HERBERT Zbigniew

Born on 29 October 1924 in Lwow (now Lviv, Ukraine); son of the lawyer and bank director Bolesław Herbert and Maria, née Kaniak. He attended the King Kazimierz the Great State Grammar School No. VIII in Lwow. Following the outbreak of World War II and occupation of the city by the Soviet Union on 23 September 1939, he continued his education initially at the same school (which was renamed Middle School No. 14) before moving in 1940 to Middle School No. 28, which before the war had been the Ursuline Sisters' Private Girls' School. In early 1941, he had a skiing accident that resulted in a complex fracture of his right thigh bone. He suffered from related health complications for the rest of his life. During the German occupation of Lwow, he attended secret classes from August 1941. Having completed his advanced secondary education in January 1944, he started studying Polish philology at the underground Jan Kazimierz University. He also took up paid employment in Lwow, including as a louse feeder as part of the production of inoculations against typhus at the Prof. Rudolf Weigl's Institute. He was also a salesman at a shop selling metal goods. He left for Krakow in late March 1944 together with his family, spending the second half of that year living in Proszowice, near Krakow, before returning to the city. He took up a degree at the Trade Academy in March 1945, graduating in January 1948. He also studied law in parallel at the Jagiellonian University (UJ) from autumn 1945. He was a member of the liberal Catholic Logophage Club, founded in Krakow by figures including Andrzej Ciechanowiecki, which saw him join regular discussion events that addressed issues related to the humanities and the legal and political realms. He and his parents moved to Sopot in December 1947. He visited Torun intermittently, where he enrolled at the Faculty of Law and Economics at the Nicolaus Copernicus University (UMK), continuing the law degree he had begun at UJ. He earned a living during this period by working at the Gdynia branch of the National Bank of Poland from March to June 1948 and then at the Gdansk office of the business newspaper "Przegląd Kupiecki". He published his first column piece, Egzystencjalizm dla laików (Existentialism for Laypersons),in 1948 in the Szczecin-based "Tygodnik Wybrzeża" (no. 38). This text was the first of his cycle Poetyka dla laików (Poetics for Laypersons; nos 38-39, 42/43, 46-47). During this period, he was made a candidate-member of the Gdansk Branch of the Polish Writers' Trade Union (ZZLP; in 1949 it became the Polish Writers' Union, ZLP). From 1949 until his resignation from the ZLP in April 1951, he worked in the offices of the Gdansk branch. As part of his work, he gave touring talks in the Warmia and Mazuria region. During this period, he was in a relationship with Halina Misołek, the addressee of his posthumously-published letters Listów do Muzy (Letters to a Muse). Having graduated with a master in laws in June 1949 from UMK, he studied philosophy at the same university, where Prof. Henryk Elzenberg↑ served as his supervisor and mentor. He combined employment and studies with his writing and journalism. During this period, he was associated with the journals and pubilcations of the PAX Association, namely the daily "Słowo Powszechne", contributing reviews in 1949 and then in 1950/51 the column series Katarzynki (named after a famous Torun biscuit), also using the pseudonyms Patryk and Mikołaj, and the daily "Dziś i Jutro", where in 1950 his debut poems (published without his permission) appeared: Napis (Inscription), Pożegnanie września (Farewell to September) and Złoty środek (Golden mean; no. 37; also using the pseudonyms Patryk and Stefan Marthà). Until 1953, he published essays and both literary and art reviews in the same daily. He published a larger selection of poems in the anthology ...Każdej chwili wybierać muszę (... I must make a choice at each moment), which was published by PAX in late 1954. He also collaborated with the liberal Catholic weekly "Tygodnik Powszechny" (1950-53; including the opinion column Bez ogródek [No limits]), "Ilustrowany Kurier Polski" (w 1950-51; primarily column pieces published under the by-lines: Z.H. or ZH), and "Przegląd Powszechny" (from 1952, reviews published under the pseudonym Bolesław Hertyński). He began the fourth year of his philosophy degree in October 1951 at the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciencnes at the University of Warsaw (UW) before abandoning his studies in spring 1952. He regularly moved houses, renting a room in Brwinów near Warsaw in 1951 before finding temporary accommodation