MIRKOWICZ Tomasz

Born on 9 July 1953 in Warsaw; son of the economist Tadeusz Mirkowicz and the dental surgeon Janina Sosińska-Mirkowicz, née Zaniewicka. Between 1963 and 1967, he lived with his family in Egypt, where his father worked at the Cairo office of a Polish trading company. While living in the city he attended Cairo American College. After he and his family returned to Poland, he attended the English-language class at the Nicolaus Copernicus Grammar School No. XXXIII in Warsaw from 1967 to 1971. After completing advanced secondary education in 1971, he studied at the Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology. He abandoned this degree after a year and from 1972 instead studied at the Institute of English Studies at the University of Warsaw (UW). During his studies he was involved in the Seminar for Young Translators (Seminiarium dla Młodych Tłumaczy), organized by the Translators' Club (Klub Tłumaczy), which was based at the Warsaw Branch of the Polish Writers' Union (ZLP), and the editorial office of the periodical "Literatura na Świecie". The Seminar ran from October 1974 to March 1975. In subsequent years he was active as a translator. In 1975, he married the translator Julita Wroniak with whom he also produced co-translations. He made his debut as a translator of the works of Ken Kesey in 1976 with pieces published as Wycieczka (A Trip) and Listy z Meksyku (Letters from Mexico) in the periodical "Literatura na Świecie" (no. 6). He subsequently became a regular contributor to the publication. He graduated with a master's degree in 1977, subsequently taking a doctoral degree at the Institute of English Studies at UW between 1979 and 1982. His dissertation explored James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. In 1979, he published a review of the anthology New stories (London 1976) in "Literatura na Świecie" (no. 3). This text, titled 69 nowych opowiadań angielskich (69 new English short stories), marked the start of his career as a reviewer of English-language prose. He was a member of the Board of the Circle of Young Translators (Koło Młodych Tłumaczy), which was based at the Translators' Club of the Warsaw Branch of the Polish Writers' Union (ZLP). In 1981, he spent a short period in the United States. In 1984, he published the short story Tunel (Tunnel) in the second circulation (works published outside the reach of state censorship) using the pseudonym Tomasz Minona. In April 1986, he and his wife travelled to the USA on a US Government fellowship. During this period, following a investigation into the Regional Executive Committee of the Independent Self-governing Trade Union Solidarity (NSZZ "Solidarność"), Zbigniew Bujak was arrested in Warsaw while hiding in the Mirkowiczs' flat. After returning to Poland in August of that year, he and his wife were placed in custody before being released from arrest the following month. He subsequently served as director of the English-language Editorial Office at the State Publishing Institute (Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy) publishing house. His translations won awards, including the 1987 "Literatura na Świecie" prize and the 1998 Association of Polish Translators (STP) prize. He spent a year in the USA in 1991 on a Kościuszko Foundation fellowship. In the 1990s he published in periodicals including "FA-art" (1993–95 and 1999), the "Ex Libris" book supplement of the daily "Życie Warszawy" (1994), and the daily "Gazeta Wyborcza", including its magazine supplement "Gazeta Magazyn" (1995 and 1997). In 1998, he took a three-month cruise to South America. That year he also received a grant from the Ministry of Culture and Art. From 2001 to 2003 he worked at the UW Institute of English Studies as a lecturer in US-American literature. He also wrote a doctoral thesis on the works of Harry Matthews. He died on 7 May 2003 in Warsaw. His ashes were scattered in various locations around the world. He collected posters and pictures by Franciszek Starowieyski, which were put on display at the National Library shortly after Mirkowicz's death. He was a member of the Association of Polish Translators (STP), the Polish Writers' Association (SPP) from 1989, and the Polish PEN Club. In recognition of both his efforts towards restoring Poland's full independence and sovereignty, and his respect for human rights, he was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 2011.