His books, publication of which resumed once again after his death, were labeled as "best-selling", and became the most reprinted postwar history of Poland. His Dwie drogi (Two ways, 1959) about the January Uprising of the 1860s represent the latest historical period he has tackled.
Paweł Jasienica was the pen name of Leon Lech Beynar (10 November 1909 – 19 August 1970), a Polish historian, journalist, essayist and soldier. During World War II, Jasienica (then, Leon Beynar) fought in the Polish Army, and later, the Home Army resistance.
For a brief period marking the end of his life, his books were prohibited from being distributed or printed. ==Life== ===Youth=== Beynar was born on 10 November 1909 in Simbirsk, Russia, to Polish parents, Mikołaj Beynar and Helena Maliszewska.
Beynar's family lived in Russia and Ukrainethey moved from Simbirsk to a location near Bila Tserkva and Uman, then to Kiev until the Russian Revolution of 1917, after which they decided to settle in the independent Poland.
While in a temporary prisoner-of-war camp in Opatów, he was able to escape with the help of some old school friends from the time his family lived there in the early 1920s.
After brief stay in Warsaw, during the Polish–Soviet War, his family settled in Opatów, and in 1924, moved to Grodno. Beynar graduated from gymnasium (secondary school) in Wilno (Vilnius) and graduated in history from Stefan Batory University in Wilno (his thesis concerned the January Uprising).
From 1928 to 1937 he lived in Grodno, where he worked as a history teacher in a gymnasium; later he was employed as an announcer for Polish Radio Wilno.
On 11 November 1934 he married Władysława Adamowicz, and in 1938 his daughter Ewa was born.
In 1935 he published his first history book – about King Sigismund II Augustus, Zygmunt August na ziemiach dawnego Wielkiego Księstwa (Sigismund Augustus on the Lands of the Former Grand Duchy [of Lithuania]). ===World War II=== During World War II, Beynar was a soldier in the Polish Army, fighting the German Wehrmacht when it invaded Poland in September 1939.
Bohdan Cywiński read a letter from Antoni Gołubiew. ==Work== Jasienica book publishing begun with a historical book, Zygmunt August na ziemiach dawnego Wielkiego Księstwa (Sigismund Augustus in the lands of the former Grand Duchy; 1935).
From 1928 to 1937 he lived in Grodno, where he worked as a history teacher in a gymnasium; later he was employed as an announcer for Polish Radio Wilno.
On 11 November 1934 he married Władysława Adamowicz, and in 1938 his daughter Ewa was born.
In 1935 he published his first history book – about King Sigismund II Augustus, Zygmunt August na ziemiach dawnego Wielkiego Księstwa (Sigismund Augustus on the Lands of the Former Grand Duchy [of Lithuania]). ===World War II=== During World War II, Beynar was a soldier in the Polish Army, fighting the German Wehrmacht when it invaded Poland in September 1939.
While in the late 1940s and 1950s he focused mostly on journalistic activity, later he turned to writing popular history in book format.
In July 1944 he took part in the operation aimed at the liberation of Wilno from the Germans (Operation Ostra Brama).
Wounded in August 1945, he left the Brigade before it was destroyed by the Soviets, and avoided the fate of most of its officers who were sentenced to death.
While recovering from his wounds, he found shelter in the village of Jasienica. ===Post-war=== After recovering from his wounds in 1945, Beynar decided to leave the resistance, and instead began publishing in an independent Catholic weekly Tygodnik Powszechny.
In 1948 he was arrested by the Polish secret police (Urząd Bezpieczeństwa) but after several weeks was released after the intervention of Bolesław Piasecki from the PAX Association.
In the aftermath of the 1968 events, Polish communist media, and communist leader, Władysław Gomułka, on 19 March 1968, alleged that in 1948 Jasienica was freed because he collaborated with the communist regime; this allegation caused much controversy and damaged Jasienica's reputation.
In gratitude to Piasecki, therefater he worked with PAX, leaving Tygodnik Powszechny for PAX in 1950.
In 1950, he became a director of the Polish Caritas charity.
While in the late 1940s and 1950s he focused mostly on journalistic activity, later he turned to writing popular history in book format.
Those works were mostly created around the 1950s and 1960s. His Pamiętnik (Memoirs) was the work that he began shortly before his death, and that was never completely finished. In 2006, Polish journalist and former dissident Adam Michnik said that: Polish historian Henryk Samsonowicz echoes Michnik's essay in his introduction to a recent (2008) edition of Trzej kronikarze, describing Jasienica as a person who did much to popularize Polish history.
Reportaże (Archeological excerpts: reports; 1956), journalistic travel reports (Wisła pożegna zaścianek, Kraj Nad Jangtse) and science and technology (Opowieści o żywej materii, Zakotwiczeni).
In December 1959, he became a vice president of the Union of Polish Writers (Związek Literatów Polskich, ZLP).
His books, publication of which resumed once again after his death, were labeled as "best-selling", and became the most reprinted postwar history of Poland. His Dwie drogi (Two ways, 1959) about the January Uprising of the 1860s represent the latest historical period he has tackled.