at the Centre for the Blind in Laski near Warsaw, where he heard lectures on the philosophy of St Thomas giving by Sister Teresa (Zofia Landy). He later moved to Warsaw, becoming the flatmate of Władysław Walczykiewicz, a former coursemate from his law degree in Torun. He found his own flat in Warsaw thanks to the assistance of Jerzy Zawieyski↑ in 1957. He earned a living as a paid blood donor in 1952, then as a surveyor and chronometer at the Wspólna Sprawa (Common Cause) Cooperative of Disabled Retired Teachers from October 1953 to January 1954. He was then a senior assistant at Torfprojekt, the Central Research and Development Office of the Peat Industry until late December 1954. In autumn 1955, he took up commissions as a researcher, including for the Bibliografii filozofii polskiej (Bibliography of Polish Philosophy), edited by Alicja Kadler, and developing a glossary of concepts for Wissarion Bieliński's Pisma filozoficzne (Philosophical writings). From September 1956 to March 1957, he was employed as the director of the office of the Central Board of the Association of Polish Composers. He joined the ZLP in 1955, remaining a member until the Union's dissolution in 1983. From 1955 until 1965, he collaborated with the monthly "Twórczość", where he initially published poems before making his debut as a playwright in 1956 with Jaskinia filozofów (The Philosophers' Cave; no 9). He again wrote for "Tygodnik Powszechny" regularly between 1956 and 1961, and then intermittently in 1969, 1971-73, 1975, and 1980-81. His debut volume of poetry Struna światła (Shaft of light) appeared in 1956. His first radio play, Drugi pokój (A Second Room), was broadcast on Polish Radio in 1958. He travelled to France in May 1958 thanks to a grant from the Ministry of Culture and Arts awarded in autumn 1957. He spent the most time in Paris, where he improved his French at the Institut Catholique de Paris and also attended the Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne over the summer. During this period, he established personal contacts with members of the émigré community including Jerzy Giedroyc↑, editor of the Paris-based journal "Kultura", as well as writers connected to the periodical including Czesław Miłosz↑, Józef Czapski↑, and Konstanty A. Jeleński↑. He was also assisted by Raymonde van Elsen in everyday matters. He spent the first three months of 1959 in the United Kingdom, spending most time with the London-based Polish émigré community to which he was introduced by Jerzy S. Sito ↑. He was hosted alongside Zdzisław Najder↑ in Stanmore by Magdalena Czajnowska and Zbigniew Czajkowski, with whom he remained friends until his death. In summer 1959, he travelled around Italy, from Venice to Naples and Paestum, before visiting the south of France in the following months. After returning to Poland in spring 1960, he commuted from Warsaw to nearby Obory to work and also to Kazimierz Dolny, while also receiving treatment at the sanatorium in Otwock. He travelled to Prague in 1961 with a ZLP delegation. He received the 1961 Ring Prize (Nagroda Pierścienia) and the title of Prince of Words (Książe Słowa) from the Central Council of the Polish Students' Association. The same year, he was awarded a Ford Foundation grant, which he received in 1964. The 1962 volume Barbarzyńca w ogrodzie (Barbarian in the Garden) marked the beginning of his career as an essayist. The volume was inspired by the history and culture of Southern and Western Europe. In summer 1963, he set off on another period of foreign travels, visiting London, where he established contacts with BBC Radio and with the poets associated with the "Kontynenty" periodical, before travelling to Scotland. He lived in Paris from late 1963, where in December of that year he received the Kościelski Foundation Prize. Following stays in Brittany and Normandy in January, he established contact with Witold Gombrowicz↑ in April 1964, while in the second half of the year, he travelled via Italy to Greece, visiting Athens, Crete, Mykonos, Sparta, Olympia and Delphi. He held discussions in autumn of that year in Frankfurt on the Main with the publisher Siegfried Unseld, director of the Suhrkamp publishing house, and the translator Karl Dedecius. The discussions were related to the publication of a German-language collection of his poetry, Gedichte (Poems). He also attended poetry readings that were organised for him in Vienna. He returned to Poland in late 1964. In September 1965, he was appointed director of the international poetry section of the monthly "Poezja". He resigned from this post in 1968 after Artur Międzyrzecki↑ and Marian Grześczak↑ were