SZCZYGIEŁ Mariusz

Born on 5 September 1966 in Złotoryja, Lower Silesia; son of the bricklayer and painter Jerzy Szczygieł and the laundry worker Stefania. He attended the Stefan Żeromski Economic Grammar School in Legnica. He made his debut in 1983 while still at school with the article Punkt widzenia (A point of view), which appeared in the scouting weekly "Na Przełaj" (28 March issue). In summer of that year, he participated in a journalism camp in the Bieszczady Mountains organized by the editors of "Na Przełaj" and also wrote articles for the scouting periodical "Stanica". He completed his advanced secondary education in 1985. He was the winner of the "Indeks za debiut" (Enrolment for a debut text) competition, which was aimed at pupils in the final year of secondary education and run by the Ministry of Education together with the weekly "Razem". This enabled him to become a student of journalism at the University of Warsaw (UW). He abandoned his degree during his first year before returning in 1989, studying at the Faculty of Journalism and Political Science at UW. He remained a student for over a decade. During this period, he earned a living by working at a post office, initially in the despatch department then as a postman. He continued to publish in the weekly "Na Przełaj" throughout the 1980s. In 1990, he started collaborating with the daily "Gazeta Wyborcza" where his mentors included Hanna Krall and Małgorzata Szejnert. He went on unpaid leave from the newspaper between 1996 and 2001. From 1995 to 2001, he was associated with Polsat Television where he presented the talk-show Na każdy temat (On Every Subject). In 1997/98, he was a lecturer in reportage on the European Journalism Programme run jointly by Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme de Lille and UW. He completed his journalism degree at UW in 2001, graduating with a master's degree. Shortly afterwards, he started lecturing on reportage at the Institute of Journalism at UW from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2006 to 2008. He became increasingly active as a reportage writer, exploring themes including the history and culture of the Czech Republic. In 2002, he joined the editorial team of "Gazeta Wyborcza", serving as deputy editor (from 2004) then later as editor of the "Duży Format" supplement and also as deputy editor of the newspaper's weekend edition, "Gazeta Świąteczna" from 2010 until resigning as an employee of the publication in 2012. He received various awards, including the honorary prize of the Polish Journalists Association in 1993 for his outstanding achievements as a journalist as well as the Crystal Mirror prize of the monthly "Zwierciadło" in 1996 for "asking daring questions", the Polsat Television prize in 1997 for best talk-show, the prize of the Primate of Poland and Foundation for Health Promotion in 2000 for promoting healthy lifestyles, and the Melchior 2004 – Inspiration of the Year award as part of the Mlechior Wańkowicz National Reportage Prize in recognition of his achievements as a literary journalist on Czech and Czechoslovak issues. Together with Wojciech Tochman and Paweł Goźliński he founded the Reportage Institute Foundation in 2009, becoming its chair. He offered masterclasses at the Polish Reportage School that was established by the foundation in 2009. In 2010, he co-founded the bookshop and club "Wrzenie Świata" in Warsaw, a institution associated with the foundation. In 2014, he founded the Dowody na Istnienie (Proof of Existence) publishing house, serving on its peer-review board. His articles, reportage pieces and column pieces continued to appear in ''Gazeta Wyborcza" and its supplements, including the weekly columns Oto co ostatnio usłyszałem, podsłuchałem, przeczytałem... (This is what I have heard, listened to and read recently, 2012-14) and Szczygieł poluje na prawdę (Szczygieł hunting for the truth, 2015-20) in "Duży Format". He also published in periodicals including "CKM", "Fluid", "Konfrontacje", "Polityka", "Radar", "Viva!", "Press", "Kultura" (Paris), as well as foreign periodicals, including: "Culture Europe" (Paris), "Uncaptive Minds" (Washington), "Die Presse" (Vienna), "Mlada Fronta DNES" and "Reflex" (Prague), and "La Repubblica" (Rome). He won the following prizes: Gratias Agit 2009 – the prize of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, the Polcul Foundation Prize for encouraging mutual understanding and closer Polish-Czech relations in 2011, and the A. Woyciechowski Prize in 2013 for his reportage piece Śliczny i posłuszny (Beautiful and Subservient) that appeared in "Duży Format" (27 June 2013 issue). He was named Journalist of the Year in the 2013 Grand Press competition and won the Oktawian Prize of Book Discussion Clubs (Nagrod Dyskusyjnych Klubów Książki) in 2015 in recognition of his status as the author of the most popular books read in the clubs over the previous eight years. He also won the MediaTory Prize, awarded following a vote among journalism students in 2016 in the category of authority (AuTORytet). He set up an Instagram account in 2017, which at times functioned as his personal newspaper. In 2021, he received the prestigious Nike Literary Prize for his collection of literary journalism Nie ma (Nothing), as well as the Nike Readers' Prize and the Nike Readers' 25th Anniversary Prize. In 2023, he completed a two-semester postgraduate programme in the History of Art, Music, Theatre and Film at the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restitute in 2014. He lives in Warsaw.