Boleslaw Lesmian

The title of this article is incorrect because of technical limitations. The correct title is Bolesław Leśmian.

Bolesław Leśmian (born Bolesław Lesman; 1878¹-1937) was a Polish poet, artist and member of the Polish Academy of Literature. He was one of the most influential poets of the early 20th century in Poland and a cousin of other notable poet of the epoch – Jan Brzechwa.

Biography

Bolesław Lesman was born January 22, 1878 in Warsaw, Poland, to a family of Polonized Jewish intelligentsia. He spent his childhood and youth in Kiev, where he also graduated from the law faculty of the Saint Vladimir University. In 1901 he returned to Warsaw. From there he set off for a journey to various European cities, including Munich and Paris, where he married a painter Zofia Chylińska. Heavily influenced by French modernists, Lesman returned to Warsaw, where he became one of the founders of an experimental Artistic Theatre. There he also met one of his closest friends, Zenon Przesmycki, with whom he also got involved in publication of Chimera art newspaper.

Despite his debut took place in 1895 (a series of poems published in Wędrowiec magazine), his works initially went unnoticed. To sound "more Polish", Lesman adopted a slightly modified version of his surname which included typically Polish sounds – Leśmian. According to various conflicting sources the author of the pen-name which eventually became his official surname was either known poet and poet's uncle Antoni Lange, or a reknown bon-vivant of Warsaw, Franc Fiszer. The first booklet issued in Warsaw in 1912 (Sad Rozstajny) did not bring him much publicity either and in 1912 Leśmian moved back to France. He returned in 1914.

Since 1918 until 1934 he was working as a manager of large land properties in Hrubieszów and then as a lawyer in Zamość. At the same time he published the best known of his books: Łąka (The Meadow, 1920) and Napój cienisty (1936). In 1933 he was accepted as a permanent member of the Polish Academy of Literature. In 1935 he moved back to Warsaw, where he died two years later. He is buried in the Powazki Cemetery, in the Alley of the Meritous, among other notable Polish writers, politicians and militarymen.

Works

A skilled poet, Leśmian developed a unique style of his own. In his poems, in a fantastical, mythical and fabulous environment, often related to the Polish folklore and traditions, he described his life filosophy. Protagonists of his works are usually handicapped humans, striving between their culture and the nature, unable to accept his fate. He also expressed the idea that the poets are examples of primitive mankind, the only ones to be able to live with both the culture and nature.

His style is also notable for numerous neologisms, many of those are still in use in everyday Polish language. After his death, he has been called one of the greatest polish poets ever and certainly one of the most interesting artists of the inter-war period.

Bibliography

• SAD ROZSTAJNY, Warsaw 1912
• KLECHDY SEZAMOWE, Warsaw 1913
• ŁĄKA, Warsaw 1920
• NAPÓJ CIENISTY, Warsaw 1936
• DZIEJBA LEŚNA, Warsaw 1938
• KLECHDY POLSKIE, London 1956
• SKRZYPEK OPĘTANY, Warsaw 1985
• POCHMIEL KSIĘŻYCOWY (poetry in Russian), Warsaw 1987
• ZDZICZENIE OBYCZAJÓW POŚMIERTNYCH, Cracow 1998

Footnotes

1. Note 1: The exact daye of his birth is disputed: the act of birth mentions 1877, Leśmian himself was using 1878, while the date mentioned on his tombstone is 1879.