Lucjan Wolanowski
Encyclopedia
Lucjan Wilhelm Wolanowski (born Lucjan Kon on February 26, 1920, Warsaw
, Poland
, died February 20, 2006, Warsaw), pseudonyms: Wilk; Waldemar Mruczkowski; W. Lucjański; (L.W.); lu; Lu; (lw); WOL., Polish
journalist
, writer
and traveller.
Born into an intellectual
family. Son of Henryk Kon (lawyer
) and Róża Wolanowska, the great-grandson of Majer Wolanowski (1844–1900), the well-known Polish manufacturer. His sister, Elżbieta (Kon) Wassongowa (1908–2007) was a Polish translator and book editor.
Wolanowski studied chemistry
at the Grenoble Polytechnical Institute (France
1938-1939), but the outbreak of World War II
caught him during a vacation in his homeland. During the World War II he fought as a soldier of the Polish clandestine resistance movement Home Army and he acted as literary contributor to the Polish underground press.
After the war he worked with the Polish Press Agency (from 1945), he was a commentator from various conferences for journalists in the Foreign Secretary in Warsaw
. In this period he met such famous people as Edward R. Murrow
, Sydney Gruson, Flora Lewis
, Larry Allen
, Vicent Buist or Pierre Marechal
, who were correspondents in Poland
then. He worked as a journalist at the weekly magazine Przekrój (1945–1950); the illustrated weekly Świat (The World, 1951–1969); the magazine Dookoła świata (1969–1976) and with the magazine Magazyn Polski (1976–1988).
He joined a ship-rescue operation in a Norwegian fiord, made a long trip aboard an Icelandic cutter in North Atlantic waters. He went on five trips around the world (1960–1972) and also visited the Pacific region - he visited Australia
, Japan
, New Zealand
, Papua and New Guinea, West Irian
, French Polynesia
, Fiji
, Hong-Kong and Singapore
; accredited to the headquarter of the UN Troops in New Guinea
during the landing operation (1962–1963); as the US stipendist (he was granted a scholarship United States Department of State - "Program for Leaders"), he belonged to the team of reporters (as the only reporter from East Europe) to cover the take off of the space vessel Gemini 5
in 1965 (Cape Kennedy, Florida
); he acted as advisor to the World Health Organization
Information Department in Geneva
, then in a similar capacity at the WHO branches in New Delhi
, Bangkok
and Manila
1967-1968. He traveled aboard an Australian light-house tender m.v. Cape Moreton
, servicing light-houses on the small Coral Sea
islands and took part in an Australian whaling expedition. Was rescued by black-trackers during his wanderings across the Kimberley
desert.
He wrote 25 books, translated into 7 languages and depicting mainly his travels. He doesn't specialize neither in economics nor in politics, looking always for "the human side of the story" and trying to see for himself the things he is going to write about. All his books are illustrated by pictures he shoots himself.
Member of the Association of Polish Journalists (1951–1982 and 1991–2006), of the Polish Writers Union (1959–1983), of the Polish PEN Club
(1971–2006), of the Association of Polish Writers (1989–2006); former member of the Polish Socialist Party (PPS; 1945–1948), and of the Polish United Workers Party (PZPR; 1948–1980).
Distinctions: Order of the Romania
Star (1949), Award of the Polish Club of International Publicists (1962); Prize of the Polish Journalists Association for the Best Book of the Year (1973); the Cavalier's Cross of Polonia Restituta; the Golden Cross of Merit; Honorary Citizen of Springfield
, USA (1965).
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, died February 20, 2006, Warsaw), pseudonyms: Wilk; Waldemar Mruczkowski; W. Lucjański; (L.W.); lu; Lu; (lw); WOL., Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and traveller.
Born into an intellectual
Intellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
family. Son of Henryk Kon (lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
) and Róża Wolanowska, the great-grandson of Majer Wolanowski (1844–1900), the well-known Polish manufacturer. His sister, Elżbieta (Kon) Wassongowa (1908–2007) was a Polish translator and book editor.
