TRZEBIŃSKI Andrzej

Born on 27 January 1922 in Radogoszcz near Łomża; son of the agronomist and estate manager Stanisław Trzebiński and Irena née Lasocka. He spent his childhood in Komierowo in the Kashubian Lake District. From 1932, he lived in Warsaw where he attended the Tadeusz Czacki State Secondary and Grammar School. From 1936, he was a member of the editorial board of the periodical "Promień Szkolny", which was run by secondary school pupils. It was there that he made his debut in 1937 with the piece Fraszka o mędrcu (Sketch about a wise man; in issue no. 3), before making his debut as a literary critic in the same periodical in 1939 with an article that began with the words Życie artysty... (The life of an artist; in issue no. 6). He remained in Warsaw during the German occupation. He worked as a sawyer on the railways, a rickshaw driver, construction worker, and private tutor. After completing advanced secondary education in secret classes at the T. Czacki Secondary School in 1940, he studied Polish and Slavic philology at the underground University of Warsaw (UW). In December 1941, he became a founding member of the underground organization Confederation of the Nation, later serving as its head of press distribution. He also became associated with the group of artists associated with the underground monthly "Sztuka i Naród" (Art and Nation), where from 1942 he published poems, song lyrics, articles and prose pieces (either anonymously or using the pseudonyms Jerzy Biniewicz, Paweł Późny, St.Ł., and Stanisław Łomień). In 1942, he probably authored the grotesque drama Aby podnieść tę różę (In order to raise this rose). He entered into an ideological polemic with Czesław Miłosz↑. In 1943, he occasionally published poetry and articles in other underground periodicals, namely in "Biuletyn Słowiański"” (using the pseudonym: Stanisław z Bratysławy), "Do broni!", "Kultura Jutra", "Kuźnia", "Młodzież Imperium", "Nowa Polska", and "Sprawy Narodu". He organized literary gatherings, music concerts and theatre performances. Following the death of Wacław Bojarski↑ in June 1943, he was appointed editor of the periodical "Sztuka i Naród". In July 1943, he founded the conspiratorial organization Ruch Kulturowy (Cultural Movement). In August of the same year, he was appointed deputy director of the propaganda section of the Striking Cadre Battalions (Uderzeniowe Bataliony Kadrowe); he was also involved in the activities of the Universalist and Cultural Study Programme of the Confederation of the Nation, having authored the curriculum. He was arrested by chance in early November 1943 and was briefly held in the Pawiak prison before being shot dead (as Andrzej Jarociński) on 12 November 1943 on Nowy Świat Street in Warsaw. In 1983, the Stefan Jaracz Ateneum Theatre in Warsaw launched a competition for the best debut play that was named after Andrzej Trzebiński.