Paweł Kubisz

Infobox Writer
name = Paweł Kubisz


imagesize =
caption = Paweł Kubisz in 1928
pseudonym =
birthname =
birthdate = Birth date|1907|5|12
birthplace = Końska, Austria-Hungary
deathdate = death date and age|1968|8|19|1907|5|12
deathplace = Český Těšín, Czechoslovakia
occupation = Poet, writer, activist
ethnicity = Polish
citizenship = Czechoslovak
period =
genre =
subject =
movement =
notableworks = "Przednówek"
spouse =
partner =
children =
relatives =
influences =
influenced =
awards =

Paweł Kubisz (12 May 1907 – 19 August, 1968) was a Polish poet, writer, journalist, and activist, one of the most important poets from the Zaolzie region of Cieszyn Silesia.

Biography

Kubisz was born to a poor worker's family in the village of Końska. He attended pedagogic schools in Cieszyn-Bobrek and Ostrzeszów but didn't finish either, the latter due to the poems written about school's pedagogues. [Sikora 1993, 15.] Young Kubisz was influenced mostly by the work of Stefan Żeromski and his works about poor masses. As a student he published his works in various press in Poland. Compiled together they were published as his debut poetry collection "Kajdany i róże" (Shackles and Roses) in 1927 in Frysztat.

On 17 April 1928 he was arrested by Czech authorities in his parents' house in Końska and on 6 November 1928 sentenced for 13 months in jail for alleged transport of illegal literature to Slovakia and conspiring against the Czechoslovak Republic. [Długajczyk 1993, 50.] [Some sources give 1927 as a year of his arrest and sentence.] The arrest during the time of investigation of his case was included in those 13 months. He spent his sentence in jail in Olomouc. After his release he cooperated with "Zaranie Śląskie" magazine published in Cieszyn and became a secretary of the Polish People's Party in Czechoslovakia ("Stronnictwo Ludowe"). In 1937 he became a chairman of newly founded Śląski Związek Literacko-Artystyczny (Silesian Literary-Artistic Association) and founded "Sztorcem" magazine, of which only three issues appeared. [Hierowski 1947, 176.] "Sztorcem" was published in Czeski Cieszyn and adopted critical stances against the Czechoslovak government and the communist movement. [Zahradnik 1999, 6.] Kubisz worked also as a correspondent and spent three years in East Prussia, Lithuania and Latvia.

In 1937 Kubisz published his most important work "Przednówek", poetry collection written in Cieszyn Silesian dialect with illustrations by artist Franciszek Świder. It was immediately labelled as a literary sensation and was reviewed more than 100 times by literary critics in Poland and Czechoslovakia, even German and Slovak critics reviewed it. Czech critics compared "Przednówek" to "Slezské písně" by Czech poet Petr Bezruč. [Danel 1972, 11.] Polish literary critic Zdzisław Hierowski said of his work:

After outbreak of World War II, in 1940 he was arrested by Gestapo and jailed in Cieszyn. Eventually released he went in 1941 to the General Government where managed to contact Polish resistance underground press and Bataliony Chłopskie (Peasants' Battalions) resistance movement. In 1944 he was arrested again by German Nazi authorities and jailed in the Montelupich Prison in Kraków. [Danel 1972, 14.]

After the war, Kubisz was awarded the State Literary Award ("Państwowa Nagroda Literacka") by the Polish government in exile, published his works for some time in Polish press in Poland and eventually returned to Zaolzie.

Kubisz was an active organizer of Polish literary and community life in Zaolzie in the late 1940s and 1950s. He was one of the co-founders of PZKO (The Polish Cultural and Educational Union), the chairman of its newly founded Literary-Artistic Section ("Sekcja Literacko-Artystyczna") and the first editor-in-chief of "Zwrot" magazine from 1949 to 1958.

In 1953 he published the poetry book "Rapsod o Oszeldzie" (Rhapsody about Oszelda) with illustrations by artists Rudolf Żebrok and Franciszek Świder. The book is centered around Paweł Oszelda, real historical person with largest influence on Kubisz. [Danel 1972, 16.] Oszelda was a Polish national activist from Niebory, leader of a peasants' rebellion against landlords in 1848.

In 1958 he was fired from his position of editor-in-chief of "Zwrot" and expelled from PZKO and the public life, he was also banned from publishing. He was accused by the Communists of alleged nationalist and "individualist" stances. Kubisz began working in Třinec Iron and Steel Works in Třinec as a worker. Struck by a motorcycle in a road accident he fell ill and was granted the disability pension. All these events made him disillusioned and closed up in himself. Kubisz died on 19 August 1968 in Český Těšín.

