Kornel Makuszyński, portrait retrieved from Wikimedia Commons (accessed: June 27, 2018).
Kornel Makuszyński
, 1884 - 1953
Poet, writer, publicist, theatre critic and literary director of Polish theatres in Lvov and Kiev. The most famous of his books for children is a comic book 120 Przygód Koziołka Matołka [120 Adventures of Matołek the Kid Goat], 1933, with illustrations by Marian Walentynowicz. His other bestsellers and now classics of Polish literature for children include O dwóch takich, co ukradli księżyc [The Two Who Stole the Moon], 1928; Przyjaciel wesołego diabła [Merry Devil’s Friend], 1930; Awantura o Basię [The Row over Basia], 1936; Szatan z siódmej klasy [Demon in 7th Grade], 1937, and Szaleństwa panny Ewy [Miss Eva’s Follies], ed. 1957 (written in 1940s, the manuscript survived the 1944 Warsaw Uprising), all of which were made into films after the author’s death. He debuted as a young poet with the assistance of the famous modernist poet Jan Kasprowicz but soon became widely known as a talented humorist (e.g. Awantury arabskie [Arabian Adventures], 1913), publicist and theatre critic. He is also the author of novels portraying the life of artistic bohemia Perły i wieprze [Pearls and Pigs], 1915, and Po mlecznej drodze [On the Milky Way], 1917. His memoires of childhood and youth were published under the title Bezgrzeszne lata [Sinless Years], 1925.
An enthusiastic skier and mountain-lover ended his life in the Tatras’ resort Zakopane, where the museum presenting his life and works is now placed. The understanding of the psychology of young readers, ability to create attractive plots, an amusing and lyrical style, chatty volubility, optimism, upright characters and the faith in human kindness represented in his books allow them to have a stable place in the canon of Polish children and youth literature.
Sources:
Kaczanowska, Jagna, Kornel Makuszyński – ze słońcem w herbie. Zwierciadło.pl (accessed: June 27, 2018).
"Makuszyński Kornel", in Jan Wojnowski, ed., Literatura polska XX wieku. Przewodnik encyklopedyczny, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 2000, 406.
Bio prepared by Paweł Siechowicz, University of Warsaw, pawelsiechowicz@wp.pl
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