Stanislawa Przybyszewska
Encyclopedia
Stanisława Przybyszewska (staɲiˈswava pʂɨbɨˈʂɛfska; 1 October 1901, Kraków
- 15 August 1935, Free City of Danzig
) was a Polish
dramatist who wrote almost exclusively about the French Revolution
. Her play The Danton Case, which examines the conflict between Maximilien Robespierre
and Georges Danton
, is considered to be one of the most exemplary liary works about the Revolution, and was adapted (albeit with significant ideological edits) by Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda
for his 1983 film Danton
.
Przybyszewska was born Stanisława Pająk, the illegitimate child of artist Aniela Pająk and writer Stanisław Przybyszewski, the latter a famous and notoriously dissolute modernist who was one of the founding members of the Young Poland
movement. As a child, Przybyszewska traveled across Europe
with her mother, living in Lwów, Paris
, Zurich
, and Vienna
. Following the death of her mother in 1912, Przybyszewska lived with an aunt before reuniting with her father in 1919. It was her father who introduced Przybyszewska, during her brief stint as a philosophy student at Poznan University
, to morphine
, which she began to use heavily.
In 1921, Przybyszewska married Jan Panienski, an artist and fellow morphine addict whom she met in Kraków
. Following his death from an overdose in 1924, Przybyszewska drifted into a solitary and fanatical obsession with the French Revolution, dating her letters (which she wrote to recipients as diverse as her father and Thomas Mann
) by the French Republican Calendar
. Desperately poor and, increasingly, mentally unstable, she spent the last years of her life living in a tiny, unheated garret in Danzig, painting her food with Lysol to preserve it and devoting herself to dramatizing the Revolution.
Przybyszewska was fixated upon Maximilien Robespierre
, and attributed to him, in her writing, extraordinary brilliance and powers of foresight. "I have the calm certainty," she wrote to a friend, "that I understand Robespierre better than anyone whose works are known to me." Przybyszewska attributed her own Communist opinions to Robespierre, and depicted him as having predicted the disastrous rise of capitalism
. Robespierre was the central figure in both of her surviving plays, The Danton Case, which was completed in 1929, and an earlier play, Thermidor, which remained unfinished at the time of her death in 1935.
Przybyszewska died still obscure, utterly isolated from the modern world and absorbed by her love of the Revolution. British author Hilary Mantel
remarks of her that "tuberculosis, morphine and malnutrition were adduced as the causes of death, but [Przybyszewska] could more truthfully be diagnosed as the woman who died of Robespierre."
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
- 15 August 1935, Free City of Danzig
Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....
) was a 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...
dramatist who wrote almost exclusively about the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. Her play The Danton Case, which examines the conflict between Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre is one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution. He largely dominated the Committee of Public Safety and was instrumental in the period of the Revolution commonly known as the Reign of Terror, which ended with his...
and Georges Danton
Georges Danton
Georges Jacques Danton was leading figure in the early stages of the French Revolution and the first President of the Committee of Public Safety. Danton's role in the onset of the Revolution has been disputed; many historians describe him as "the chief force in theoverthrow of the monarchy and the...
, is considered to be one of the most exemplary liary works about the Revolution, and was adapted (albeit with significant ideological edits) by Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Wajda is a Polish film director. Recipient of an honorary Oscar, he is possibly the most prominent member of the unofficial "Polish Film School"...
for his 1983 film Danton
Danton (1983 film)
Danton is a 1983 French language film depicting the last months of Georges Danton, one of the leaders of the French Revolution. It is an adaptation of the Polish play The Danton Case by Stanislawa Przybyszewska....
.
Przybyszewska was born Stanisława Pająk, the illegitimate child of artist Aniela Pająk and writer Stanisław Przybyszewski, the latter a famous and notoriously dissolute modernist who was one of the founding members of the Young Poland
Young Poland
Young Poland is a modernist period in Polish visual arts, literature and music, covering roughly the years between 1890 and 1918. It was a result of strong aesthetic opposition to the ideas of Positivism...
movement. As a child, Przybyszewska traveled across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
with her mother, living in Lwów, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. Following the death of her mother in 1912, Przybyszewska lived with an aunt before reuniting with her father in 1919. It was her father who introduced Przybyszewska, during her brief stint as a philosophy student at Poznan University
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan
Adam Mickiewicz University is one of the major Polish universities, located in the city of Poznań in western Poland. It opened on May 7, 1919, and since 1955 has carried the name of the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz.-History:...
, to morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
, which she began to use heavily.
In 1921, Przybyszewska married Jan Panienski, an artist and fellow morphine addict whom she met in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
. Following his death from an overdose in 1924, Przybyszewska drifted into a solitary and fanatical obsession with the French Revolution, dating her letters (which she wrote to recipients as diverse as her father and Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
) by the French Republican Calendar
French Republican Calendar
The French Republican Calendar or French Revolutionary Calendar was a calendar created and implemented during the French Revolution, and used by the French government for about 12 years from late 1793 to 1805, and for 18 days by the Paris Commune in 1871...
. Desperately poor and, increasingly, mentally unstable, she spent the last years of her life living in a tiny, unheated garret in Danzig, painting her food with Lysol to preserve it and devoting herself to dramatizing the Revolution.
Przybyszewska was fixated upon Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre is one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution. He largely dominated the Committee of Public Safety and was instrumental in the period of the Revolution commonly known as the Reign of Terror, which ended with his...
, and attributed to him, in her writing, extraordinary brilliance and powers of foresight. "I have the calm certainty," she wrote to a friend, "that I understand Robespierre better than anyone whose works are known to me." Przybyszewska attributed her own Communist opinions to Robespierre, and depicted him as having predicted the disastrous rise of capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
. Robespierre was the central figure in both of her surviving plays, The Danton Case, which was completed in 1929, and an earlier play, Thermidor, which remained unfinished at the time of her death in 1935.
Przybyszewska died still obscure, utterly isolated from the modern world and absorbed by her love of the Revolution. British author Hilary Mantel
Hilary Mantel
Hilary Mary Mantel CBE , née Thompson, is an English novelist, short story writer and critic. Her work, ranging in subject from personal memoir to historical fiction, has been short-listed for major literary awards...
remarks of her that "tuberculosis, morphine and malnutrition were adduced as the causes of death, but [Przybyszewska] could more truthfully be diagnosed as the woman who died of Robespierre."