Kubisz wrote his works in Cieszyn Silesian dialect and in literary Polish. His poetry can be characterized as left-wing and rebellious, concerned mainly with the situation of the disadvantaged and workers of Cieszyn Silesia. His rebellious nature can be seen in his works, where he calls for social and national revolution. Kubisz recognized the class character of the national oppression of Polish people. He was always on the side of the poor, the laborers, peasants and metalworkers, and criticized privileged classes, the clergy, nobility, lawyers and doctors. Kubisz was rebellious in nature, always in conflict with someone. He often identified himself with characters from his writings, including Paweł Oszelda. His works are full of bitterness and pain.

A fragment from "Co to młody gorol prawił, jak sie mu na śmierć niosło..." (What a Young Gorol Said When He Went to Death) from "Przednówek" poetry collection is typical for Kubisz's heroic style:

Quote
: Harshly, forcefully, unremittingly -: I would like to be strident in anger,: I would like to rebel, to swear: In the chill, in the pain; shrink the words!

: In a shattering of my soul,: Smash everything into no-memory,: Smash to pieces, destroy, and to tear -: Put the last feelings down into nothing!|Paweł Kubisz [Kubisz 1937, 56.]

Works

* "Kajdany i róże" (1927) - poetry collection
* "Przednówek" (1937, 1946) - poetry collection
* "Pod Godulą w skałach skryte" (1948) - poetry book
* "Opowieść wydziedziczonych" (1949) - poetic drama
* "Rapsod o Oszeldzie" (1953) - poetry book
* "Zaszuwierzóny świat" (1972) - short stories collection
* "Aria z zaplutej trumny" (unfinished and unpublished)

Footnotes

References

* cite book
last= Danel
first= Robert
authorlink=
chapter= Wstęp
pages= 5-19
coauthors=
editor= Paweł Kubisz
others=
title= Zaszuwierzóny świat
year= 1972
publisher= Profil
location= Ostrawa
oclc= 42123401

* cite book
last = Długajczyk
first = Edward
authorlink = Edward Długajczyk
title = Tajny front na granicy cieszyńskiej. Wywiad i dywersja w latach 1919-1939
publisher = Śląsk
date = 1993
location = Katowice
pages = 45-50
doi =
isbn = 83-85831-03-7

* cite book
last = Hierowski
first = Zdzisław
coauthors =
title = 25 lat literatury na Śląsku 1920-1945
publisher = Wydawnictwa Instytutu Śląskiego
date = 1947
location = Katowice - Wrocław
pages =
url =
doi =
oclc = 69489660

* cite news
last = Kaszper
first = Kazimierz
coauthors =
title = Paweł Kubisz, trybun zaolziańskiego ludu
work = Głos Ludu
page = 3
language =
publisher =
date = 2007-05-12

* cite news
last = Kaszper
first = Kazimierz
coauthors =
title = Niepokorne rozliczeniowe wiersze Pawła Kubisza
work = Głos Ludu
page = 5
language =
publisher =
date = 2007-05-15

* cite book
last = Kubisz
first = Paweł
coauthors =
title = Przednówek
publisher = Śląski Związek Literacko-Artystyczny w Czechosłowacji
date = 1937
location = Czeski Cieszyn
pages =
url =
doi =
oclc = 85599099

* cite book
last = Málková
first = Iva
coauthors = and Svatava Urbanová
title = Literární slovník severní Moravy a Slezska (1945-2000)
publisher = Votobia
date = 2001
location = Olomouc
pages =
url =
doi =
isbn = 80-7198-515-5

* cite book
last = Radłowska-Obrusnik
first = Martyna
coauthors = and Otylia Toboła
title = Leksykon PZKO
publisher = Zarząd Główny PZKO
date = 1997
location = Czeski Cieszyn
pages =
url = http://www.kc-cieszyn.pl/biblioteka/strony/ramka.php?autor=leksykon&licz=1
doi =
oclc = 189531468

* cite book
last = Sikora
first = Władysław
coauthors =
title = Pisarze Zaolzia
publisher = Wydawnictwo Olza przy Radzie Polaków
date = 1993
location = Czeski Cieszyn
pages =
url =
doi =
oclc = 233485106

* cite book
last = Zahradnik
first = Stanisław
coauthors = and Marek Ryczkowski
title = Korzenie Zaolzia
publisher = PAI-press
date = 1992
location = Warszawa - Praga - Trzyniec
pages =
url =
doi =
oclc = 177389723

* cite journal
last = Zahradnik
first = Stanisław
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1999
month = 12+1
title = Poprzednicy Zwrotu
journal = Zwrot
volume =
issue =
pages = 5-6
oclc =
id =
format =

s-ttl|title= Editor-in-chief of "Zwrot"
years= 1949 – 1958