Polish poet, prose writer, art expert and translator. One of the founders of Polish Expressionism.
His father was Tytus Seweryn Karol Zegadłowicz (1822-1899), a deacon of the Greek Catholic Church and teacher, and his mother was Elżbieta Kaiszar (1855-1905), a native of Bohemia. Tytus Zegadłowicz (until the mid-19th century, the family name was Żegadłowicz) moved to Wadowice in 1868. He had previously worked as a secondary school professor in Bochnia, Tarnów and Rzeszów. In Wadowice, he taught at the Female Department School and for nearly 20 years (1868-1887) at the local c.k. grammar school. He was a teacher of German, general history, philosophy and geography, as well as the optional subjects: history of the home country and singing; he was a talented violinist himself. He was also a talented violinist himself, and was known as a warm and friendly teacher who, as the pupils themselves recalled, took 'fatherly care' of his pupils. He was one of the donors of the Nicolaus Copernicus Scholarship (1874), which enabled poorer pupils to attend grammar school. Tytus Zegadłowicz was a member of the Wadowice Town Council, and was awarded its honorary citizenship (1870) for his services to the town.
In 1873, Tytus purchased the old classicist manor house in Gorzeń Górny near Wadowice - called 'Murowaniec' - from Eleonora Czerniczkowa, together with its adjoining estate. He renovated the building and took care of its surroundings by planting numerous species of flowers and plants. Emil's father's love of flora undoubtedly influenced the unique atmosphere of 'Murowaniec', and Tytus' love of music underpinned his relationship with Elżbieta Kaiszar - the mother of the future writer.
Emil Erwin Zegadłowicz was born on 20 July 1888 in Biała Krakowska. He was baptised at St Nicholas' Church in Bielsko-Biała and given his mother's maiden name, Kaiszar, with the notation 'adopted Zegadłowicz'. - For Tytus and Elżbieta were not married. Emil spent his childhood and youth in Gorzeń, surrounded by the paternal love of Tytus, for whom he was the only son, longed for in the autumn of his life (when Emil was born, the old gymnasium professor was 66 years old!). His mother lived in Wadowice and rarely visited 'Murowaniec'. Zegadłowicz described the complicated family relations in his series 'Żywot Mikołaja Srebrempisanego'.
After the deaths of Tytus (1899) and Elżbieta (1905), the future writer was brought up by his mother's family. He also inherited the Gorzeń manor house, although he did not actually become its owner until 1909, when he received a 'decree of plenitude'.
In 1906. Emil graduated from the Wadowice Gymnasium and began his studies at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Jagiellonian University. However, he soon changed his major and studied Germanic studies and history of art, ultimately failing to graduate. This did not stop him from studying abroad - he studied in Dresden, Vienna, Berlin and Leipzig, where he improved his language skills at the same time. In 1908, the then fledgling poet's first work was published - together with Wacław Orłowski and Władysław Topor, Zabiełło Zegadłowicz published a volume of poems entitled 'Tentents'.
Just before the First World War, in 1912, the young poet from Gorzów began working as one of the first teachers at the 'Pallottine Grammar School on Kopiec - the Collegium Marianum' in Wadowice. Committed to the development of the school, he even wrote a poem on the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone for the extension of the school building and the boys' dormitory. However, the Great War broke out and in June 1915. Zegadłowicz was drafted into the Austrian army, starting service in a unit stationed at Wagstadt in Moravia.
He was discharged from the army the following February. Even before he left for the front, he met Maria Olimpia in Gorzeń, daughter of Seweryn Kurowski, a pharmacist from Wadowice and granddaughter of Dr Antoni Zapałowicz, a doctor of merit to the town. In July 1915. Emil married Maria, and in August 1916 the writer's first daughter, Elżbieta, called Halszka by all, was born. The second daughter, Atessa (d. 2013), was born four years later.
Meanwhile, the war had ended and the Republic of Poland regained its longed-for independence. At this time, Zegadłowicz began working with 'Zdrój', a Poznań-based biweekly that brought together artists and writers. Cooperation with the magazine was also the beginning of a great friendship, which linked the poet with the editor-in-chief of 'Zdrój', Jerzy Hulewicz. This outstanding graphic artist was the author of many cover designs for Emil's poetry volumes, as well as embroidery patterns for kilims, the production of which was carried out in Gorzeń from 1922 Maria Zegadłowiczowa.
