LITWORNIA Andrzej

Born on 5 October 1943 in Tarnów; son of the civil servant Kazimierz Litwornia and the pharmacist Zofia Murawa. He attended primary school and grammar school in Twardogóra, now Lower Silesian Voivodeship. He joined the Polish Scouting Association (ZHP) in 1957. After completing his advanced secondary education in 1961 he studied Polish philology at the University of Wroclaw (UWr), graduating with a master's degree in 1966. That year he took up a post at UWr, working as an assistant (then senior assistant from 1968) at the Chair of Polish Literature (which in 1971 became the Institute of Polish Philology) at the Faculty of Philology. He was active in the university branch of the Polish Teachers' Union (ZNP). He made his debut in 1967 with a shortened version of his master's dissertation, Stefan Grabowiecki. (Zarys biograficzny) (Stefan Grabowiecki: A biographical overview), which was published in "Prace Literackie" (vol. 9, pp. 31–81). He went on several short-term fellowships to Prague, Brno and Jena in the early 1970s. His essays and reviews appeared in the journal "Pamiętnik Literacki" (intermittently, but increasingly often, between 1973 and 1995). He was awarded a doctoral degree in 1974 for his dissertation Sebastian Grabowiecki. Zarys monograficzny (Sebastian Grabowiecki: A monographic overview), which was supervised by Prof. Czesław Hernas. He was subsequently appointed lecturer. His research focused on sixteenth- and seventeenth century Polish literature, before later primarily exploring Polish-Italian cultural and literary connections. From November 1974 to January 1975, and again from October 1975 to August 1978, he was deputy director of the Institute of Polish Philology at UWr (he was in Rome from January to July 1975 on an Italian government fellowship). In 1977, he participated in a summer school in Massa Marittima, Tuscany, on Italian language and literature for foreigners, which was organized by the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan. In 1978, he was a visiting lecturer at the Pedagogical Institute in Vilnius (Lithuanian SSR). From 1978 to 1981, he was a member of the editorial college of the publishing houses of the University of Wroclaw, (Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego). He was a bibliophile and book collector, with his private library including Polish historical manuscripts, contemporary literature and specialist works in Slavonic studies. He collaborated with the television station in Wroclaw, presenting his own cultural show Antykwariat (Second-Hand Bookshop). He visited many parts of Europe. He remained active in the Polish Scouting Association as an instructor (deputy scout leader). In 1978 and 1979 he co-organized the camps of the Wrocław District (Chorągiew Wrocławska) scout groups in Pesaro, Italy. Between 1979 and 1984, he worked at La Sapienza University in Rome as a Polish language tutor, before being appointed on a temporary contract as a lecturer in 1984/85. Owing to ill health, he remained in Italy on sick leave until 1989. After returning to Wroclaw he continued to work at UWr. In October 1990 he took up the post of tutor in Polish language at the University of Florence. In 1992, he was appointed associate professor for Polish language and literature, taking up the Chair in Polish Language and Literature at the University of Udine. From 1993 to 1995, he was also professor of Polish language and literature at the University of Pisa. He was a member of the Associazzione Italiana dei Slavisti from 1993 and of the Associazzione Italiana dei Ucraini from 1996. He was actively involved in the cultural life of Polish émigrés in Italy, giving lectures, contributing to the Polish press abroad, and conducting television and radio interviews with Polish writers and filmmakers, most nostably Gustaw Herling–Grudziński and Andrzej Wajda. In the mid-1990s he started collaborating with Polish Television (TVP) as co-author of films on historical relations between Italy and Poland. He also published articles and reviews in the periodical "Arkusz" between 1994 and 2001. From 1998 to 2004, he was director of studies at the Centre for Audiovisual-based Teaching of Foreign Languages in Udine. In 1999, he was appointed to the editorial committee of the journal "Studia Mythologica", published in Ljubljana by the Slovenian Academy of Sciences in collaboration with the Department of Central and Eastern European Languages and Cultures at the University of Udine. He was awarded the Decoration of Honor Meritorious for Polish Culture in 1988 and the Diploma of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for outstanding achievements in promoting Poland internationally in 2005. In 1969, he married the Polish studies scholar Wiesława Balcewicz; they divorced in 1978. In 1983, he married the fine arts graduate and artist Krystyna Swaton, née Schwarzer. He died on 16 March 2006 in Udine and is buried at St Lawrence's Cemetery (św. Wawrzyńca) in Wroclaw.