Overview
Letters from Polish poet and editor, Jan Lechoń. Also includes compositions by Lechoń and others and some third party correspondence.
Dates
- Creation: 1945-1956 and undated
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in Polish.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
Extent
1 linear feet (2 boxes)Collection includes numerous letters from Lechoń to others, including letters from him as editor of the Polish weekly, Tygodnik Polski. Also includes some compositions by Lechoń, compositions of others, and some third party correspondence. Includes letters to Mieczysław Grydzewski, Jan Wszelaki, and others; and compositions by Jan Wszelaki.
Biographical / Historical
Lechoń was a Polish poet, editor, and diplomat, who was born in Poland in 1899 as Leszek Serafinowicz. Lechoń was part of a group of Polish poets who formed a group called Skamander. His first volume of poetry was "Karmazynowy poemat" (The Scarlet Poem) published in 1920. He published additional books of poetry (such as "Rzeczpospolita Babinska" (1921: The Republic of Babin), and "Srebrne i czarne" (1924: Silver and Black)) was editor of a satirical weekly, "Cyrulik Warszawski" (The Barber of Warsaw), and in 1932 was appointed cultural attaché to the Polish embassy in Paris. He escaped from Paris during the Nazi invasion and by 1941 was in New York City where he co-founded the Polish Academic Institute and edited a Polish weekly, "Wiadomości Polskie, Polityczne i Literackie." He also continued to write and publish poetry while in the U.S. and he worked for Radio Free Europe from 1952 until his death by his own hand in 1956.
Arrangement
Arranged in alphabetical order by author.
Physical Location
b
Immediate Source of Acquisition
94M-43. Bequest of Professor Aleksander Janta; received after: 1974.
Separated Materials
The other papers received in the Aleksander Janta bequest have been cataloged into separate finding aids as:
Processing Information
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt, with the assistance of Grazyna Slanda and Gwido Zlatkes.
- Title
- Lechoń, Jan, 1899-1956. Jan Lechoń papers, 1945-1956: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou00089
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
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