Two poems by the Gorzeń writer were published as part of the 'Zdrój' library: ‘Odejście Ralf Moora’ (1919) and ‘U dnia, którego nie znam, stoję bram’ (1921). When Zegadłowicz took up work in Warszawa, Hulewicz appointed him as a representative of ‘Zdrój’ in the capital.
The writer's stay in Warszawa, was connected with his taking up the post of clerk, as of 1 July 1919, in the Literature Department of the Ministry of Art and Culture. Two months later, he was promoted to the post of head of this Department, and later ran the Statistical and Press Department of the Ministry of Art and Culture. At the Ministry, the writer worked until the end of December 1921. Zegadłowicz resigned himself from the job, which gave the still financially struggling writer a steady income. He did not want to be a ‘chanceller’, as his friend, the artist-painter Ludwik Misky, used to call him with perversity. He was drawn to poetry. In Warszawa, he tried to realise himself artistically, publishing the magazine ‘Ponowa’ and cooperating with the literary group ‘Gospoda Poetów’, but it was not until he returned to his beloved Gorzów that Emil became truly active as a writer.
In late May and early June 1921. Zegadłowicz, together with two writer friends, Edward Kozikowski and Jan Nepomucen Miller, founded the literary group ‘Czartak. Zbór poetów w Beskidzie’ (Czartak. A congregation of poets in the Beskid), which was soon supplemented by, among others, Janina Brzostowska (Dorozińska) and Tadeusz Szantroch. The group published its own monthly literary and artistic magazine, ‘Czartak’, and its first issue appeared in January 1922 printed, like the subsequent ones, in Franciszek Foltin's printing house in Wadowice.
Zegadłowicz's fascination with the Beskid and the surrounding nature, his return to the sources and his love of folklore, became the inspiration for his poetry. In the 1920s, ballads and poems were written in Gorzeń, thanks to which their creator gained fully deserved authority in the literary circles of the time. It was then that the famous 'Powsinogi beskidzkie', 'Kolędziołki beskidzkie' and ‘Dom jałowcowy’ were written. His friendship with one of the pillars of ‘Czartak’ - Edward Kozikowski - was also evident in his cooperation in the literary field. In 1923, their joint volume of poetry appeared in print, under the enigmatic title: 'Niam-Niam. Antologia poezji murzyńskiej' (Niam-Niam. Anthology of Negro poetry). To the delight of the authors, most critics welcomed the exotic apocrypha, recognising this literary mystification of the 'czartakists' as authentic.
When, in the spring of 1923, Maria Wowro came to the Góra Górne manor and brought with her birds carved by her husband, hoping to sell them to Mr and Mrs Zegadłowicz, no one could have guessed that a significant change had come into the lives of the two residents of Gorzeń Górny. Emil became enchanted by the simplicity and exceptional colours of the woodcarving work of the illiterate peasant Jędrzej Wowro. This was the beginning of Zegadłowicz's friendship with the Gorzeński saint maker, who became the inspiration for the 'Ballada o Wowrze’ - gadabout, Beskid saint maker, about the true God and Christ the sorrowful sculptor of the Beskid patron. It was also the beginning of the writer's new great passion - collecting. He began to collect works by Wowro in his manor, and soon other artists, showing his next face - that of a patron of the arts.
In 1924, Zegadłowicz made his debut as a playwright. In November of that year, 'Lampka oliwna' (The Olive Lamp) was published by Franciszek Foltin's publishing house in Wadowice. The premiere performance of the drama, directed by Stanisława Wysocka, took place at the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Krakow. The 'Lampka oliwna' was followed by other dramas, which were quickly staged in the theatres of Kraków, Warszawa, Poznań and Wilno: 'Alcesta', 'Głaz graniczny', 'Betsaba', 'Wigilie' and 'Nawiedzeni' (The Haunted). A two-volume edition of 'Dramas' was published between 1931 and 1932.
