Henryk Jasiczek

Infobox Writer
name = Henryk Jasiczek

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caption = Grave of Henryk Jasiczek and his wife in Český Těšín. His own epitaph reads: "If for someone a single poem of mine was just an autumn ray, I didn't live uselessly." [Original in Polish: "Jeśli dla kogoś jeden mój wiersz tylko promykiem był jesiennym, nie żyłem daremnie."]
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birthdate = Birth date|1919|3|2
birthplace = Kottingbrunn, Austria
deathdate = death date and age|1976|12|8|1919|3|2
deathplace = Český Těšín, Czechoslovakia
occupation = Poet, writer, journalist
ethnicity = Polish
citizenship = Czechoslovak
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Henryk Jasiczek (2 March 1919 – 8 December 1976) was a Polish journalist, poet, writer, and activist from the Zaolzie region. He is considered one of the most important Polish writer from Zaolzie after World War II and one of the most popular local Polish poets. [Sikora 1993, 25.]

Jasiczek was born in Kottingbrunn near Vienna, Austria as an extramarital child. He spent his childhood in Oldrzychowice near Trzyniec. Since 1934 he studied horticulture in Trzyniec, where, as later remembered, witnessed the worst forms of labour exploitation of workers. In 1936 defended one apprentice who had been beaten by the supervisor and bashed the supervisor himself. [Sikora 2008, 3.] In consequence he left and finished horticultural studies in Chrudim, only to work later for a gardener in Hradečno. In 1938 he came back to Zaolzie but wasn't able to find a job. Since March 1939 Jasiczek worked in the Třinec Iron and Steel Works as a worker.

During World War II he was engaged in Polish leftist resistance, where he worked in the underground press and distributed illegal press. After the war he joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and became editor-in-chief of "Głos Ludu" newspaper. He remained in this position until 1957. Jasiczek graduated from a journalism department of the Charles' University in Prague in 1960. He contributed to Polish children magazines and to "Zwrot", a Polish cultural and literary magazine. Jasiczek was also an active member of the Polish Cultural and Educational Union, where he directed its Literary-Artistic Section (SLA) from 1945 to 1968.

During the Prague Spring, Jasiczek firmly supported the reformist wing of the Communist Party. His stances and their public manifestations led to his expulsion from public life in May 1970. Jasiczek spent the last years of his life in seclusion and was forced to work in the printing works as a proofreader. He died on 8 December 1976 in a hospital in Český Těšín (Czeski Cieszyn). Henryk Jasiczek was exonerated in 1990.

Right after World War II his poetry focused on social issues. Eventually Jasiczek concentrated on folk and natural motives of regional nature. His poetry is full of melancholy and appreciation of the natural beauties of his region, mostly the Beskids mountain ranges.

Jasiczek's adoration of natural beauties of his region, particularly the Beskids can be seen in following fragment from "Nie zdradzę" (I Will not Betray) poem from "Obuszkiem ciosane" (Cut with Cudgel) poetry collection:

Quote
: Mountain meadows, scented: with thyme, the Sun and the wild : strawberries, like an aged-old wine –: I come back to you always: with the passion of an expatriate. : Always, with a longing – my Beskids. : Rich in bread, steel, coal and the flowers: is my native land, and : in songs, reviving the spirit. : Only the shilly-shally and the weak : would deceive you, and : await happiness among strangers.|Henryk Jasiczek [Jasiczek 1955, 51.] (translated by Richard Tylman)

Works

* "Rozmowy z ciszą" (1948) - poetry collection
* "Pochwała życia" (1952)
* "Gwiazdy nad Beskidem" (1953) - poetry collection
* "Obuszkiem ciosane" (1955) - poetry collection
* "Jaśminowe noce" (1959) - poetry collection
* "Humoreski beskidzkie" (1959) - prose
* "Poetyckie pozdrowienia" (1961) - poetry collection
* "Morze Czarne jest błękitne" (1961) - travel report
* "Krásné jak housle" (1962)
* "Blizny pamięci" (1963)
* "Przywiozę ci krokodyla" (1965) - travel report
* "Pokus o smír" (1967)
* "Baj, baju z mojego kraju" (1968) - poetry collection for children
* "Zamyślenie" (1969)
* "Smuga cienia" (1981) - posthumous selection of poetry
* "Jak ten obłok" (1990) - posthumous selection of poetry

Footnotes

References

* cite book
last = Jasiczek
first = Henryk
coauthors =
title = Obuszkiem ciosane
publisher = Wydawnictwo SLA. Polski Związek Kulturalno-Oświatowy w Czechosłowacji
date = 1955
location = Czeski Cieszyn
pages =
url =
doi =
oclc = 28638497

* cite book
last = Málková
first = Iva
coauthors = and Svatava Urbanová
title = Literární slovník severní Moravy a Slezska (1945-2000)
publisher = Votobia
date = 2001
location = Olomouc
pages =
url =
doi =
isbn = 80-7198-515-5

* cite book
last = Radłowska-Obrusnik
first = Martyna
coauthors = and Otylia Toboła
title = Leksykon PZKO
publisher = Zarząd Główny PZKO
date = 1997
location = Czeski Cieszyn
pages =
url = http://www.kc-cieszyn.pl/biblioteka/strony/ramka.php?autor=leksykon&licz=1
doi =
oclc = 189531468

* cite news
last = Sikora
first = Władysław
coauthors =
title = O Henryku Jasiczku
work = Głos Ludu
page = 3
language =
publisher =
date = 2008-06-10
url =

* cite book
last = Sikora
first = Władysław
coauthors =
title = Pisarze Zaolzia
publisher = Wydawnictwo Olza przy Radzie Polaków
date = 1993
location = Czeski Cieszyn
pages =
url =
doi =
oclc = 233485106

s-ttl|title= Editor-in-chief of "Głos Ludu"
years= 1945 – 1957