Julian Tuwim

Polish poet
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Tuwim, Julian
Tuwim, Julian
Born:
September 13, 1894 Łódź Poland
Died:
December 27, 1953 (aged 59) Zakopane Poland
Founder:
Skamander
Movement / Style:
Skamander

Julian Tuwim, (born September 13, 1894, Łódz, Poland, Russian Empire [now in Poland]—died December 27, 1953, Zakopane), lyric poet who was one of the leaders of the 20th-century group of Polish poets called Skamander.

Closely associated with and cofounder of Skamander, Tuwim began his career in 1915 with the publication of a flamboyant Futurist manifesto that created a scandal. His poetry was marked by explosive energy, great emotional tension, and linguistic inventiveness, demonstrated not only in his lyrical poems but also in nursery rhymes. Among his works published before World War II are Czyhanie na Boga (1918; “Lying in Wait for God”), Sokrates tańczący (1920; The Dancing Socrates and Other Poems), and his most important collections, Słowa we krwi (1926; “Words in Blood”) and Biblia cygańska (1933; “The Gypsy Bible”). Because of his Jewish background, Tuwim fled the country at the outbreak of the war. He eventually spent seven years abroad, first in Brazil—where he wrote his long, quasi-epic poem Kwiaty polskie (1949; “Polish Flowers”)—and then in the United States. He returned to Poland in 1946 but wrote little of poetic value thereafter.

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Skamander

Polish literary group
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Date:
1918 - 1940
Areas Of Involvement:
Polish literature poetry
Related People:
Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz Kazimierz Wierzyński Julian Tuwim

Skamander, group of young Polish poets who were united in their desire to forge a new poetic language that would accurately reflect the experience of modern life. Founded in Warsaw about 1918, the Skamander group took its name, and the name of its monthly publication, from a river of ancient Troy. The group was founded by Julian Tuwim and other poets. Tuwim, a lyrical poet of emotional power and linguistic sensitivity, is best remembered for the collections Czyhanie na Boga (1918; “Lying in Wait for God”) and Biblia cygańska (1933; “The Gypsy Bible”) and for the long poem Kwiaty polskie (1949; “Polish Flowers”). Also associated with the group were Kazimierz Wierzyński, Jan Lechoń (pseudonym of Leszek Serafinowicz), and Antoni Słonimski.

Among sympathizers with Skamander were Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, who had a gift for expressing emotion, and Władysław Broniewski, a powerful lyrical poet who used traditional metres and forms to express concern with current social and ideological problems. A sympathizer of great importance was Bolesław Leśmian, considered the outstanding 20th-century Polish lyrical poet. His symbolic Expressionist poetry—collected in Łąka (1920; “The Meadow”), Napój cienisty (1936; “The Shadowy Drink”), and Dziejba leśna (1938; “Woodland Tale”)—is remarkable for the inventiveness of its vocabulary, its sensuous imagery, and philosophic content.

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