Listy Vincenzów do Iwaszkiewicza
Vincenzs’ Correspondence to Iwaszkiewicz

Summary/Abstract: The subject of this article is the communication between two known Polish writers Stanisław Vincenz (1888–1971) and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894–1980) in the Interwar and post‑World War II periods. The objects of research are letters and postcards from the Vincenzs to Iwaszkiewicz which are stored in the “Iwaszkiewicz’s Correspondence Department” of the Stawisko archive. Correspondence concerns publishing matters and various topics (literary, familial, personal and social). It is revealed, that both writers met in Warsaw at the turn of 1919–1920 and stayed in friendly contact on both literary and social plane until Vincenz’s death (1971). Their history of communication is supplemented by Vincenz’s wives (first one Lena and the second one Irena) correspondence to Iwaszkiewicz. Separate from their Warsaw communications, during the Interwar period, the writers had also gone on hiking trips together and met up for a families’ get‑together at Vincenz’s estate in Sloboda Rungurskaya (Polish: Słoboda Rungurska) in the Hutsul region. Their direct contact was interrupted by the World War II and the post‑war political situation. After the war, both writers lived in different parts of politically divided Europe. Vincenz moved to the West, settling in France, and as an emigrant writer was banned by censorship of the Polish People’s Republic (Polish: Polska Republika Ludowa – PRL). Iwaszkiewicz however, did not emigrate and was cooperating with the Communist Party, which allowed him to occupy a leading position in the literary field and perform the honorary functions of the socio‑political character. They later renewed their contact in 1957, thanks to the conditions of the so‑called “Khrushchev thaw” after Stalin’s death. It lasted in a correspondence form, mainly through the mediation from their trustees. Two of Vincenz’s letters and a postcard, stored in the aforementioned archive, cover a four month period. They consist of information on a personal matter that is relevant to the case of his literary work being published in a magazine “Creativity” [Polish: “Twórczość”], where Iwaszkiewicz was the main editor. After Vincenz’s death, the correspondence with Iwaszkiewicz was carried on by Irena Vincenz, who touched upon the question of her husband’s oeuvre being adapted in the Polish literary culture of that time, despite unfavourable conditions present in the cultural system of Polish People’s Republic. The Vincenz’s correspondence reflects friendly relations between both the writers as well as their respective family members.

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