Wisława Szymborska (1923-2012)

One of the most eminent contemporary poets, a literary critic, journalist, and translator of the poetry of the French baroque. Even her first – still socialist realist – volumes of poems That's Why We Are Alive (Dlatego żyjemy) and Questioning Yourself (Pytania zadawane sobie) brought her fame and recognition. Szymborska published her works in “Odra”, “Twórczość”, “Współczesność”, and “The Literary Review”. In 1981–1983 she was among the editors of the “Pismo” Kraków monthly published in samizdat form. In the 1980s, she cooperated with the underground magazine “Arka” and with the émigré “Kultura”, published in Paris. A member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1996, she received the Nobel Prize for poetry, “which allows the historical and biological context to be manifested in fragments of human reality not without an ironic precision”. Winner of numerous awards, including those of the Kościelski Foundation (1960), Polish PEN Club (1980, 1996), Goethe (1991), and Herder (1995), she was elected Person of the Year by “Wprost” weekly in 1996. The year 2001 brought her the diploma of Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Born near Poznań, the poetess lived in Kraków since 1931, and in 1998 became its honorary citizen. As she frequently emphasised, she felt a strong connection to Kraków. Szymborska died on 1 February 2012; she passed away in her sleep. She was buried in the family grave at the Rakowicki Cemetary.


Wisława Szymborska, photo by Tomasz Wiech