autobiographical reminiscences, the diary also documents Lechoń's attempts to come to terms with his homosexuality. "Oppressed by a sense of émigré obsolescence and poetic sterility, unable to resolve the conflict between his programmatically traditionalist Polish public persona and the anxieties of an aging, impecunious homosexual in an America beset byMcCarthyism ...",[4] Lechoń committed suicide on 8 June 1956 by jumping from the twelfth floor of theHudson Hotel. At the time, his motive for doing so was given as depression deepened by "social degradation". The memoirs ofAdam Ciołkosz point also to depression caused by the strengthening of thecommunist regime in Poland.
In 1991, Lechoń's remains wereexhumed fromCalvary Cemetery inQueens and transferred to a cemetery inLaski, to a family tomb shared with his parents, Władysław and Maria Serafinowicz.
Lechoń made his literary debut at the age of 14 with poetry collections entitledNa złotym polu ('In a Golden Field', 1913) andPo różnych ścieżkach ('On Different Paths', 1914). In 1916, his dramaW pałacu Stanisława Augusta ('At the Palace ofStanisław August') premiered at the Old Orangery in Warsaw. His poetry collectionSrebrne i czarne ('Silver and Black') earned him an award from the Polish Book Publishers' Association. However, growing interest in Lechoń's work and his successes in the field of poetry had a negative influence on him. He found his status and fame overwhelming and did not publish further until the outbreak ofWorld War II.
Poland's wartime demise awakened in him the passion to continue writing. He publishedLutnia po Bekwarku in 1942 andAria z kurantem in 1945, as well asMarmur i róża. His other works includeKarmazynowy poemat andIliada.
Lechoń's poetry, which combinedromantic andclassicist elements, was different from that of other members of the Skamander group. He also translated several dramas, wrote reviews and essays.
"Mankind prospers in one of the falsest illusions, that the world is run by wise people. This would be impossible, if only because most of mankind are mediocrities, if not outright stupid people. If we speak with a physician, say about a writer, the physician is convinced that the writer is a good writer. We writers know that maybe 10 percent of writers are good, the rest being mediocrities and idiots. Likewise the writer supposes that a physician with whom he is unfamiliar is an accomplished expert in his line of work—whereas he is usually a mediocrity. It is amazing that, in spite of this, the world looks as it does."[5]
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