Polish Academy of Literature

Tyszkiewicz Palace, formerly the residence of the Polish Academy of Literature in Warsaw along Krakowskie Przedmieście
The inaugural session of the Polish Academy of Literature, 1933. Sitting from left to right: Prime Minister Janusz Jędrzejewicz, Zofia Nałkowska, Maria Mościcka, President Ignacy Mościcki, Maria Jędrzejewicz, Wacław Sieroszewski, Leopold Staff. Standing from left: Colonel Jan Głogowski, director Skowroński, Zenon Przesmycki, Wacław Berent, Piotr Choynowski, Juliusz Kleiner, Wincenty Rzymowski, Jerzy Szaniawski, Juliusz Kaden-Bandrowski, Karol Irzykowski, Tadeusz Żeleński, Tadeusz Zieliński, and Bolesław Leśmian
Diploma of the Polish Academy of Literature Golden laurel awarded to Kornel Makuszyński in 1935

The Polish Academy of Literature (Polish: Polska Akademia Literatury, PAL) was one of the most important state institutions of literary life in the Second Polish Republic, operating between 1933 and 1939 with the headquarters in Warsaw. It was founded by the decree of the Council of Ministers of the Republic (Rada Ministrów RP).[1]

The academy was the highest opinion-forming authority in the country, in charge of all aspects of promoting and honoring the most outstanding contemporary achievements of Polish literature. According to its own statute, the main objective of the academy was to raise the quality level of Poland's publishing, while working in conjunction with the government efforts and NGO endeavors focused on the advancement of Polish culture and art in general. The century of foreign Partitions of Poland, ending in 1918, was marked by the forcible suppression of Polish education, language and religion under Prussian (and later German rule, see Kulturkampf),[2] and outright Russification in the territories occupied by the Tsarist Empire,[3][4] reaching its epitome under Otto von Bismarck on the one hand, and Nicholas II on the other. It resulted in staggering levels of illiteracy on Polish lands, as noted by Stefan Żeromski in 1923.[5] PAL was called forth to reinforce the historic standards of quality, exalt the honor of Poland's literary tradition and explore the intricacies of her heritage. It was proposed for the first time by Żeromski in 1920 already, but accepted as an idea only nine years later (and five years after his death), in 1929.[6]

  1. ^ Jerzy Jan Lerski, Piotr Wróbel, Richard J. Kozicki (1996). Historical dictionary of Poland, 966-1945. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 451. ISBN 0-313-26007-9. Retrieved December 5, 2011.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Maciej Janowski, Frederick's "Iroquois of Europe" in Polish liberal thought before 1918; Central European University Press, 2004, ISBN 963-9241-18-0.
  3. ^ Liudmila Gatagova, "The Crystallization of Ethnic Identity in the Process of Mass Ethnophobias in the Russian Empire. (The Second Half of the 19th Century)." Archived 2011-07-24 at the Wayback Machine The CRN E-book.
  4. ^ Mikhail Dolbilov, "The Civic Identity of Russifying Officials in the Empire's Northwestern Region after 1863" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 30, 2004.  (119 KB) Harvard seminars and conferences.
  5. ^ Stefan Żeromski (1923). "Snobizm i postęp" (PDF). Snobbism & Progress; book subtitled Play in 3 acts – a pun meaning 3 "partitioning acts". p. 46. Archived from the original (PDF 882.6 KB) on April 26, 2012. Retrieved March 23, 2013. Otrzymaliśmy w spadku po najeźdźcach 50% analfabetów. (The inheritance we received from the invaders was 50% illiteracy rate, that's everything.)
    1. Stefan Żeromski, Proposal for the Creation of the Academy of Polish Literature (Projekt Akademii Literatury Polskiej). 1918. Original text in full. Wikisource.
    2. Stefan Żeromski, On the Need for Polish Academy of Literature (O potrzebie akademii literatury polskiej). 1924. Public address in full. Wikisource.
    3. Rada Ministrów RP, Wawrzyn akademicki (Academic laurel), 1934. Decree of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Poland. Wikisource.
  6. ^ "Polska Akademia Literatury". Encyklopedia Onet.pl, Grupa Onet.pl SA. 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2011.