Michał Borwicz in Kraków from 1911 to 1939. Introduction to the Issue

Stefan Gąsiorowski

Titles

Abstract

This article discusses the early life of Maksymilian Boruchowicz (1911–1987), a Jewish writer, publicist, and literary critic known in interwar Kraków, who changed his name to Michał Borwicz after the Second World War. Biographical information on his life before the outbreak of the war focuses mainly on his studies of Polish language and literature at the Jagiellonian University, where he was actively involved in student literary and cultural circles, as well as political journalism. During his studies and immediately thereafter, Borwicz published prolifically in various magazines and literary journals, and before the war published the novel Miłość i rasa (Love and Race), which was received positively by literary critics.

* This article was written based on a paper presented at “New Perspectives in Jewish Historiography,” an academic conference held in Kraków on 2 March 2017 celebrating the publication of the 29th volume of Polin. Studies in Polish Jewry.

This article discusses the early life of Maksymilian Boruchowicz (1911–1987), a Jewish writer, publicist, and literary critic known in interwar Kraków, who changed his name to Michał Borwicz after the Second World War. Biographical information on his life before the outbreak of the war focuses mainly on his studies of Polish language and literature at the Jagiellonian University, where he was actively involved in student literary and cultural circles, as well as political journalism. During his studies and immediately thereafter, Borwicz published prolifically in various magazines and literary journals, and before the war published the novel Miłość i rasa (Love and Race), which was received positively by literary critics.

* This article was written based on a paper presented at “New Perspectives in Jewish Historiography,” an academic conference held in Kraków on 2 March 2017 celebrating the publication of the 29th volume of Polin. Studies in Polish Jewry.

Keywords

Michał Borwicz, Maksymilian Boruchowicz, Kraków, literature, Jagiellonian University, Nazism, novel

References

Archival sources

National Archives in Kraków ref. GMJ 24, sheet 245, 249v; GMJ 84, sheets 17–17v.

Jagiellonian University Archives, Boruchowicz Maks, ref. KM 84 A-J; WF II 438, 1930/31 A-K; WF II 445, 1931/32 A-K; WF II 453, 1933/34 A-K; WF II 457, 1934/35 A-K; WF II 461, 1935/36 A-K; WF II 465, 1936/37 A-K; WF II 470, 1937/38; S II 369, 1930/31 A-B; S II 377, 1931/32 A-B; S II 393, 1933/34 A-B; S II 401, 1934/35; S II 417, 1936/37; S II 425, 1937/38.

Polish Library in Paris ref. Akc 3485.

Published sources

[Advertisement] (1937), Życie Świadome [Conscious Life] 2 (2): 20.

Boruchowicz, M. (1931), Cyganerja warszawska (W dziewięćdziesiątą rocznicę) [Varsovian Bohemia (The 90th anniversary of])], Kurier Literacko-Naukowy [Scientific and Literary Messenger] 8 (7): 9.

Boruchowicz, M. (1933), O polsko-żydowską poezję. Na marginesie pewnej dyskusji [On Polish-Jewish poetry. On the margins of certain discussions], Nowy Dziennik [New Daily] 263.

Boruchowicz, M. (1934a), Irracjonalizm, miłość i chorobliwe pretensje [Irrationalism, Love, and Pathological Grievances], Gazeta Artystów [Artists’ Gazette] 1 (10): 3.

Boruchowicz, M. (1934b), Pożegnanie młodości [Farewell to youth], Nowy Dziennik [New Daily] 125.

Boruchowicz, M. (1936a), Czy nie czas skończyć z frazesem o „życiu ułatwionym”? [Can We Stop Talking About an “Easier Life”?], Życie Świadome [Conscious Life] 1 (3): 18–23.

[Boruchowicz, M.] m. b. (1936b), Wśród książek. „Na cienkiej strunie”. Poezje Andy Eker [Among books. “On a thin string.” Poetry of Andy Eker], Nowy Dziennik [New Daily] 8.

[Boruchowicz, M.] m. b. (1936c), Wśród poetów’(Among the poets), Nowy Dziennik [New Daily] 107.

Boruchowicz, M. (1937a), Brzozowski and Malraux, Sygnały [Signals], [offprint 32].

Boruchowicz, M. (1937b), Fizjologia rozpaczy i nihilizmu (L.F. Céline i nasze czasy) [The Physiology of Despair and Nihilism (L.F. Céline and Our Times)], Życie Świadome [Conscious Life] 2 (6), [offprint: 12].

Boruchowicz, M. (1937c), Sztuka „zwyrodniała” i zwyrodnialcy [“Degenerate” Art and Degenerates], Albo-Albo [Either-Or] 1 (1): 3.

Boruchowicz, M. (1938a), Autora „Lżejszego kalibru” – dzieje grzechu [The Author of “A Lighter Caliber”: A History of Sin], Albo-Albo [Either-Or] 2 (9): 3.

Boruchowicz, M. (1938b), Miłość i rasa. Powieść [Love and Race: A Novel], Kraków.

Boruchowicz, M. (1938c), Rewelacje? – być może [Revelations? Maybe], Albo-Albo [Either-Or] 2 (10): 5–6.

Boruchowicz, M. (1938d), Stanisław Brzozowski. Widma moich współczesnych [Stanisław Brzozowski. The Phantoms of My Contemporaries], Nasz Wyraz [Our Expression], March.

