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Paweł Jasienica was the pen name of Leon Lech Beynar (10 November 1909 – 19 August 1970), a Polish historian, journalist, essayist and soldier.

During World War II, Jasienica (then, Leon Beynar) fought in the Polish Army, and later, the Home Army resistance. Near the end of the war, he was also working with the anti-Soviet resistance, which later led to him taking up a new name, Paweł Jasienica, to hide from the communist government of the People's Republic of Poland. He was associated with the Tygodnik Powszechny weekly and several other newspapers and magazines. He is best known for his 1960s books on Polish historyTemplate:Mdashon the Kingdom of Poland under the Piast dynasty, the Jagiellon dynasty, and the elected kings of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Those books, still popular, played an important role in popularizing Polish history among several generations of readers.

Jasienica became an outspoken critic of the censorship in the People's Republic of Poland, and as a notable dissident, he was persecuted by the government. He was subject to significant invigilation (oversight) by the security services, and his second wife was in fact an agent of the communist secret police. For a brief period marking the end of his life, his books were prohibited from being distributed or printed.

Life

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Youth

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Beynar was born on 10 November 1909 in Simbirsk, Russia,<ref name=ipnbio>Template:Cite web</ref> to Polish parents, Mikołaj Beynar and Helena Maliszewska. His paternal grandfather, Ludwik Beynar, fought in the January Uprising and married a Spanish woman, Joanna Adela Feugas.<ref name=AAG>Template:Cite web</ref> His maternal grandfather, Wiktor Maliszewski, fought in the November uprising.<ref name=AAG /> Both of his grandfathers eventually settled in the Russian Empire.<ref name=AAG /> His father, Mikołaj, worked as an agronomist.<ref name=AAG /> Beynar's family lived in Russia and UkraineTemplate:Mdashthey moved from Simbirsk to a location near Bila Tserkva and Uman, then to Kyiv until the Russian Revolution of 1917, after which they decided to settle in the independent Poland.<ref name=ma>Template:Cite magazine</ref> After a brief stay in Warsaw, during the Polish–Soviet War, his family settled in Opatów, and in 1924, moved to Grodno.<ref name=AAG />

Beynar graduated from gymnasium (secondary school) in Wilno (Vilnius) and graduated in history from Stefan Batory University in Wilno (his thesis concerned the January Uprising).<ref name=ipnbio /><ref name=AAG /><ref name="BorowskiDrewnowski2007">Template:Cite book</ref> At the university he was an active member of several organizations including Klub Intelektualistów (Intellectuals' Club) and Akademicki Klub Włóczęgów (Academic Club of Vagabonds). After graduating, he finished training for the officer cadet (podchorąży) in the Polish Army.<ref name=AAG /> From 1928 to 1937 he lived in Grodno, where he worked as a history teacher in a gymnasium; later he was employed as an announcer for Polish Radio Wilno.<ref name=ipnbio /><ref name=AAG /><ref name=ma /> Here also, Beynar embarked on his career as author and essayist, writing for a Vilnius conservative newspaper, Słowo (The Word).<ref name=ipnbio /> On 11 November 1934 he married Władysława Adamowicz, and in 1938 his daughter Ewa was born.<ref name=AAG /> In 1935 he published his first history book – about King Sigismund II Augustus, Zygmunt August na ziemiach dawnego Wielkiego Księstwa (Sigismund Augustus on the Lands of the Former Grand Duchy [of Lithuania]).<ref name=ipnbio />

