ŻÓŁKIEWSKI Stefan

Born on 9 December 1911 in Warsaw; son of the civil servant Jan Żółkiewski (died 1924), and Izabela Stopczyk. He attended the Władysław IV Grammar School in Warsaw, completing his advanced secondary education there in 1929. During this period he earned a living as a private tutor. He then studied Polish philology at the University of Warsaw (UW), graduating with a master's degree in 1934. He was actively involved in the Circle of Polish Philologists, serving as its chair from 1932 to 1934. He made his debut in 1934 with an article on the subject of nationalism, Na terenie nieprzyjaciela (On enemy ground), which appeared in the periodical "Państwo Pracy" (no. 25). In 1934/35, he was a member of the Youth Legion in Warsaw and was involved in its academic section, as well as its Executive Board. In 1934, he married the Polish philologist and later author of children's and youth literature Wanda Fabijanowska. They divorced in 1949. Between 1935 and 1939, he was a teacher at the Trade and Grammar School (Gimnazjum Zgromadzenia Kupców) in Warsaw. During this period, he wrote his first pieces of literary criticism, publishing works in literary studies and on humanities research methods in Polish philology journals, including "Życie Literackie" (1937-38). During the German occupation, he continued to work as a teacher in secret schools. He was actively involved in underground cultural, educational and political life (using the pseudonym Stefan Paprocki). In 1942, he joined the Polish Workers' Party (PPR) and was a member of the People's Guard (Gwardia Ludowa) then later the People's Army (Armia Ludowa). He and his wife were involved in assisting Jews during the liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto. Between 1942 and 1944, he collaborated with the Union of Fighting Youth (ZWM). Between 1942 and 1945, he was co-editor of underground periodicals that were published or inspired by the PPR: "Literatura Walcząca" (1942) and "Przełom" (1942-1943; here using the name Szymon Budny); he was editor of the educational magazine "Poradnik Oświatowy" (1943-44) and a member of the editorial board of the periodical "Realizacje" (1944). From January 1944, he was a deputy on the State National Council (KRN) and editor of its publication "Rada Narodowa" (also publishing there under the name Zygmunt Krawczyk). He was in the Praga district during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. He edited the daily newspaper "Głos Warszawy" (Praga edition). He was held in a transit camp in Pruszków following the defeat of the uprising, before escaping after two weeks. After crossing the front line, he reached Lublin where he was appointed director of the Organizational Section of the KRN's Presidential Office. He continued to edit "Rada Narodowa" and work as a journalist addressing literary and social issues. He published articles and reviews in "Głos Ludu" (1944-48) and "Odrodzenie" (1944-47). In late 1944, he co-founded the Polish-Soviet Friendship Society (TPPR), where he was later also an activist. After the authorities moved to Warsaw in 1945, he worked in the Ministry of Education and the Executive Board of the Polish Teachers' Union (ZNP). From June 1945, he lived in Lodz and served until December 1948 as editor-in-chief of the weekly "Kuźnica", where he published numerous articles and polemical pieces until 1950 on themes including the literature and culture of what was known officially as the imperialist period and the cultural policies of the authorities (authoring numerous notes as: bs., żłk; (żłk); żłk.). He joined the Polish Writers' Trade Union (ZZLP; from 1949 the Polish Writers' Union – ZLP) in 1946, becoming chair of the Warsaw Branch in 1948. In 1946, he joined the Theatre Council at the Theatre Department of the Ministry of Culture and Arts and was appointed editor-in-chief of the Lodz theatre magazine "Łódź Teatralna". That year he also joined the editorial board of the journal "Myśl Współczesna". Between 1946 and 1967, he was deputy chair of the Polish National Committee for UNESCO. He was a deputy of the Polish parliament, the Sejm, from 1947 until 1968. From December 1947 to December 1948, he was head of the Department of Education and Culture of the Central Committee of the PPR. Following the unification congress, he joined the newly-formed ruling party, the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR). He joined the Polish PEN Club in 1948. In 1948, he initiated and co-founded the Institute of Literary Research (IBL), an independent academic research institution under the Ministry of Education. He served as its director from 30 September 1948. In 1949, he also took up a post at the University of Warsaw (UW) and was made associate professor the following year, serving until 1956 and then again from 1959 to 1968. He taught literary theory and the history of literary culture in Poland. He introduced the principles of Marxist literary studies into his research during this period. He was a member of the Commission for Scientific Affairs of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the PZPR. He also lectured in party schools based at the Central Committe. He was also lecturer at the Central Committee of the PZPR. In January 1949, he gave a paper at the Fourth Congress of Delegates of the ZZLP in Szczecin titled Aktualne zagadnienia powojennej prozy polskiej (Current issues in postwar Polish prose), which called for the application of a socialist-realist approach in literature. Between 1950 and 1952, he served on the editorial board of the literary journal "Pamiętnik Literacki". He married Barbara Bormann. He was awarded a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Wroclaw (UWr) for his study Stare i nowe literaturoznawstwo (Old and new literary studies). That year, he was one of the recipients of the collective State Prize – second