Gustaw Morcinek

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Gustaw Morcinek (born Augustyn Morcinek) (24 August 1891 in Karwina, Austria-Hungary - 20 December 1963 in Kraków, Poland) was a Polish writer, educator and later member of Sejm from 1952 to 1957.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Interwar period 1.2 World War II 1.3 After the war 2 Political activity 3 Works 4 Footnotes 5 References

[edit] Biography

In 1891, Morcinek was born in Karwina into a poor family, the youngest of four siblings. In 1892, his father Józef died and his mother was forced to provide for the family. Augustyn started work in the coal mine at the age of 16, which was quite late compared to the standard of those times. When he was 19, miners raised money for his education and he started attending a school in Biała, from which he graduated in 1914. In 1920, when Cieszyn Silesia was divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia, his hometown Karwina fell to Czechoslovakia. Harsh times for the local Polish minority followed. Morcinek was a pro-Polish activist and thus decided to stay in Poland. In the 1920s he worked as a teacher in Skoczów.

[edit] Interwar period

During the interwar period, Morcinek published many articles in various Silesian presses. He wrote his most important books in the late 1920s and early 1930s becoming the only notable Silesian Polish-language prosaist of the interwar period. His works concentrate mostly on mining and Silesian themes. Morcinek spent the years 1936-1939 abroad, in Western Europe.

[edit] World War II

He returned to Poland shortly before the outbreak of World War II. Morcinek was arrested by the Gestapo on 6 September 1939. He was initially imprisoned with Władysław Dworaczek and the rest of people belonging to the Polish intelligence from Silesia. Gustaw spent the whole war in the German concentration camps Skrochowitz^[1], Sachsenhausen and Dachau. The supposed reason given for his arrest was his "anti-German activity" before the war. When he was in concetration camps, he was given a choice to sign a Volksliste but refused.^[2]

[edit] After the war

In November 1946 Morcinek returned to Silesia, Poland, and settled in Katowice. He was then actively supported by new authorities. Morcinek resumed his writing and continued to concentrate on Silesian issues but widen his scope to books for children and also epistolography. He received many recognitions and literary awards for his work and many of his books were translated and published abroad. Gustaw Morcinek died of leukemia on 20 December, 1963 in Kraków and was later buried at Communal Cemetery in Cieszyn.

[edit] Political activity

Morcinek was politically active from a young age. He was an active advocate of joining whole Cieszyn Silesia to Poland. During the interwar period when he was an anti-German activist, some critics accused him of spreading hatred. After the war, he was a supporter of PZPR and was a member of parliament (Sejm) from Katowice (1952-1957).

[edit] Works

• Byli dwaj bracia (1928)
• Serce za tamą (1929)
• Wyrąbany chodnik (1931-1932)
• Narodziny serca (1932)
• Łysek z pokładu Idy (1933)
• Śląsk (1933)
• Chleb na kamieniu
• Inżynier Szeruda (1937)
• Listy spod morwy (1945)
• Ludzie są dobrzy (1946)
• Dziewczyna z Champs-Elysees
• Listy z mojego Rzymu
• Wyorane kamienie (1946)
• Uśmiech na drodze (1948)
• Pokład Joanny (1950)
• Ondraszek (1953)
• Jak górnik Bulandra diabła oszukał (1958)
• Gwiazdy w studni
• Zabłąkane ptaki
• Urodzaj ludzi
• Przedziwne śląskie powiarki (1961)
• Ziemia cieszyńska

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• Heska-Kwaśniewicz, Krystyna (1993). "Kolorowy rytm życia". Studia o prozie Gustawa Morcinka. ISBN 8370521908. 

• Heska-Kwaśniewicz, Krystyna (1988). "Pisarski zakon" : biografia literacka Gustawa Morcinka. Opole: Instytut Śląski.