World War II

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During World War II, Beynar was a soldier in the Polish Army, fighting the German Wehrmacht when it invaded Poland in September 1939.<ref name=ipnbio /><ref name=ma /> He commanded a platoon near Sandomierz and was eventually taken prisoner by the Germans.<ref name=AAG /> While in a temporary prisoner-of-war camp in Opatów, he was able to escape with the help of some old school friends from the time his family lived there in the early 1920s.<ref name=AAG /> He joined the Polish underground organization, "Związek Walki Zbrojnej" (Association for Armed Combat), later transformed into the "Armia Krajowa" ("AK"; the Home Army), and continued the fight against the Germans.<ref name=ipnbio /><ref name=ma /><ref name="BorowskiDrewnowski2007" /><ref name=gazeta>Template:Cite news</ref> In the resistance he had the rank of lieutenant, worked in the local Wilno headquarters and was an editor of an underground newspaper "Pobudka".<ref name=AAG /><ref name=ma /> He was also involved in the underground teaching.<ref name=AAG /><ref name="Sierocinska">Template:Cite web</ref> In July 1944 he took part in the operation aimed at the liberation of Wilno from the Germans (Operation Ostra Brama). In the wake of this operation, around 19–21 August, his partisan unit, like many others, was intercepted and attacked by the Soviets.<ref name="Sierocinska" /> He was taken prisoner; sources vary as to whether he was to be exiled to SiberiaTemplate:Citation needed or conscripted into the Polish People's Army.<ref name="Sierocinska" /> Either way he escaped and rejoined AK partisans (the Home Army 5th Wilno Brigade).<ref name=ma /><ref name=gazeta /><ref name="Ubeckie donosy" /> For a while, he was an aide to Major Zygmunt Szendzielarz (Łupaszko) and was member of the anti-Soviet resistance, Wolność i Niezawisłość (WiN, Freedom and Independence). He was promoted to the rank of captain.<ref name=ipnbio /><ref name=ma /><ref name="BorowskiDrewnowski2007" /><ref name=gazeta /> Wounded in August 1945, he left the Brigade before it was destroyed by the Soviets, and avoided the fate of most of its officers who were sentenced to death.<ref name=gazeta /><ref name="Ubeckie donosy" /> While recovering from his wounds, he found shelter in the village of Jasienica.<ref name=ipnbio /><ref name="Ubeckie donosy" />

Post-war

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After recovering from his wounds in 1945, Beynar decided to leave the resistance, and instead began publishing in an independent Catholic weekly Tygodnik Powszechny.<ref name=ipnbio /><ref name=ma /><ref name="BorowskiDrewnowski2007" /> It was then that he took the pen-name Jasienica (from the name of the place where he had received treatment for his injuries) in order not to endanger his wife, who was still living in Soviet-controlled Vilnius, Lithuania.<ref name="Ubeckie donosy" /> Soon he became a member of the weekly's staff and then an editor.<ref name=ma /> In 1948 he was arrested by the Polish secret police (Template:Langx) but after several weeks was released after the intervention of Bolesław Piasecki from the PAX Association.<ref name=ipnbio /><ref name=ma /><ref name="BorowskiDrewnowski2007" /><ref name=gazeta /> In gratitude to Piasecki, thereafter he worked with PAX, leaving Tygodnik Powszechny for PAX in 1950.<ref name=ipnbio /><ref name=ma /> In 1950, he became a director of the Polish Caritas charity.<ref name=ma /> Jasienica became a member of the Crooked Circle Club, which espoused free speech and open discussion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His essays were published in Dziś i Jutro, Słowo Powszechne, Życie Warszawy, Po Prostu.<ref name=ma /> From at least this period until his death he would live in Warsaw.<ref name=AAG /> His wife Władysława died 29 March 1965.<ref name=AAG />

Over time, he became increasingly involved in various dissident organizations.<ref name=ipnbio /> In December 1959, he became a vice president of the Union of Polish Writers (Związek Literatów Polskich, ZLP).<ref name=ipnbio /> He also published in the magazine Świat (1951–1969). In 1962 he was the last president of the literary discussion society, Crooked Circle Club. In 1966 he was a vice president of the PEN Club.<ref name=ipnbio /> While in the late 1940s and 1950s he focused mostly on journalistic activity, later he turned to writing popular history in book format.<ref name=ipnbio /><ref name=ma /> In the 1960s he wrote his most famous works, historical books about history of Poland – the Kingdom of Poland in the times of the Piast dynasty, the Jagiellonian dynasty, and the era of elected kings (the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth).<ref name=ipnbio /><ref name="SokolKissane1992">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> His book on Jagiellonian Poland was recognized as the best book of the year by the readers.<ref name=AAG />

