{{Short description|Polish writer, publicist and public figure (1900–1962)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Leon Kruczkowski | image = Poseł Leon Kruczkowski III kadencja.jpg | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1900|6|28|df=y}} | birth_place = Kraków, Grand Duchy of Kraków | death_date = {{death date and age|1962|8|1|1900|6|28|df=y}} | resting_place = Powązki Military Cemetery | party = Polish United Workers' Party | citizenship = Poland | education = | alma_mater = Kraków Higher School of Industry | occupation = Politician, writer | signature = | office = Member of the State Council of the Polish People's Republic | term_start = 20 February 1957 | term_end = 1 August 1962 | predecessor = | successor = | spouse = | children = | awards = 30px|link=Order of the Builders of People's Poland 30px|link=Order of the Banner of Labour 30px|link=Order of Polonia Restituta 30px|link=Medal of the 10th Anniversary of People's Poland }}
'''Leon Kruczkowski''' (28 June 1900 – 1 August 1962) was a Polish writer, publicist and public figure.<ref name=GreatSoviet>[https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Kruczkowski%2C+Leon Kruczkowski, Leon], The Free Dictionary/The Great Soviet Encyclopedia</ref> He wrote books and dramas and was prominent in Polish theatre of the post-World War II period. His best known work is the drama ''Niemcy'' ('The Germans'), written in 1949.
A left-wing activist before World War II, Kruczkowski spent the war in German prisoner of war camps. After the war, he became active in politics of communist-ruled Poland. He was a deputy minister of culture and art in 1945–1948, member of Polish parliament (''Sejm'') from 1947 to 1962, and member of the Polish Council of State from 1957. He had significant influence on Polish cultural policies of the period.
==Biography== Kruczkowski was born on 28 June 1900 in Kraków. While completing his higher education in chemistry and technology at the Higher School of Industry in Kraków, he published his first poems around 1918 and 1919. He moved to the Dąbrowa Basin in 1926. In 1928 he published his first collection of poems, ''Młoty nad światem'' ('Hammers over the World'), and in 1932 his first novel, a "peasant response to Juliusz Słowacki's ''Kordian''", entitled ''Kordian i cham'' ('Kordian and the Boor').<ref name=WIEM/><ref name=milosz>Czesław Miłosz, ''The History of Polish Literature'', University of California Press, 1983, {{ISBN|0-520-04477-0}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=11MVdBYUX5oC&dq=%22Leon+Kruczkowski%22&pg=PA428 Google Print, p.428-429]</ref>
In 1933 Kruczkowski became a full-time writer, moved back to Kraków and in 1935 wrote his first play, ''Bohater naszych czasów'' ('Hero of our Times'). It was rewritten three years later as ''Przygoda z Vaterlandem'' ('An Adventure with Vaterland'), both versions notable for their strong critique of Nazism.<ref name=milosz/> He also wrote essays published in leftist magazines and newspapers, and political brochures: ''Człowiek i powszedność'' ('Man and Daily Reality', 1936), ''W klimacie dyktatury'' ('In the Climate of Dictatorship', 1938), ''Dlaczego jestem socjalistą?'' ('Why am I a Socialist?', 1938).<ref name="WIEM">{{in lang|pl}} [http://portalwiedzy.onet.pl/9170,,,,kruczkowski_leon,haslo.html Kruczkowski Leon], WIEM Encyklopedia {{Archive url|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524163426/http://portalwiedzy.onet.pl/9170,,,,kruczkowski_leon,haslo.html|date=2010-05-24}}</ref> He wrote two more novels, ''Pawie pióra'' ('Peacock Feathers', 1935) and ''Sidła'' ('A Trap', 1937).<ref name=milosz/>
thumb|right|200px|Kruczkowski's tombstone
After Nazi Germany's Invasion of Poland, in which Kruczkowski fought in the Polish Army as an officer, he was arrested and spent the war in a prisoner-of-war camp. In the camp he devoted himself to educational and cultural activities, organizing a theatre.<ref name=WIEM/><ref>Tadeusz Drewnowski, Alicia Nitecki(transl.), ''Postal Indiscretions: The Correspondence of Tadeusz Borowski'', Northwestern University Press, 2007, {{ISBN|0-8101-2203-0}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Mbq1HtzjiwwC&dq=%22Leon+Kruczkowski%22&pg=PA333 Google Print, p.333]</ref> Two of his novels, not finished before the invasion, were lost during World War II. After the war, he resumed his literary career, mainly as a dramatist.<ref name=milosz/> His 1948 ''Odwety'' ('Retributions') was well received, but it was his 1949 ''Niemcy'' ('The Germans'), a drama addressing the issue of Germany's moral responsibility for World War II, that gained him international recognition. It was translated into 14 languages.<ref name=WIEM/>
In the post-war Polish People's Republic, Kruczkowski served as Undersecretary of State (Deputy Minister) in the Ministry of Culture and Art in 1945–1948 and chairman of the Main Council of the Polish Writers' Union in 1949–1956. Additionally, he was a member of the State National Council from 1945 to 1947, a deputy to the Sejm from 1947 to 1962, and from 1957 a member of the Polish Council of State.<ref name=WIEM/>
[[File:Pomnik kruczkowski.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Monument to Leon Kruczkowski located in former Kruczkowski Park in Sosnowiec]]