He is best known for his 1960s books on [of Poland|Polish history]on the Kingdom of Poland under the Piast Dynasty, the Jagiellon Dynasty, and the elected kings of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
In the 1960s he wrote his most famous works, historical books about [of Poland] – the Kingdom of Poland in the times of the Piast dynasty, the Jagiellonian dynasty, and the era of elected kings (the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth).
He is best known for his highly acclaimed and popular historical books from the 1960s about Piast Poland, Jagiellon Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth: Polska Piastów (Piast Poland, 1960), Polska Jagiellonów (Jagiellon Poland, 1963) and the trilogy Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów (The Commonwealth of Both Nations, 1967–1972).
Those works were mostly created around the 1950s and 1960s. His Pamiętnik (Memoirs) was the work that he began shortly before his death, and that was never completely finished. In 2006, Polish journalist and former dissident Adam Michnik said that: Polish historian Henryk Samsonowicz echoes Michnik's essay in his introduction to a recent (2008) edition of Trzej kronikarze, describing Jasienica as a person who did much to popularize Polish history.
This work does however contains numerous arguments applicable to more modern Polish history; arguments that Jasienica thought would not be allowed by the censors if the book discussed Polish history. In addition to historical books, Jasienica, wrote a series of essays about archeology – Słowiański rodowód (Slavic genealogy; 1961) and Archeologia na wyrywki.
In 1962 he was the last president of the literary discussion society, Crooked Circle Club.
He is best known for his highly acclaimed and popular historical books from the 1960s about Piast Poland, Jagiellon Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth: Polska Piastów (Piast Poland, 1960), Polska Jagiellonów (Jagiellon Poland, 1963) and the trilogy Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów (The Commonwealth of Both Nations, 1967–1972).
These acts, and in particular his signing of the dissident Letter of 34 in 1964 against censorship and his involvement in the 1968 protests led to his being labeled a political dissident, for which he suffered government persecution.
His other popular historical books include Trzej kronikarze, (Three chroniclers; 1964), a book about three medieval chroniclers of Polish history (Thietmar of Merseburg, Gallus Anonymus and Wincenty Kadłubek), in which he discusses the Polish society through ages; and Ostatnia z rodu (Last of the Family; 1965) about the last queen of the Jagiellon dynasty, Anna Jagiellonka.
His wife Władysława died 29 March 1965. Over time, he became increasingly involved in various dissident organizations.
His other popular historical books include Trzej kronikarze, (Three chroniclers; 1964), a book about three medieval chroniclers of Polish history (Thietmar of Merseburg, Gallus Anonymus and Wincenty Kadłubek), in which he discusses the Polish society through ages; and Ostatnia z rodu (Last of the Family; 1965) about the last queen of the Jagiellon dynasty, Anna Jagiellonka.
In 1966 he was a vice president of the PEN Club.
He is best known for his highly acclaimed and popular historical books from the 1960s about Piast Poland, Jagiellon Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth: Polska Piastów (Piast Poland, 1960), Polska Jagiellonów (Jagiellon Poland, 1963) and the trilogy Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów (The Commonwealth of Both Nations, 1967–1972).
On 29 February 1968 during a ZLP meeting, Jasienia presented a harsh critique of the government.
These acts, and in particular his signing of the dissident Letter of 34 in 1964 against censorship and his involvement in the 1968 protests led to his being labeled a political dissident, for which he suffered government persecution.
Partly as a response to government's persecution of Jasienica, in 1968 the satirist Janusz Szpotański dedicated one of his anti-government poems, Ballada o Łupaszce (The Ballad of Łupaszko), written while Szpotański was in Mokotów Prison, to the writer.
In the aftermath of the 1968 events, Polish communist media, and communist leader, Władysław Gomułka, on 19 March 1968, alleged that in 1948 Jasienica was freed because he collaborated with the communist regime; this allegation caused much controversy and damaged Jasienica's reputation.
From 1968 until his death, his books were prohibited from being distributed or printed. Jasienica died from cancer on 19 August 1970 in Warsaw.
In December 1969, five years after his first wife's death, he remarried.
Paweł Jasienica was the pen name of Leon Lech Beynar (10 November 1909 – 19 August 1970), a Polish historian, journalist, essayist and soldier. During World War II, Jasienica (then, Leon Beynar) fought in the Polish Army, and later, the Home Army resistance.
From 1968 until his death, his books were prohibited from being distributed or printed. Jasienica died from cancer on 19 August 1970 in Warsaw.
Those works were mostly created around the 1950s and 1960s. His Pamiętnik (Memoirs) was the work that he began shortly before his death, and that was never completely finished. In 2006, Polish journalist and former dissident Adam Michnik said that: Polish historian Henryk Samsonowicz echoes Michnik's essay in his introduction to a recent (2008) edition of Trzej kronikarze, describing Jasienica as a person who did much to popularize Polish history.
All text is taken from Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License .
Page generated on 2021-08-05