Most of Zegadłowicz's poetry of the 1920s was published by his friend printer and publisher Franciszek Foltin. The Wadowice printing house also published other publications by 'Czartak', including the monthly 'Czartak' (last issue in 1928) and the works of Edward Kozikowski and Jan Nepomucen Miller. Foltin's publishing house also published an excellent two-volume translation of Goethe's 'Faust', by Zegadłowicz. Always suffering from a lack of money, Zegadłowicz complained about the high prices charged by Franciszek Foltin, but he appreciated the printers' and bookbinders' mastery. In fact, Zegadłowicz described the Wadowice printing works in the second part of his novel 'Żywot Mikołaja Srebrempisanego' - Spod młyńskich kamieni' [The life of Mikołaj written in silver - From under the millstones].
The financial problems already mentioned once again forced the writer to leave Gorzeń. From 1927, he worked in Poznań, where he successively held the posts of: manager of the Polish Theatre (1927-1930), manager of the Poznań Radio (1929-1932) and editor of the magazines 'Tęcza' and 'Świat kulis'. Several years spent in Poznań resulted in Zegadłowicz's first novels, which were published by the St. Adalbert Publishing House, where he worked for some time. In April 1927, the novel 'Godzina przed jutrznią' [An Hour Before Tomorrow], the first part of the autobiographical series 'Żywot Mikołaja Srebrempisanego' [The Life of Mikołaj written in silver], was published. Subsequent volumes: 'Spod młyńskich kamieni' and 'Cień nad falami' were published in 1928-1929. An undoubted success for the writer was the publication in May 1929. 'Dziesięciu ballad o powsinogach beskidzkich'. It was not only a poetic masterpiece by Zegadłowicz, but the fruit of the writer's cooperation with the bibliophile and typographer Jan of Bogumin Kuglin, and the artist Zbigniew Pronaszko. It was the first book in the history of Polish typography to be set in polish type, the so-called Jeżyński's antique font, beautifully decorated with woodcuts by Pronaszko.
In Poznań, Zegadłowicz also became involved with the weekly 'Od A do Z', a magazine promoting the idea of a Slavic cultural community. The weekly was founded at a time of political change in Romania, which resulted in the return to power of King Charles II and the formation of a government by Nicolae Iorga. The writer was a supporter of these changes, which was reflected in his articles in 'Od A do Z' and his interest in Romanian literature. In May 1931, Zegadłowicz published an anthology of Romanian poetry entitled. 'Tematy rumuńskie'. In the summer of that year, in turn, he travelled to Bucharest and Vǎlenii de Munte, where he visited Prime Minister Iorga, presenting him with 'Tematy rumuńskie' as a gift. At this point, it should be emphasised that, contrary to appearances, Emil Zegadłowicz did not speak Romanian, and the anthology was based on translations by Dr Michał Hellon of the University of Warszawa. For popularising Romanian culture in Poland, the writer was awarded the Order of "Meritul Cultural" by King Charles II.
The writer's pursuit of creative independence and his opposition to the petty bourgeoisie of Poznań was expressed in an article that marked a significant turn in his previous ideological stance and heralded a breakthrough in his writing. In the pages of 'Dwutygodnik Literacki', he published an anticlerical and convention-breaking 'Pastoral Letter', which the writer dated in 'Klechistan' and signed 'Emilencja'.
However, Emil Zegadłowicz returned to Wadowice not as a scandalist, but as a recognised writer and poet, awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Rebirth of Poland by President Ignacy Mościcki. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his creative work, a number of events were prepared in the town to emphasise the Gorzeń writer's contribution to literature and his significance for Wadowice. In 1932, he was asked, among other things, to give a commemorative speech before the play 'Achilleis', prepared by Mieczysław Kotlarczyk's Amateur Popular Theatre, with the participation of young people from the Wadowice secondary school. The set design for the performance was prepared by Wincenty Bałys, whose artistic patron was the writer.
Emil Zegadłowicz's links with the Wadowice secondary school, from which the writer graduated in 1906, were emphasised. Young people associated in the School Drama Club staged 'Lampka oliwna', and the school common room, renovated in 1934, was named after the writer from Gorzeń, whose bust was carved by Bałys to decorate the room.
