Stefan Weinfeld (Author)

Stefan Weinfeld was born on November 7, 1920, in Limanowa, in Southern Poland; he died on November 20, 1990, in Warsaw. He graduated from the H. Wawelberg and S. Rotwand Technical University in Warsaw as radio engineer. He worked in the administration of postal and telecommunications services (until 1956), and later at the Institute of Communications (1957–1977) in Warsaw.

Weinfield started his journalistic career in 1956 at the weekly Łączność [Communication]. He wrote popular articles and essays, he was also the author of such books as Kartki z historii telekomunikacji [Postcards from the History of Telecommunications] (1958), Jutro na Marsie [Tomorrow on Mars] (1965), Technika wspiera umysł [Technology supports the Mind] (1967), Elektryczność włada światem [Electricity Rules the World] (1968). His first SF story Szaleniec [Madman] was published in the journal Młody Technik [Young Technician] (1959, 7). Later he published in the same journal other stories eventually collected in a book entitled Władcy czasu [Time Lords]. Stefan Weinfeld’s texts were also published in the journal Fantastyka [Fantasy], some have been translated into Russian. The themes were usually time travel, wonderful inventions, contact with aliens and robots. But there were exceptions, which include the stories: Ziemia jego przodków [The Land of His Ancestors] and Zwrotnica czasu [Time Switch]. These are reflective stories that encourage readers to ponder the transience and impermanence of life. Stefan Weinfeld also wrote scripts for comic books such as Hernan Cortes i podbój Meksyku [Hernan Cortes and the Conquest of Mexico] (1986), Figurki z Tilos [Tilos Figurines] (1987), Legendy Wyspy Labiryntu [The Legends of Maze Island] (1989), Podróże Gulliwera [Gulliver's Travels] (1990), W 80 dni dookoła świata [Around the World in 80 Days] (1991) and others. He collaborated with illustrators Jerzy Wróblewski, Marek Szyszko, Zbigniew Kasprzak, and Grzegorz Rosiński. The themes of comic books were education, travel, and adventure. The Legends of Maze Island is his only comic book inspired by mythological themes.

Bio prepared by Viktoryia Bartsevich, University of Warsaw, v.bartsevich@student.uw.edu.pl

Jerzy Wróblewski (Illustrator)

Jerzy Wróblewski was born on August 7, 1941 in Inowrocław; he died on August 10, 1991 in Bydgoszcz. He was an extremely versatile cartoonist and graphic novelist (stories of the Wild West, crime, espionage, history, science fiction, war, Bible - Polscy Podróżnicy [Polish Travelers] (1988), Legendy Wyspy Labiryntu [The Legends of Maze Island]) (1989) and others). He used realistic as well as grotesque styles of drawing. His work depended heavily on the political and economic situation in the country and changing cultural policy. Comic books were subject to censorship. Party policymakers barely tolerated comics, for the elites they represented considered them an ideologically suspect phenomenon of mass culture. It was a frequent phenomenon in the work of illustrators and book authors.

Sources:

Jasiński, Maciej, Jerzy Wróblewski okiem współczesnych artystów komiksowych [Jerzy Wróblewski through the Eyes of Contemporary Comic Books Artists], Szczecin: Ongrys, 2016.

Jaworski, Marcin, Urodzony, żeby rysować: twórczość komiksowa Jerzego Wróblewskiego [Born to Draw: Jerzy Wróblewski’s Comic Books], Toruń: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika, 2015 (MA dissertation at the Nicholas Copernicus University in Toruń).

Niewiadowski, Andrzej and Anton Smuszkiewicz, Leksykon polskiej literatury fantastycznonaukowej.Poznań: Wydawnictwo Poznańskie, 1990, 211–212.

Bio prepared by Viktoryia Bartsevich, University of Warsaw, v.bartsevich@student.uw.edu.pl