Julian Tuwim
, 1894 - 1953
An eminent poet, satirist and translator; the co-founder of the literary cabaret Pikador, one of the creators and main representatives of the famous group of poets Skamander; author of lyric poetry, satirical poems, poems for children, stage adaptations, lyrics for popular songs as well as books on literary history. His poems achieved an enormous popularity among readers and became classics of modern Polish literature. He also translated such authors as Horace, Whitman, Longfellow, Rimbaud, Pushkin, Lermontov, and Gogol. Tuwim’s works for children are exceptional. Today his poems like Lokomotywa [The Locomotive], Słoń Trąbalski [Trunky Elephant], Okulary [Eyeglasses], Spóżniony Słowik [The Tardy Nightingale], Rzepka [The Little Turnip] or Abecadło [The Alphabet] belong to the canon of children’s literature. The value of his poems for children lies in the creative, melodious use of language, unusual skills in playing with words combined with original narrative concepts. On January 6, 2013 – exactly one hundred years since his literary debut in the newspaper Kurier Warszawski – the year 2013 was proclaimed by Polish authorities the Year of Julian Tuwim.
Website of the Julian Tuwim and Irena Tuwim Foundation (accessed: June 28, 2018).
Sources:
Cieślik, Tomasz and Krystyna Ratajczak, eds., Julian Tuwim. Biografia, twórczość, recepcja, Łódź: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego, 2007.
"Julian Tuwim", in Julian Krzyżanowski, ed., Literatura polska. Przewodnik encyklopedyczny, vol. 2: N–Ż, Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1985, 506–507.
Matywiecki, Piotr, Twarz Tuwima, Warszawa: WAB, 2007.
Urbanek, Mariusz. Tuwim, Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie, 2004.
Bio prepared by Maria Karpińska, University of Warsaw, mariakarpinska@student.uw.edu.pl
Records in database:
