Jan Brzechwa

• Name — Jan Brzechwa • Birth Name — Jan Wiktor Lesman • Born — 15 August 1898 • Birthplace — Żmerynka, Podolia • Died — 2 July 1966 • Place of death — Warsaw, Poland • Resting Place — Powązki Cemetery • Occupation — Poet, author, lawyer • Language — Polish • Notable Works — Tańcowała igła z nitką Akademia Pana Kleksa • Awards — Medal of the 10th Anniversary of People's Poland

Brzechwa was born in Żmerynka, Podolia to a Polish family of Jewish descent. His father, Aleksandr Stanisław Lesman, was a railway engineer and his mother Michalina, née Lewicka, was a French teacher. Jan spent a lot of his childhood traveling around Poland's eastern regions ("Kresy") with his family. He lived in Kiev, then in Warsaw, and later in Saint Petersburg. In 1916–1918, he studied veterinary medicine in Kazan. In May 1918, he returned to Warsaw and began studying Polish literature at Warsaw University, where he remained until October 1918. During the Polish-Soviet War, he volunteered for the 36th Regiment of the Academic Infantry Legion, a unit composed of university students, and was decorated for his service. His formal writing debut took place in 1920 by way of various humor magazines. He worked as an attorney for the Society of Authors ZAiKS where he specialized in copyright law. During World War II (just before its outbreak, he lived in Warsaw at 35 Żurawia Street), he avoided deportation to a ghetto or extermination camp, even though he was not in hiding; at the time, he was a farm worker on a farm in Służewiec. This period marked one of the most important periods Brzechwa's work – he wrote works such as "The Academy of Mr. Kleks" and "Mr. Drops and His Troop," among others. He wrote two books continuing "The Academy..." ("The Travels of Mr. Kleks" and "The Triumph of Mr. Kleks") in 1961 and 1965, respectively. Brzechwa was friends with graphic artist Jan Marcin Szancer, who provided numerous illustrations for his texts. In the 1950s, he wrote socialist realist style poems containing propaganda glorifying the ruling Polish United Workers' Party (to which he himself was not a member) and the socialist system (e.g., "The March," "The Voice of America"). In later years, he remained politically neutral, being considered a passive opponent of the regime. In 1964, he signed the Letter of the Polish Writers Against the Letter of 34, protesting against "the organized campaign in the Western press and on the airwaves of the subversive Radio Free Europe, slandering the Polish People's Republic." Brzechwa was a cousin of another famous Polish poet, Bolesław Leśmian. He was married three times; first to Maria Sunderland, his first cousin once removed and a niece of the renowned Polish artist Celina Sunderland, then to Karolina Lentowa (née Meyer), and finally to Janina Magajewska (1915–1989). His daughter from his first marriage, Krystyna (born 1928), is a painter.

• 1926 – Oblicza zmyślone • 1937 – Tańcowała igła z nitką • 1938 – Kaczka Dziwaczka • 1946 – Akademia Pana Kleksa • 1946 – Ptasie plotki • 1946 – Pan Drops i jego trupa • 1948 – Na wyspach Bergamutach • 1948 – Opowiedział dzięcioł sowie • 1948 – Przygody rycerza Szaławiły • 1951 – Uczymy się chodzić • 1953 – Teatr Pietruszki • 1953 – Wagary • 1957 – Magik • 1958 – Wyssane z palca • 1958 – Sto bajek • 1961 – Podróże pana Kleksa • 1964 – Śmiechu warte • 1965 – Od baśni do baśni • 1965 – Tryumf pana Kleksa

Jan Brzechwa was recorded at birth as Jan Wiktor Lesman. He also worked under the names Szer-Szeń and Inspicjent Brzeszczot. His recorded language was Polish. One child is recorded: Krystyna Brzechwa. Other recorded relations include Bernard Lesman, Bolesław Leśmian and Antoni Eisenbaum.