Wolanowski studied chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
at the Grenoble Polytechnical Institute (France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
1938-1939), but the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
caught him during a vacation in his homeland. During the World War II he fought as a soldier of the Polish clandestine resistance movement Home Army and he acted as literary contributor to the Polish underground press.
After the war he worked with the Polish Press Agency (from 1945), he was a commentator from various conferences for journalists in the Foreign Secretary in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. In this period he met such famous people as Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow
Edward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
, Sydney Gruson, Flora Lewis
Flora Lewis
Flora Lewis was an American journalist.Lewis was born in Los Angeles and was a 1941 summa cum laude graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She received a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University in 1942.She wrote for The...
, Larry Allen
Larry Allen
Larry Christopher Allen, Sr. is a former American football guard of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 1994 NFL Draft...
, Vicent Buist or Pierre Marechal
Pierre Maréchal
Jean-Pierre Maréchal was an engineer and racing driver who died after his Aston Martin team car crashed in the first postwar running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race....
, who were correspondents in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
then. He worked as a journalist at the weekly magazine Przekrój (1945–1950); the illustrated weekly Świat (The World, 1951–1969); the magazine Dookoła świata (1969–1976) and with the magazine Magazyn Polski (1976–1988).
He joined a ship-rescue operation in a Norwegian fiord, made a long trip aboard an Icelandic cutter in North Atlantic waters. He went on five trips around the world (1960–1972) and also visited the Pacific region - he visited Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Papua and New Guinea, West Irian
Western New Guinea
West Papua informally refers to the Indonesian western half of the island of New Guinea and other smaller islands to its west. The region is officially administered as two provinces: Papua and West Papua. The eastern half of New Guinea is Papua New Guinea.The population of approximately 3 million...
, French Polynesia
French Polynesia
French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, Hong-Kong and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
; accredited to the headquarter of the UN Troops in New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
during the landing operation (1962–1963); as the US stipendist (he was granted a scholarship United States Department of State - "Program for Leaders"), he belonged to the team of reporters (as the only reporter from East Europe) to cover the take off of the space vessel Gemini 5
Gemini 5
Gemini 5 was a 1965 manned spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. It was the third manned Gemini flight, the 11th manned American flight and the 19th spaceflight of all time...
in 1965 (Cape Kennedy, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
); he acted as advisor to the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
Information Department in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, then in a similar capacity at the WHO branches in New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
and Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
1967-1968. He traveled aboard an Australian light-house tender m.v. Cape Moreton
Cape Moreton
Cape Moreton is a rocky headland located at the north eastern tip of Moreton Island in South East Queensland, Australia. The surrounding area is part of the Moreton Island National Park. 5 km north-west of Cape Moreton is Flinders Reef....
, servicing light-houses on the small Coral Sea
Coral Sea
The Coral Sea is a marginal sea off the northeast coast of Australia. It is bounded in the west by the east coast of Queensland, thereby including the Great Barrier Reef, in the east by Vanuatu and by New Caledonia, and in the north approximately by the southern extremity of the Solomon Islands...
islands and took part in an Australian whaling expedition. Was rescued by black-trackers during his wanderings across the Kimberley
Kimberley region of Western Australia
The Kimberley is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northern part of Western Australia, bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy and Tanami Deserts, and on the east by the Northern Territory.The region...
desert.
He wrote 25 books, translated into 7 languages and depicting mainly his travels. He doesn't specialize neither in economics nor in politics, looking always for "the human side of the story" and trying to see for himself the things he is going to write about. All his books are illustrated by pictures he shoots himself.
Member of the Association of Polish Journalists (1951–1982 and 1991–2006), of the Polish Writers Union (1959–1983), of the Polish PEN Club
International PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
(1971–2006), of the Association of Polish Writers (1989–2006); former member of the Polish Socialist Party (PPS; 1945–1948), and of the Polish United Workers Party (PZPR; 1948–1980).
