The aim of this article is to reconstruct the “intellectual encounter” between Benedetto Croce and Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, dating back to the 1930s: starting from the 1939 discussion held in Podkowa Leśna on History of Europe in the Nineteenth Century and the related concept of the “religion of freedom,” through the spring meeting at the Villa Tritone in Sorrento in 1944, to the publication of numerous original essays and translations of the twentieth-century liberal philosopher’s treatises. Herling-Grudziński is presented through the lens of various roles he fulfilled over the decades: as author, translator, critic, connoisseur of Croce’s life and work, popularizer of his thought, defender of his good name, and above all as an intermediary in the Crocean–Polish cultural contacts, which helped broaden the spectrum of the reception of his writings (in their philosophical, historical, and literary dimensions) both at the time of the Polish People’s Republic and after the fall of the communist system. Alongside the discussion and analysis of the rich primary and secondary bibliography linking these two monumental figures, an important part of the study is a linguistic analysis of the translation of Benedetto Croce’s La fine della civilta (Twilight of Civilization), which Herling-Grudziński – as co-translator (with Włodzimierz Sznarbachowski) and co-editor (with Jerzy Giedroyć) – published in the inaugural issue of the Paris-based journal “Kultura” in 1947. Simultaneously, the study undertakes the tracing of other signs of Croce’s literary, linguistic, and philosophical presence in Herling-Grudziński’s oeuvre, indicating their general underestimation and limited representativeness in many areas in Polish sources. In conclusion, the author argues that the lectio croceana as practiced by Herling-Grudziński provided interpretive tools linking Italian liberal thought with the Polish experience of the twentieth century, thanks to which knowledge of the Neapolitan thinker and awareness of his achievements are far greater today than in the past.

In this article, the author describes the reception of Carlo Levi’s work in the writings of Gustaw Herling. An important interpretive context is provided by the anthropological concepts of Ernesto de Martino, a researcher of the rituals and beliefs of the inhabitants of Southern Italy. Enchanted by Levi’s famous novel Christ Stopped at Eboli, Herling-Grudziński posits the subordination and ahistoricity of the Lucanian “world apart”. Levi’s “portrait” is complemented by the remarks on the Lucania ’61 cycle. Herling visits Matera after many years, having previously been there at the end of World War II. Viewing Levi’s exhibition, he is surprised by his belated discovery and comes to appreciate Levi as a painter as well.

The article describes Gustaw Herling-Grudziński’s long-standing relationship with Prague – first the capital of Czechoslovakia, and after 1993, the Czech Republic. The text reveals the successive stages of writer’s fascination with this city: from literary journeys in the footsteps of his beloved writer, Franz Kafka, through his friendship with the Italian Slavicist and Bohemianist, Angelo Mario Ripellino, author of the monumental book Praga magiczna, then the real actions of the Parisian “Kultura” in support of the Prague Spring, followed by the short story Kafka w Pradze published as part of Journal Written at Night in 1976, and finally – the writer’s real trip to Prague in 1995. The text presents literary analyses of Herling’s essays devoted to this city, his correspondence concerning Prague, geopolitical analyses, and his emotional attitude towards the capital in the heart of Europe.

The article discusses the issue of Ukraine and the Ukrainian nation in relation to Polish and Russian culture in the works of Gustaw Herling-Grudziński. The text consists of three main parts: in the first part, the author begins by summarizing the current geopolitical situation in Ukraine, pointing out Russia’s aggression and its victim, Ukraine, and presents the connections between “Kultura” and “Kontynent”, edited by Vladimir Maksimov. The analysis focuses on Russian readings, themes, and issues that Herling addressed throughout his work: short stories, essays, and Dziennik pisany nocą (Journal Written at Night). In the second part, the author points to the role of the “secular” saint Varlam Shalamov in Herling’s thinking about Russia and Russians. The third part recalls the history of the Russian translation of A Word Apart by Natalia Gorbanevskaya. The entire article is an attempt to answer the question of the relevance of Gustaw Herling-Grudziński’s judgments and attitudes in the present day, in the third decade of the 21st century.