Jan Parandowski
, 1895 - 1978
Classical philologist and archaeologist. An outstanding and prolific author of books related to Antiquity; translator of classical masterpieces. Contributed to many Polish newspapers and magazines. Chairman of the Polish PEN Club from 1933 to 1978. Recipient of prizes for outstanding literary achievements, such as a bronze medal received at the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics for his book Dysk olimpijski [Olympic Discus]. Member of the European Society of Culture. In 1962 he was elected Vice-President of the International PEN. An exceptionally successful supporter and advocate of Classical Antiquity in Poland. His Mitologia. Wierzenia i podania Greków i Rzymian [Mythology. Beliefs and Legends of the Greeks and Romans], still often read even in primary school, remains for many generations of Polish readers a fundamental source of the knowledge of ancient myths.
Major works: Eros na Olimpie [Eros on the Olympus], 1924, Mitologia. Wierzenia i podania Greków i Rzymian [Mythology. Beliefs and Legends of the Greeks and Romans], 1924; Wojna trojańska [Trojan War], 1927; Oscar Wilde’s biography Król życia [A King of Life], 1930; Dysk olimpijski [Olympic Discus], 1933; Niebo w płomieniach [Heaven in Flames], 1936; Trzy znaki zodiaku [Three Signs of the Zodiac], 1938; Godzina śródziemnomorska [The Mediterranean Hour], 1949; a study on creative writing Alchemia słowa [Alchemy of the Word], 1951. He also translated into Polish Caesar’s Civil War, 1951, and Homer’s Odyssey, 1953.
Sources:
Krełowska, Danuta, Jan Parandowski: życie i twórczość, Toruń: Wojewódzka Biblioteka Publiczna i Książnica Miejska im. M. Kopernika, 1989.
Paciorkowska, Monika, Jan Parandowski, slideshare.net (accessed: December 30, 2020).
"Parandowski Jan", in Jadwiga Czachowska and Alicja Szałagan, eds., Współcześni polscy pisarze i badacze literatury. Słownik biobibliograficzny, vol. 6: N–P, Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne, 1999, 254–260.
"Parandowski, Jan", in Encyklopedia PWN, encyklopedia.pwn.pl (accessed: December 30, 2020).
wikipedia.org (accessed: December 30, 2020).
Życiorys Jana Parandowskiego, kul.pl (accessed: December 30, 2020).
Bio prepared by Joanna Grzeszczuk, University of Warsaw, joannagrzeszczuk1@gmail.com
Records in database:
- Circus and Arena [Cyrk i arena]
- From the Ancient World [Z antycznego świata]
- From the Ancient World. Greece. Greatness of Greek culture [Z antycznego świata. Grecja. Wielkość kultury greckiej]
- Mythology. Beliefs and Legends of the Greeks and Romans [Mitologia. Wierzenia i podania Greków i Rzymian]
- Odysseus’ Adventures [Przygody Odyseusza]
- Olympic Discus [Dysk olimpijski]
- Rome. From Kings to Emperors [Rzym. Od królów do cesarzy]
- The Mediterranean Hour [Godzina śródziemnomorska]
- Trojan War [Wojna trojańska]