Boruchowicz, M. (1938e), Szlakiem „zdobywcy”. (Piewca duszy człowieka brunatnego [Louis-Ferdinand

Céline]) [Path of a Conqueror: The Singer of a Brown Man’s Soul (Louis-Ferdinand Céline)], Albo-Albo [Either-Or] 2 (4): 2.

Boruchowicz, M. (1938f), W cieniu gotyckich wież [In the Shadows of Gothic Towers], Albo-Albo [Either-Or] 2 (6): 2.

Boruchowicz, M. (1938g), W przededniu jubileuszu i w rocznicę „Sprawy” Stanisława Brzozowskiego [On the Eve of the Jubilee and on the Anniversary of the “Stanisław Brzozowski Affair”], Albo-Albo [Either-Or] 2 (7): 1.

Boruchowicz, M. (1939), Petroniusz „na nowo napisany”. (W związku z nowym wydaniem „Samego wśród ludzi” [Stanisława Brzozowskiego]) [Petronius Rewritten: In Connection with the New Edition of “Alone Among People” (by Stanisław Brzozowski)], Nasz Wyraz [Our Expression] 2: 4.

Borwicz, M.M. (1964a), Listy do Redakcji. Paryż, listopad 1964 [Letters to the Editor. Paris, November 1964], Kultura [Culture] 12 (206): 156.

Borwicz, M.M. (1964b), „…Zabawy, spory w one lata” [“…Entertainment and Disputes of These Years”], Kultura [Culture] 9 (203): 148.

Brzoza, C. (ed.) (2015), Żydzi krakowscy w okresie międzywojennym. Wybór dokumentów [Kraków Jews in the Interwar Period: A Selection of Documents], Kraków: 478, 482.

Ciołkosz, A. (1937), Chcemy być młotem [We Want to Be a Hammer], Albo-Albo [Either-Or] 1 (1): 1.

Kruczkowski, L. (1937), ALTERNATYWA [ALTERNATIVE], Albo-Albo [Either-Or] 1 (1): 1.

Żer[omska], M. (1938), Miłość i rasa [Love and Race], Albo-Albo [Either-Or] 2 (10): 6.

Literature

Borwicz (Boruchowicz) Michał Maksymilian (1911–1987) (1992), in: Klimaszewski, B., Nowakowska, E.R., Wyskiel, W., Mały słownik pisarzy polskich na obczyźnie 1939–1980 [A Small Dictionary of Polish Writers in Exile 1939–1980], Klimaszewski, B. (ed.), Warszawa: 43.

Borwicz Michał Maksymilian (ur. 1911) [Borwicz Michał Maksymilian (b. 1911)] (1963), in: Korzeniewska, E. (ed.), Słownik współczesnych pisarzy polskich. Tom pierwszy a-i [Dictionary of Contemporary Polish Writers. Volume I a-i], Warszawa: 236.

Czachowska, J. (1994), Borwicz Michał Maksymilian 1911–1987, in: Czachowska, J., Szałagan, A. (eds.), Współcześni polscy pisarze i badacze literatury. Słownik biobibliograficzny. Tom pierwszy A-B [Modern Polish Writers and Researchers of Literature: A Biobibliographical Dictionary, Volume I A-B], Warszawa: 229.

Gawron, E. (2014), Michał Maksymilian Borwicz, in: Borwicz, M.M., Uniwersytet zbirów. Rzecz o obozie janowskim we Lwowie 1941–1944 [University of Thugs: On the Janowska Concentration Camp in Lviv 1941–1944], Kraków: 123.

Lubas, R. (1984), Litart, in: Krzyżanowski, J., Hernas, C. (eds.), Literatura polska. Przewodnik encyklopedyczny. T. 1: A-M [Polish literature. Encyclopedic guide. Vol. 1: A-M], Warszawa: 585.

Prokop-Janiec, E. (1992), Międzywojenna literatura polsko-żydowska jako zjawisko kulturowe i artystyczne [Polish-Jewish interwar literature as a cultural and artistic phenomenon], Kraków: 53.

Quercioli Mincer, L. (2014), Dwa wiersze z Szeolu. Zagłada Żydów w okupacyjnych tekstach Czesława Miłosza [Two Poems from Sheol: Extermination of the Jews in Czesław Miłosz’s Occupation Texts], in: Bilczewski, T., Marinelli, L., Woźniak, M. (eds.), Rodzinny świat Czesława Miłosza [The Familial World of Czesław Miłosz], Kraków 2014: 187.

Scharf, R. (1988), Michał Borwicz, Polin, vol. 3: 458–462.

Information

Information: Scripta Judaica Cracoviensia, 2019, Volume 17, pp. 95 - 104

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4467/20843925SJ.19.009.12232

Article type: Original article

Titles:

Polish:

Michał Borwicz in Kraków from 1911 to 1939. Introduction to the Issue

English:

Michał Borwicz in Kraków from 1911 to 1939. Introduction to the Issue

Authors

Stefan Gąsiorowski

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5984-5337

Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Gołębia 24, 31-007 Kraków, Poland

Polish Academy of Sciences
Poland

Published at: 2019

Article status: Open

Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Percentage share of authors:

Stefan Gąsiorowski (Author) - 100%

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English

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