File:Pawel Jasienica monument.JPG
Jasienica's grave, Powązki Cemetery, Warsaw
File:Tablica Paweł Jasienica ul. Dąbrowskiego 75B w Warszawie.JPG
A plaque dedicated to Jasienica on the house at 75 Dąbrowski Street in Warsaw, where he lived after the war

Jasienica was, however, very outspoken in his criticism of the censorship in the People's Republic of Poland. On 29 February 1968 during a ZLP meeting, Jasienia presented a harsh critique of the government.<ref name=AAG /> These acts, and in particular his signing of the dissident Letter of 34 in 1964 against censorship and his involvement in the 1968 protests led to his being labeled a political dissident, for which he suffered government persecution.<ref name=ipnbio /><ref name=AAG /><ref name="BorowskiDrewnowski2007" /><ref name=gazeta /><ref name=wyborcza /> Partly as a response to government's persecution of Jasienica, in 1968 the satirist Janusz Szpotański dedicated one of his anti-government poems, Ballada o Łupaszce (The Ballad of Łupaszko), written while Szpotański was in Mokotów Prison, to the writer.<ref>Template:In lang Szpotański, Janusz Ballada o Łupaszce. Retrieved 6 February 2017</ref> In the aftermath of the 1968 events, Polish communist media, and communist leader, Władysław Gomułka, on 19 March 1968, alleged that in 1948 Jasienica was freed because he collaborated with the communist regime; this allegation caused much controversy and damaged Jasienica's reputation.<ref name=AAG /><ref name=ma /><ref name="BorowskiDrewnowski2007" /><ref name=gazeta /><ref name=wyborcza>Template:Cite news</ref> He was subject to much invigilation (oversight) by the security services.<ref name=ipnbio /> In December 1969, five years after his first wife's death, he remarried. This marriage proved to be highly controversial as it was discovered after his death that his second wife, Zofia Darowska O’Bretenny, had been a secret police informant before their marriage, and continued to write reports about him throughout their marriage.<ref name="Ubeckie donosy">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Uwieść Jasienicę">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Nesia">Template:Cite magazine</ref> From 1968 until his death, his books were prohibited from being distributed or printed.<ref name=ipnbio /><ref name=ma /><ref name=wyborcza />

Jasienica died from cancer<ref name=wyborcza /> on 19 August 1970 in Warsaw. Some publicists later speculated to what extent his death was caused by "hounding from the party establishment".<ref name="Michnik2011">Template:Cite book</ref> He is buried in Warsaw's Powązki Cemetery.<ref name=AAG /> His funeral was attended by many dissidents and became a political manifestation; Adam Michnik recalls seeing Antoni Słonimski, Stefan Kisielewski, Stanisław Stomma, Jerzy Andrzejewski, Jan Józef Lipski and Władysław Bartoszewski.<ref name=wyborcza /> Bohdan Cywiński read a letter from Antoni Gołubiew.<ref name=AAG /><ref name=wyborcza />

Work

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Jasienica book publishing begun with a historical book, Zygmunt August na ziemiach dawnego Wielkiego Księstwa (Sigismund Augustus in the lands of the former Grand Duchy; 1935). He is best known for his highly acclaimed<ref name="PolonskyMichlic2004">Template:Cite book</ref> and popular<ref name=ipnbio /> historical books from the 1960s about Piast Poland, Jagiellon Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth: Polska Piastów (Piast Poland, 1960), Polska Jagiellonów (Jagiellon Poland, 1963) and the trilogy Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów (The Commonwealth of Both Nations, 1967–1972). This trilogy made him one of the most popular Polish history writers.<ref name=ipnbio /> Throughout his life he avoided writing about modern history, to minimize the influence that the official, communist Marxist historiography would have on his works. This was also one of the reasons for the popularity of his works, which were seen as a rare, legally obtainable alternative to the official version of history.<ref name=ipnbio /><ref name="Trencsényi2007" /><ref name="Velychenko1993" /><ref name="Davies2005" /> His books, publication of which resumed once again after his death, were labeled as "best-selling", and became the most reprinted postwar history of Poland.<ref name="Velychenko1993" /><ref name="Davies2005">Template:Cite book</ref>