removed from the team. From 1965 to 1966, he was literary director (dramaturg) at the Juliusz Osterwa State Theatre in Gorzow Wielkopolski, which was led by Irena Byrska with Tadeusz Byrski as lead director. In 1965, he was awarded the prize of the New York-based Alfred Jurzykowski Foundation and also the Internationaler Nikolaus-Lenau Preis (Österreichischer Staatspreis für Europäische Literatur / Austrian State Prize for European Literature). He received the latter in Vienna in October of that year, subsequently staying in Austria until May 1966, where he wrote the poem Dlaczego klasycy (Why the Classics), which was dedicated to the Austrian actress Angelika Hauff-Nagl, with whom he was then in a relationship. He also wrote the first poems in the Pan Cogito (Mr Cogito) cycle. He spent the next two years travelling between Italy, France, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and West Germany. He was awarded a grant by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for a one year stay in West Berlin. During this period, he continued writing literary works, giving talks and meeting members of Polish émigré writers and artists, as well as West European publishers and translators. He struggled with health problems. In autumn 1966, he was diagnosed with bipolar-affective disorder and drank excessive amounts of alcohol when he was in a depressed state. In March 1968, he married Katarzyna Dzieduszycka at the Polish consulate in Paris. He met her in 1956 when she worked at the office of the Association of Polish Music Artists, which was located next door to the Main Office of the Union of Polish Composers in Warsaw's Old Town. He and his wife settled in West Berlin. In June 1968, he was appointed a corresponding member of the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste (Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts) in Munich. He was invited to spend two summer months at the Lincoln Poetry Center, USA, in 1968. He also travelled to New York, California (meeting Janina and Czesław Miłosz in Berkeley as well as to San Francisco and Los Angeles), Arizona (the Grand Canyon), New Mexico (Santa Fe), Texas (Dallas), Louisiana (New Orleans), and Washington DC. He continued to reside in West Berlin. While making two attempts to extend the validity of his passport (April 1969 and in February/March 1970) in Warsaw, he encountered difficulties with the Security Service (SB). He received several nominations for the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, the first in 1970 (followed by 1972, 1978, 1984, and 1994). Following an invitation from California State College, he was in Los Angeles from September 1970 to June 1971 as a visiting professor, lecturing on poetry and European drama. He travelled around California, including a visit to Death Valley in the Mojave Desert. In summer 1971, he returned to Warsaw where permission for a larger apartment was withdrawn, meaning that he found accommodation in the flat of Julia Hartwig↑ and Artur Międzyrzecki (who were in the US at the time). It was only in 1974 that he received his own flat. He became a member of the Polish PEN Club in 1972 (resigning his membership in 1991). He was elected to the Executive Board of the ZLP in 1975, where he was critical of Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz's↑ presidency. During the 1973/74 academic year, he gave a regular lecture on Wybrane zagadnienia poezji XIX i XX wieku (Selected aspects of nineteenth- and twentieth-century poetry) at the Institute of Polish Philology at the University of Gdansk. In May 1973, he was awarded the G. von Herder Prize in Vienna. The following year, he was made a member of the Academy of Arts (Akademie der Künste) in West Berlin. As a result of efforts of members of the artistic community that had begun in the late 1960s and intensified following the publication of his volume of poetry Pan Cogito (Mr Cogito), he was tipped to be a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature (most notably in 1976). He demonstrated solidarity with the activities of the democratic opposition in Poland. He was a signatory of the "Letter of 17" (List 17.), submitted in November 1971 to the Minister of Justice by writers calling for a review of the trial into the participants in the Ruch (Movement) conspiratorial organization. In 1973, he attempted to secure a pardon for Jerzy Kowalczyk, who had been sentenced to death following the bombing of the Higher School of Education in Opole in 1971. He also signed the "Letter of 15" (List 15.), addressed to the government of the Polish People's Republic (PRL) in 1974. Artists and writers issued an appeal