Distinctions: Order of the Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
Star (1949), Award of the Polish Club of International Publicists (1962); Prize of the Polish Journalists Association for the Best Book of the Year (1973); the Cavalier's Cross of Polonia Restituta; the Golden Cross of Merit; Honorary Citizen of Springfield
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
, USA (1965).
Works
- Ośmiornica (Octopus), 1952 (History of the Unilever Syndicate);
- Przeważnie o ludziach (Mostly about people), 1953;
- Na południe od Babiej Góry (To the East of Babia GóraBabia Góra-Babia HoraBabia Góra , or Babia hora , literally Old Wives' or Witches' Mountain, is a massif situated on the border between Poland and Slovakia in the Western Beskidy Mountains...
), 1954 (reports from CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
); - Śladami brudnej sprawy (In the steps of a dirty affair), 1954 (historical reports);
- Czy Stanisław Talarek musiał umrzeć? (Had Stanisław Talarek to die?), 1955 (with Mirosław Azembski);
- Cichy front (The Silent Front), 1955, 1956;
- Dokąd oczy poniosą (To go just anywhere), 1958, 1959 (reports);
- Żywe srebro (Quick-silver), 1959, 1963 (with Henryk Kawka);
- Zwierciadło bogini (The goddess's mirror), 1961, 1962, 1964 (reports from JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
); - Klejnot korony (The crown jewel), 1963 (report from Hong-Kong);
- Księżyc nad Tahiti (Moon over Tahiti), 1963;
- Dalej niż daleko (Farther than far), 1964 (report from New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
); - Basia nad biegunem (Basia at the pole), 1964 (book for children);
- Ocean nie bardzo spokojny (The not very Pacific Ocean), 1967;
- Poczta do Nigdy-Nigdy (Post to Never-Never LandOutbackThe Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia, term colloquially can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas. The term "the outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas named "the bush".-Overview:The outback is home to a...
), 1968, 1970, 1972, 1978, 1989 (reports from AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
); - Z zapartym tchem (Breathtaking reports), 1969;
- Upał i gorączka (Heat and fever), 1970, 1973, 1996;
- Westchnienie za Lapu-Lapu (Longing for Lapu-LapuLapu-LapuLapu-Lapu was the ruler of Mactan, an island in the Visayas, Philippines, who is known as the first native of the archipelago to have resisted the Spanish colonization...
), 1973, 1976; - Min-Min. Mała opowieść o wielkim lądzie (Min-MinMin Min lightMin Min Light is the name given to an unusual light formation that has been reported numerous times in eastern Australia. The lights have been reported from as far south as Brewarrina in western New South Wales, to as far north as Boulia in northern Queensland...
. Short story about a Large Land), 1977; - Walizka z przygodami. Reporter tu, reporter tam (A luggage full of adventures. A reporter at large), 1977;
- Buntownicy Mórz Południowych. Reporter na tropie buntu na Okręcie Jego Królewskiej Mości "Bounty" (The mutineers of the South Seas. A Reporter on the trail of the Mutiny on HMS "Bounty"Mutiny on the BountyThe mutiny on the Bounty was a mutiny that occurred aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty on 28 April 1789, and has been commemorated by several books, films, and popular songs, many of which take considerable liberties with the facts. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against the...
), 1980, 1986; - Ani diabeł, ani głębina. Dzieje odkryć Australii, opowiedziane ludziom, którym się bardzo śpieszy (Neither the devil, nor the deep water. A story of Australia's discovery, told to the people who are in hurry), 1987.
External links
- Lucjan Wolanowski (1920-2006) – Official Website (PL)
- Lucjan Wolanowski in Facebook
- Lucjan Wolanowski (1920-2006) – Life and Work; "University Daily", April 2006; University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland (PL)
- Book about Lucjan Wolanowski: "Wokół reportażu podróżniczego" - Katowice (Poland), October 2009 - pdf file (PL)