By a resolution of the Wadowice Town Council, on 23 May 1933, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his creative work, Emil Zegadłowicz was granted, like his father had once been, honorary citizenship of the town. To emphasise the writer's merits, Tatrzańska Street was renamed after him. On 4-5 June, anniversary celebrations were held in Gorzeń Górny and Wadowice. At this time, secondary school pupils from the music club staged a musical performance of Jan Kochanowski's 'Sobótka', edited by Professor Józef Titz, on a stage in front of the 'Murowaniec'. Among others, girls from the Maria Konopnicka Girls' School in Wadowice took part in the celebrations.
In 1933, Zegadłowicz left Gorzeń again and began working in Katowice, as a literary advisor to the Polish Theatre there. For two years (1933-1934), he also taught art history and civics at the Katowice Conservatory of Music. However, the time was coming when the writer was to shock both the inter-war literary community and Wadowice itself. In the summer and autumn of 1934, he wrote the first version of 'Zmory' [Nightmares], which the author read to his guests at the manor house in Gorzeń. The novel, entitled 'Nightmares. A Chronicle from the Ancient Past', was published in August 1935 and immediately provoked numerous discussions and polemics among writers and critics from Kraków, Lviv, Warszawa and Poznań. For some, 'Zmory' was a perfect depiction of a small-town community, exposing bigotry and moral hypocrisy. For others, the novel only proved the egocentricity of the author, who was the alter ego of the protagonist, Mikołaj 'Mika' Srebrempisany. The second edition of 'Zmory' (December 1935) was confiscated and the author had to assert his rights in court.
The most controversial part of 'Zmory' was, of course, set in Wadowice - the link between the city and the place of the novel's action - 'the imperial royal free city of Volkovice' - was all too clear. A lot of emotion was aroused especially by the way Zegadłowicz depicted a turn-of-the-century secondary school - a picture in which literary fiction mixed with actual events and real characters from the writer's school years. After the book was published, Zegadłowicz was stripped of his honorary citizenship of Wadowice, and the name of Tatrzańska Street was restored. On the initiative of Rev. Dr Edward Zacher, the patronage of the grammar school common room was also taken away from him, and his bust was removed from it.
Another break with moral conventions was his volume of erotic poems, Wrzosy [Heathers], published in 1935. In the very personal poems he wrote to mark the anniversary of his amorous relationship with Maria Stachelska, he wrote freely about physical love, preserving, however, the symbolism of the relationship between a man and a woman. Stachelska was Emil's next extramarital love. Earlier, the object of his sighs and his artistic muse was the actress Stanisława Wysocka and later Maria Koszyc-Szołajska.
In the mid -1930s, Zegadłowicz already represented decidedly left-wing views. Among the guests of the Gorzeń manor were Wanda Wasilewska, an activist of the Communist Party of Poland, and Józef Stożek, secretary of the Małopolski Związek Młodzieży Ludowej (Lesser Poland Association of People's Youth), and among the host's friends was Dr Józef Putek, an anticlerical activist of the people's movement. His connections with left-wing writers resulted in the writer's participation in the Congress of Cultural Workers held in Lviv in May 1936. In the autumn, in turn, he began to cooperate with the 'Dziennikiem Popularnym', a periodical edited by communists and radicals from the PPS (Polish Socialist Party), Norbert Barlicki and Stanisław Dubois. Shortly after the 'Dziennik' was closed by the authorities, an investigation was launched against the editors and contributors of the paper, and so against Zegadłowicz, on charges of subverting the state system. The writer was represented before the court by Józef Putek.
November 1937 saw the publication of another scandalising novel by the author of 'Zmory' - the two-volume 'Motory', during the preparation of which the writer collaborated with the draughtsman and illustrator Stefan Żechowski and the painter Marian Ruzamski. Żechowski's bold graphics and Zegadłowicz's language, considered to be 'verbal pornography', caused the entire print run of the book to be immediately confiscated and, by decision of the Kraków District, the police carried out searches in the house of Stefan Krieger, who was responsible for the distribution of the novel, in Wadowice, and in the manor house in Gorzeń, among other places. Attempts by Dr. Putka to reverse the decision to confiscate the 'Motors', however, were unsuccessful and the Kraków court approved the confiscation.