for Poles living in the USSR to be given access to Polish culture. He also signed the "Memorandum of 59" (Memoriał 59.), issued in December 1975 in protest against proposed changes to the Constitution of the PRL. As a result of restrictions imposed upon him for these activities, he was issued with a ban by censors in February 1976 that meant that he was barred from publishing new works until 1979. He was also under observation by the Security Service and its undercover agents. As a result of his worsening bipolar disorder, he decided to seek psychiatric treatment at the Warsaw Nowowiejski Hospital in spring 1976. His numerous travels around Poland and abroad throughout the 1970s as part of readings, literary festivals and private trips took him to countries including Yugoslavia, Austria, Greece, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium. He often travelled to West Germany before settling in West Berlin in October 1976 where he remained for several years. In summer 1977, he underwent an operation there and also received clinical and hospital treatment. As part of his convalescence, he visited, among other places, Morsum on the North Sea island of Sylt and England. In summer 1979, he was awarded the West German Petrarca-Preis. In subsequent years, he served on the jury of this prize. His longest stay in Poland was from January 1981. He supported the political movement associated with the Independent Self-governing Trade Union Solidarity (Solidarność). He joined the editorial board of the underground publication "Zapis", which was not subject to state censorship. His poetry, as well as prose in 1985/86, also appeared in other underground publications that were not subject to state censorship. He also wrote opinion pieces for independent journals addressing the connections between recent history and the contemporary political situation, likewise giving interviews with figures including Adam Michnik published as Płynie się zawsze do źródeł, pod prąd, z prądem płyną śmiecie (You always swim towards the source, against the current; flotsam and jetsam goes with the current; "Krytyka", no. 8, 1981) and Jacek Trznadel, published as Wypluć z siebie wszystko (Spit it all out; "Kultura Niezależna", no.14, 1985). With the imposition of martial law in December 1981, he ceased publishing in the state-approved Polish press. In 1983, he withdrew his collection of essays Labirynt nad morzem (A Labyrinth by the Sea), which he had submitted years earlier for publication with the Czytelnik publishing house, while his volume of poetry Raport z oblężonego Miasta (Report from the Besieged City) appeared in 1983 with the Paris-based Instytut Literacki. It was reprinted by underground publishing houses in Poland. In 1985, he was a signatory of the Appeal of 77 (Apel 77.), which called for an unconditional amnesty for interned and imprisoned opposition activists and for the democratization of life in Poland. It was published in "Tygodnik Mazowsze Solidarność" (no. 145, 1985). He was one of the signatories of a letter issued in 1986 by representatives of the Polish PEN Club addressed to the international PEN federation in relation to the imprisoned poet and literary historian Lothar Herbst↑ (published in "Ogniwo", no. 22 1986). He was still subject to invigilation by the Polish security apparatus, including listening devices installed in his home. He struggled with health problems and thus continued to receive treatment in Warsaw, while in spring 1985 he spent a longer period receiving care in Szczawnica. In the early 1980s, he received the A. Strug Prize (1981), the Solidarity Honorary Cultural Prize (1983), the M. Sęp Szarzyński Prize from the editorial board of "W drodze" and the Wiązania (Bonds) Literary Circle (1984), the International Writers' Prize of the Welsh Arts Council (Gwobr Llenor Rhyngwladol Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru, 1984; he did not accept this award), and the International Poetry Biennale Prize of the Belgian Authors' Association (SABAM; Grand Prix des Biennales Internationales de Poésie for 1984; he collected the award in 1986). He left Poland for several years in January 1986. He was initially hosted at the Literary Institute (Instytut Literacki) in Maisons-Laffitte before receiving a flat from the social housing pool of the city of Paris, which he and his wife used until 1991. During this period, he received assistance from friends including K.A. Jeleński as well as from colleagues associated with the periodical "Zeszyty Literackie", Barbara Toruńczyk, Adam Zagajewski↑ and Wojciech Karpiński↑. He was elected a member of the Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung in Darmstadt in 1986, na while 1986/87 he spent time in West Germany, primarily West Berlin, on a DAAD grant. Owinig to his worsening lung condition, he spent time in hospital in France in spring 1988 and December 1989. He continued to travel, visiting countries including Italy in 1989/90, Germany between 1990 and 1992, and Israel, Spain and the Netherlands in 1991. During this period, he was awarded numerous prizes in recognition of his literary achievements: the Hungarian Bethlen Gábor Prize (1987), the PEN/Bruno Schulz Prize of the American Association of Polish Jewish Studies and the US-American PEN (1988; he was represented by Czesław Miłosz at the award ceremony), the J. Parandowski Prize of the Polish PEN Club (1989), the international Vilenica prize of the Society of Slovenian Writers (1991), and the Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society. In 1990, he was made an honorary member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in New York, while in 1993 he became a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences. He joined the newly-foudned Polish Writers' Association (SPP) in 1989. He served on the editiorial board of the periodical "NaGłos" in 1990/91. From 1989, he again contributed to Polish periodicals, developing extensive collaborations throughout the 1990s. His poems, essays and column pieces appeared in periodicals including "Zeszyty Literackie" (which had an editorial office in Warsaw from 1990), "Tygodnik Powszechny", "Tygodnik Solidarność", the Warsaw-based "Życie", and the daily "Rzeczpospolita" as well as its supplement "Plus Minus". Collections of his poetry and prose appeared with Polish pubilshers from 1991. In January 1992, he returned to Warsaw, suffering from declining mental health and growing problems with asthma. He lived in the city for the rest of his life. He followed socio-political affairs closely and often issues public statements on such matters. In 1991, for example, he addressed an open letter to US President George Bush regarding the fate of the Kurds, while in 1992 he signed a declaration by the editors of the periodical "Arka" on decommunization. In an open letter in 1994, he calleed for an investigation into the circumstances around the murder of Stanisław Pyjas, calling for punishment of those responsible. He also commented on the draft of a new constitution. In 1995, he published a letter in support of the Chechen president Dzokhar Dudaev and also made an intervention with Polish president Lech Wałęsa regarding the rehabilitation of the colonel Ryszard Kukliński. He was awarded the Kazimierz Wyka Literary Prize in 1993 in recognition of his entire artistic oeuvre as a writer and essayist, with particular emphasis on his volume Martwa natura z wędzidłem (Still life with a bridle). The same year, he also received the Golden Microphone prize in recognition of his outstanding achievements as an author of radio plays. In 1994, the poets' section of the Warsaw Branch of the Polish Writers' Union (ZLP) awarded him a special prize, together with the title of Prince of Poets, but he turned it down. In 1995, he received the T.S. Eliot Prize awarded by the US Ingersoll Foundation, associated with the Rockford Institute. He also received the prize of the New York-based Józef Piłsudski Institute of the J. Łojek Foundation. He was awarded the Grand Prix of the Polish Cultural Foundation in 1996, while in 1997 he received the S.B. Linde Prize of the Partner Cities of Toruń and Göttingen. He died on 28 July 1998 at the Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease in Warsaw, where he is buried at the Powązki Cemetery. He was awarded the Order of the White Eagle posthumously in 1998, which was received in his name by his wife Katarzyna Dzieduszycka-Herbert and his sister Halina Herbert-Żebrowska from president Lech Kaczyński only in 2007 after the honour had been re-awarded. In 1998, he also received the literary prize of the Minister of Culture, likewise posthumously. Members of Szczecin city council established the Zbigniew Herbert Grant for young poets in 1998. Herbertiada, the annual Review of the Works of Zbigniew Herbert has been held annually in Kołobrzeg since 2000. The Zbigniew Herbert Warsaw Poetry Festival was held between 2004 and 2007 in the city. Katarzyna Dzieduszycka-Herbert initiated the Zbigniew Herbert Foundation in 2010. Since 2013, it has awarded the Zbigniew Herbert Literary Prize. The Sejm, the Polish parliament, made 2008 and 2018 the Year of Zbigniew Herbert. The worldwide Year of Zbigniew Herbert, under the patronage of UNESCO, was held in 2024, the year of the centerary of his birth.