Karol Hubert Rostworowski (3 November 1877 â€" 4 February 1938) was a
Polish playwright, poet and musician, born to a family of local
gentry. He is remembered for his opposition to totalitarianism and for
fatalistic works inspired by Catholic morality.[1][2]Rostworowski was
born in Rybna in southern Poland. He studied agriculture in Halle, but
abandoned it in 1900. He began studying piano and composition at the
Leipzig Conservatory in 1901, and moved to Berlin to study philosophy
six years later. He returned to Poland in 1908 and settled in Czarkowy
on the Nida. During World War I he moved to Kraków and became a
member of National Democracy, publishing in GÅ‚os Narodu beginning in
1920. In 1933 he was chosen to join the Polish Academy of Literature,
but resigned his membership in 1937 in protest against the change of
government. Between 1934 and 1937 he had served as a councillor in the
Kraków municipal government on the platform of the National Party.[2]
He died in Kraków.Rostworowski had his first published work, a
collection of decadent poems called Tandeta, released in 1901 (or
1911, sources vary). In 1907â€"1909 he published a four-volume series:
Pre memoria, Maya, Ante lucis ortum, and Saeculum solutum.[3] He
published his first dramas between 1908 and 1911, including Żeglarze
(Sailors, 1908), Pod górę (Uphill, 1910), and Echo (1911). He became
famous locally for his play Judasz z Kariothu (Judas of Kerioth,
1913),[4] based on the New Testament and staged with the actor Ludwik
Solski in the title role.[5] His next widely discussed historical
play, about the nature of tyranny, was Kajus Cezar Kaligula (1917),
also with Solski. In 1920 he published Miłosierdzie (Mercy), and in
1922 the drama Straszne dzieci (Hollow Children), followed by
Zmartwychwstanie (Resurrection, 1923) and Antychryst (1925), but these
were not as highly regarded as his first plays. He spoke out against
totalitarianism in Czerwony marsz (Red March, 1930), a morality play
on guillotines and rolling heads based on the French Revolution and
the Terror.[6]Rostworowski received rave reviews for his tragedy
Niespodzianka (Surprise, 1928â€"1929), about parents murdering for
money their own son, who had emigrated to America and returned to
visit them. The work was staged at the Juliusz SÅ‚owacki Theatre in
1929, and in 1932 won the national book prize.[7] Niespodzianka was
regarded as Rostworowski's most notable achievement by the Polish
Nobel laureate Czesław Miłosz.[8] The novel tells an old story,
first recorded around the 17th century. A peasant family in financial
despair is visited by a well-dressed man asking for lodgings. They
kill him in his sleep to steal his belongings, but subsequently
discover that he was their own son. Both parents suffer
psychologically, and the money is given to their younger son to pay
for his education.[7] The story was staged by director Jan Åšwiderski
in Poznań in 1987.[9]
Polish playwright, poet and musician, born to a family of local
gentry. He is remembered for his opposition to totalitarianism and for
fatalistic works inspired by Catholic morality.[1][2]Rostworowski was
born in Rybna in southern Poland. He studied agriculture in Halle, but
abandoned it in 1900. He began studying piano and composition at the
Leipzig Conservatory in 1901, and moved to Berlin to study philosophy
six years later. He returned to Poland in 1908 and settled in Czarkowy
on the Nida. During World War I he moved to Kraków and became a
member of National Democracy, publishing in GÅ‚os Narodu beginning in
1920. In 1933 he was chosen to join the Polish Academy of Literature,
but resigned his membership in 1937 in protest against the change of
government. Between 1934 and 1937 he had served as a councillor in the
Kraków municipal government on the platform of the National Party.[2]
He died in Kraków.Rostworowski had his first published work, a
collection of decadent poems called Tandeta, released in 1901 (or
1911, sources vary). In 1907â€"1909 he published a four-volume series:
Pre memoria, Maya, Ante lucis ortum, and Saeculum solutum.[3] He
published his first dramas between 1908 and 1911, including Żeglarze
(Sailors, 1908), Pod górę (Uphill, 1910), and Echo (1911). He became
famous locally for his play Judasz z Kariothu (Judas of Kerioth,
1913),[4] based on the New Testament and staged with the actor Ludwik
Solski in the title role.[5] His next widely discussed historical
play, about the nature of tyranny, was Kajus Cezar Kaligula (1917),
also with Solski. In 1920 he published Miłosierdzie (Mercy), and in
1922 the drama Straszne dzieci (Hollow Children), followed by
Zmartwychwstanie (Resurrection, 1923) and Antychryst (1925), but these
were not as highly regarded as his first plays. He spoke out against
totalitarianism in Czerwony marsz (Red March, 1930), a morality play
on guillotines and rolling heads based on the French Revolution and
the Terror.[6]Rostworowski received rave reviews for his tragedy
Niespodzianka (Surprise, 1928â€"1929), about parents murdering for
money their own son, who had emigrated to America and returned to
visit them. The work was staged at the Juliusz SÅ‚owacki Theatre in
1929, and in 1932 won the national book prize.[7] Niespodzianka was
regarded as Rostworowski's most notable achievement by the Polish
Nobel laureate Czesław Miłosz.[8] The novel tells an old story,
first recorded around the 17th century. A peasant family in financial
despair is visited by a well-dressed man asking for lodgings. They
kill him in his sleep to steal his belongings, but subsequently
discover that he was their own son. Both parents suffer
psychologically, and the money is given to their younger son to pay
for his education.[7] The story was staged by director Jan Åšwiderski
in Poznań in 1987.[9]
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