Shortly after the outbreak of Secon World War, the manor in Gorzeń was occupied by German soldiers. In Zegadłowicz's work, the last months of his life under the conditions of the Nazi occupation and his worsening cancer illness saw a return to dramatic work. In January 1940, the writer began work on the drama 'Sind Sie Jude?', depicting the tragedy of Polish Jews, and a month later on 'House of Cards', drawing a picture of the collapse of the Second Polish Republic. He also made an unsuccessful attempt to recreate the drama 'Wasz korespondent donosi, ('Your correspondent reports') - because the play was lost during the turmoil of war. The writer tried to put his experiences of the occupation on paper in the unfinished novel 'Wojna' ('War'), a continuation of the autobiographical cycle 'Żywot Mikołaja Srebrempisanego'.
However, Zegadłowicz spent the last months of his life mainly in Silesian hospitals, with Maria Koszyc-Szołajska as his inseparable companion. He died on 24 February 1941 in a hospital in Sosnowiec, and his funeral took place three days later. He was buried in the Małobądz cemetery of the St Thomas parish in Będzin.
Despite the looting of the manor - the Germans took away part of the collection of paintings and sculptures, including Jędrzej Wowra - in 1946, thanks to the efforts of the writer's widow Maria and her daughter Atessa, a museum was created in Gorzeń, where three rooms, including the studio of the author of 'Zmory', were made available to visitors. Over the years, thanks to Emil's family and, above all, his grandson, Adam Zegadłowicz, more rooms were made available, and other rich collections accumulated over the years in the 'Murowaniec' were made available to the public works by Ludwik Misky, graphics by Jerzy Hulewicz, drawings by Stefan Żechowski, works by Leon Wyczółkowski, Zbigniew Pronaszko, Józef Mehoffer, Vlastimil Hoffman, and artists from Wadowice, whose patron was Emil Zegadłowicz - Wincenty Bałys, Franciszek Suknarowski, Józef Jura and Jędrzej Wowra.
In 1968, the museum had 10 exhibition halls. At that time, cooperation was established with the Provincial Board of PTTK Kraków, Wadowice Branch, which did not change the private nature of the institution. Shortly after the provincial reorganisation, cooperation with the Museum in Bielsko-Biała began.
In 1980, thanks to the efforts of the writer's family, the Emil Zegadłowicz Museum was transformed into a branch of the District Museum in Bielsko-Biała, which became the owner of the property. The collections remained the property of the family, and their transfer was subject to conditions, the most important of which concerned the renovation of the museum building. Renovations were started, lasting several years, and were not completed until the branch was liquidated. Wishing to continue to enable the many interested parties to have contact with the art of the interwar period and with the works of Emil Zegadłowicz, the writer's heirs registered the 'Czartak' Foundation in 1992, allocating a significant part of their family fortune in the form of a collection. It ran a museum in Gorzeń Górny. In December 2017, by notarial deed, the collection was donated to the Municipal Museum in Sucha Beskidzka.
On the centenary of the establishment of a grammar school in Wadowice, Emil Zegadłowicz became the new patron of the school - then already a High School -. The initiator of giving the school a new name was its then principal, Kazimierz Foryś, who before the war was associated with the writer, among other things, by co-editing the magazine 'Wieś'. The decision itself, however, was primarily political and ideological in nature, and was taken by the Primary Party Organisation of the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) at the Wadowice secondary school. The bust of the writer, chiseled by Franciszek Suknarowski, was ceremoniously unveiled on 20 October 1968 next to the school building. The writer lost his patronage of the secondary school as early as 1981, when the communist authorities realised some of the demands of the Wadowice 'Solidarity' movement, one of which was that the school be named after Martin Wadowita.
Emil Zegadłowicz's work has seen several film adaptations. In 1954, Erwin Axer's film Domek z kart [House of Cards], based on the writer's unfinished play of the same title, was released. The title roles were played by Hanka Bielicka and Danuta Szaflarska. Zmory (Nightmares), directed by Wojciech Marczewski and based on a script by Czech Pavel Hajné, was adapted for the screen in 1978. The role of Mikołaj Srebrempisany was played by: Piotr Lysak and Tomasz Chudziec (as young Mik). 'House of Cards"'appeared again on television in 1981, as a theatrical production directed by Marek Okopinski.