class, awarded in recognition of achievements in research applying Marxist methods to literary studies. He joined the editorial committee of the Słownik współczesnego języka polskiego (Dictionary of contemporary Polish; published Warsaw, 1951). In 1952, he was awarded a habilitation degree for his study Spór o Mickiewicza (The Mickiewicz controversies) and was made state-appointed professor. After being appointed secretary of the First Social Science Section of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) in May 1952, he left his post as director of the IBL in October of that year, with IBL having been incorporated into PAN in July 1952. That year, he became a member of the Praesidium of PAN (serving until 1968). He was made a corresponding member of PAN. In 1954/55, he was scientific secretary of PAN. In 1953, he joined the Scientific Council of IBL PAN, serving as its chair until 1987. He then remained a member of the Council. In 1954, he received a doctorate in philology and was made full professor. He was a member of the Central Committee of the PZPR from 1954 to 1968, serving as director of the Department of Education, Science and Culture of the Central Committee between 1954 and 1956. From 1956 to 1959, he was Minister of Higher Education. At the same time, he continued to write literary criticism and journalistic pieces, publishing numerous articles and reviews in "Nowa Kultura" (1950-62; also as żłk), "Przegląd Kulturalny" (from 1954; where in 1963 he published the series of columns Nauka – kultura – społeczeństwo [Science, culture, society]) and in "Życie Literackie" (1962-66). He served as editor-in-chief of the current affairs weekly "Polityka" (February 1957 – May 1958; publishing numerous articles there in 1957-65, 1972-77, and 1981-86 as zet and żłk.) and then of the quarterly "Kultura i Społeczeństwo" (1960-67). Between 1959 and 1964, he also worked at the Chair of the History of Polish Literature, before being appointed Chair of Literary Theory at UW, holding the position from 1964 to 1968. During this period, his research focused on literary culture and he developed a new approach that involved contemporary anthropology, sociology and semiotics. From 1960 until 1968, he was again secretary of the First Section of PAN and during the same period he was head of the Committee on Studies of Contemporary Culture at PAN. He was also a member of the Committee on Literary Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences (which in 1975 became the Committee on Polish Literature – KNoLP – at PAN), serving on its praesidium from 1978 to 1983. He was elected a full member of PAN in 1961. Between 1960 and 1968, he continued to work at IBL where he was head of the Department of Contemporary Literature II, while in 1965 he was appointed head of the newly-formed Department of Contemporary Culture, which in 1967 was separated from the IBL and placed under the auspices of Section I of PAN. In 1963, he was awarded the prize of the Minister of Higher Education in recognition of his achievements in the years 1961 and 1962, while in 1964 he received the State Prize – second class. From 1966, he served on the Board of the International Association for Semiotic Studies, while in 1968 he was appointed chair of the Polish Semiotic Studies Association. In 1967/68, he chaired the PAN Committee for Peace Studies. During what are known as the March Events of 1968, he expressed solidarity with protesting students and joined an occupation strike at UW, which resulted in his dismissal from the University, from his post as secretary of Section I of PAN, and from the Central Committee of the PZPR. As a professor at IBL, he was head of the Centre for the History of Contemporary Literature (which in 1971 became the Centre for Twentieth-Century Literature), as well as the Department of Studies of Literary Culture, which joined the Centre in 1971. From 1968, he was on the editorial committee of the IBL series Historia i Teoria Literatury. Studia (The History and Theory of Literature: Studies). He initiated and organized research on literary life and culture in twentieth-century Poland. He was editor-in-chief of the publication series "Obraz Literatury Polskiej XIX i XX w." (The image of Polish literature in the 19th and 20th centuries) from 1975. In 1978, he joined the editorial committee of the publication series and later bi-annual English-language IBL periodical "Literary Studies in Poland". In 1980, he was awarded the prize of the Scientific Secretary of PAN in recognition of his research achievements. He rejoined the Praesidium of PAN from 1980 to 1986. In August 1980, he signed Appeal of 64 intellectuals, writers and journalists that was addressed to the communist authorities, imploring them to enter into dialogue with the striking dockyard workers. In December 1981, he was serving on the Organizing Committee of the Congress of Polish Culture in Warsaw. After retiring in January 1982, he remained active as a researcher. He was a member of the Scientific Councils of IBL and KNoLP. In 1982, he joined the revived Warsaw Learned Society. From 1982 to 1985, he edited the IBL publication series Problemy Kultury Literackiej (Problems in Literary Culture). He was awarded the Copernicus Medal in 1985, marking the thirty-fifth anniversary of PAN, and was made an honorary member of the Adam Mickiewicz Literary Society. He was the recipient of numerous honours, including the Order of the Grunwald Cross – second class (1945), the Medal for Warsaw 1939-1945 (1946), the Gold Cross of Merit (1947), the Order of the Banner of Work – first class (1950), the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1954), the Medal of the Committee of National Education (1964), and the Japanese state Order of the Sacred Treasure (1963). He died on 4 January 1991 in Warsaw, where he is buried at the Powązki Cemetery.