His Template:Lang (Two ways, 1959) about the January Uprising of the 1860s represent the latest historical period he has tackled. His other popular historical books include Template:Lang, (Three chroniclers; 1964), a book about three medieval chroniclers of Polish history (Thietmar of Merseburg, Gallus Anonymus and Wincenty Kadłubek), in which he discusses the Polish society through ages;<ref name=hs /> and Template:Lang (Last of the Family; 1965) about the last queen of the Jagiellon dynasty, Anna Jagiellonka. His Template:Lang (1978; Thoughts on Civil War) were the last book he has finished; unlike the majority of his other works, this book is ostensibly about the civil war (Chouannerie) in Brittany, France. This work does however contains numerous arguments applicable to more modern Polish history; arguments that Jasienica thought would not be allowed by the censors if the book discussed Polish history.<ref name=wyborcza />

In addition to historical books, Jasienica, wrote a series of essays about archeology – Template:Lang (Slavic genealogy; 1961) and Template:Lang (Archeological excerpts: reports; 1956), journalistic travel reports (Template:Lang) and science and technology (Template:Lang). Those works were mostly created around the 1950s and 1960s.

His Template:Lang (Memoirs) was the work that he began shortly before his death, and that was never completely finished.

In 2006, Polish journalist and former dissident Adam Michnik said that: Template:Blockquote

Polish historian Henryk Samsonowicz echoes Michnik's essay in his introduction to a recent (2008) edition of Trzej kronikarze, describing Jasienica as a person who did much to popularize Polish history.<ref name=hs /> Hungarian historian Balázs Trencsényi notes that "Jasienica's impact of the formation of the popular interpretation of Polish history is hard to overestimate".<ref name="Trencsényi2007">Template:Cite book</ref> British historian Norman Davies, himself an author of a popular account of Polish history (God's Playground), notes that Jasienica, while more of "a historical writer than an academic historian", had "formidable talents", gained "much popularity" and that his works would find no equals in the time of communist Poland.<ref name="Davies2005" /> Samsonowicz notes that Jasienica "was a brave writer", going against prevailing system, and willing to propose new hypotheses and reinterpret history in innovative ways.<ref name=hs /> Michnik notes how Jasienica was willing to write about Polish mistakes, for example in the treatment of Cossacks.<ref name=wyborcza /> Ukrainian historian Stephen Velychenko also positively commented on Jasienica's extensive coverage of the Polish-Ukrainian history.<ref name="Velychenko1993">Template:Cite book</ref> Both Michnik and Samsonowicz note how Jasienica's works contain hidden messages in which Jasienica discusses more contemporary history, such as in his Rozważania....<ref name=wyborcza /><ref name=hs /><ref name="Kula2004">Template:Cite book</ref>

Bibliography

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Template:More citations needed Several of Jasienica's books have been translated into English by Alexander Jordan and published by the American Institute of Polish Culture, based in Miami, Florida.

Awards

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Medals:
Awards:

See also

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References

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Template:Reflist

Further reading

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  • Brandys, Marian, Jasienica i inni (Jasienica and Others), Warsaw, Iskry, 1995, Template:ISBN
  • Wiaderny, Bernard Paweł Jasienica: Fragment biografii, wrzesien 1939 – brygada Łupaszki, 1945 (Paweł Jasienica: Fragment of a Biography, September 1939 – Łupaszko's Brigade, 1945); Warsaw, Antyk
  • Beynar-Czeczott, Ewa Mój ojciec Paweł Jasienica (My father Paweł Jasienica); Prószyński i S-ka 2006, Template:ISBN)

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