He was an active and vocal supporter of the new communist order in Poland, involved in politicizing the culture and in introducing the style and doctrine of socialist realism.<ref>Kazimierz Braun, ''A History of Polish Theater, 1939–1989: Spheres of Captivity and Freedom'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996, {{ISBN|0-313-29773-8}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=FZsIIF-2PNUC&dq=%22Leon+Kruczkowski%22&pg=PA43 Google Print, p.42-43]</ref><ref>Kimball King, ''Western Drama Through the Ages: A Student Reference Guide'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007, {{ISBN|0-313-32935-4}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=94LDaZ3efUYC&dq=%22Leon+Kruczkowski%22&pg=PA232 Google Print, p.232]</ref> Recognized as a major literary figure, Kruczkowski also exerted significant influence on the cultural policy of post-war Poland.<ref name=WIEM/><ref name=milosz/>
==Honours and awards== ===National honours=== * 60px Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1946)<ref>{{cite web |title=M.P. 1947 nr 74 poz. 490 |url=https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WMP19470740490 |website=Internetowy System Aktów Prawnych |access-date=19 October 2024}}</ref> * 60px Order of the Banner of Labour, 1st Class (1949)<ref>{{cite web |title=M.P. 1950 nr 6 poz. 58 |url=https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WMP19500060058 |website=Internetowy System Aktów Prawnych |access-date=19 October 2024}}</ref> * 60px Order of the Builders of People's Poland (1954)<ref name="Oberleitner">{{cite book |last1=Oberleitner |first1=Stefan |title=Polskie ordery, odznaczenia i niektóre wyróżnienia zaszczytne 1705–1990: vademecum dla kolekcjonerów. Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, 1944–1990 |date=1992 |publisher=Kanion |location=Zielona Góra |page=22}}</ref> * 60px Medal of the 10th Anniversary of People's Poland (1955)<ref>{{cite web |title=M.P. 1955 nr 101 poz. 1400 |url=https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WMP19551011400 |website=Internetowy System Aktów Prawnych |access-date=19 October 2024}}</ref>
===Foreign honours=== * 60px {{flagicon|Yugoslavia}} Order of Brotherhood and Unity, 1st Class (Yugoslavia, 1946)<ref name="Trybuna">{{cite book |title=Trybuna Robotnicza |date=19 March 1946 |page=1 |url=https://sbc.org.pl/dlibra/publication/96301 |access-date=19 October 2024}}</ref> * 60px {{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} International Stalin Prize for Strengthening Peace Among Peoples (Soviet Union, 1953)<ref name=GreatSoviet/> * 60px {{flagicon|Czechoslovakia}} Officer of the Order of the White Lion (Czechoslovakia, 1957)<ref>{{cite web |title=Československý řád Bílého lva 1923–1990 |url=https://www.prazskyhradarchiv.cz/file/edee/vyznamenani/cs_rbl.pdf |website=Archiv Kanceláře prezidenta republiky |access-date=19 October 2024}}</ref>
==Works==
* ''Młoty nad światem'' ('Hammers over the World', 1928), poetry anthology * ''Kordian i cham'' ('Kordian and the Boor', 1932), novel, adapted to theater in 1935 * ''Pawie pióra'' ('Peacock Feathers', 1935), novel * ''Bohater naszych czasów'' ('Hero of our Times', 1935), drama, rewritten as ''Przygoda z Vaterlandem'' ('An Adventure with Vaterland', 1938) * ''Sidła'' ('A Trap', 1937), novel * ''Odwety'' ('Retributions', 1948), drama * ''Niemcy'' ('The Germans', 1949), drama * ''Juliusz i Ethel'' ('Julius and Ethel', 1954), drama * ''Odwiedziny'' ('The Visit', 1955), drama * ''Pierwszy dzień wolności'' ('The First Day of Freedom', 1959), drama * ''Śmierć gubernatora'' ('Death of the Governor', 1961), drama * ''Szkice z piekła uczciwych'' ('Sketches from Hell of the Honest', 1963), short stories anthology https://archive.org/details/leon-kruczkowski-vabaduse-esimene-paev
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kruczkowski, Leon}} Category:1900 births Category:1962 deaths Category:Writers from Kraków Category:People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Category:Poles in Austria-Hungary Category:Polish Workers' Party politicians Category:Polish United Workers' Party members Category:Members of the State National Council Category:Members of the Polish Sejm 1947–1952 Category:Members of the Polish Sejm 1952–1956 Category:Members of the Polish Sejm 1957–1961 Category:Members of the Polish Sejm 1961–1965 Category:Polish male dramatists and playwrights Category:20th-century Polish dramatists and playwrights Category:Polish male novelists Category:20th-century Polish novelists Category:Polish male poets Category:20th-century Polish poets Category:Polish Army officers Category:Polish military personnel of World War II Category:Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta Category:Recipients of the Order of the Builders of People's Poland Category:Recipients of the Order of the Banner of Work Category:Stalin Peace Prize recipients Category:Burials at Powązki Military Cemetery Category:Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland) Category:Recipients of the Medal of the 10th Anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland Category:20th-century Polish male writers