Leon Schiller

Schiller became famous for his 1934 staging of Adam Mickiewicz's Dziady at Warsaw's Teatr Polski (Polish Theatre). This was also presented in Lwów (now Lviv; 1932), Wilno (now Vilnius; 1933) as well as in Sofia in Bulgaria (1937).

Leon Schiller studied at Jagiellonian University and Bartłomiej Nowodworski High School. The recorded working language is Polish. Places of work recorded in the authority are Łódź and Warsaw. Employment is recorded with Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art and Stefan Jaracz Theatre. Positions recorded include member of the Sejm of the Polish People's Republic. Distinctions recorded are Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature, Commander with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta, Work Flag Order, 1st class and Gold Cross of Merit.

• Name — Leon Schiller • Birth Name — Leon Jerzy Wojciech Schiller de Schildenfeld • Born — 14 March 1887 • Birthplace — Kraków, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary • Died — 25 March 1954 • Place of death — Warsaw, Polish People's Republic • Field — Theatre

• Illustration — Schiller statue in Łódź, Poland Schiller graduated from Kraków's Jagiellonian University in philosophy and Polish literature. He also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. He debuted as a singer in Kraków's Zielony Balonik (Green Balloon) cabaret (1906) and as theater director in Warsaw's Polish Theatre (Teatr Polski, 1917). He served as artistic director of the Ateneum Theatre (1932–34), raising its reputation as one of the leading voices for Poland's new intelligentsia in the interwar period. Schiller collaborated with the following Warsaw theatres: • Teatr Wielki (Great Theater) • Teatr Rozmaitości (Variety Theater in Warsaw) • Teatr Mały (Little Theater) • Teatr Polski (Polish Theater) • Teatr Reduta (Redoubt Theater) • Teatr Ateneum (Ateneum Theatre). He also collaborated with theaters in Łódź and Lwów (now Lviv). From 1930 to 1932, he was artistic and drama director of Warsaw's Wielki (Great), Rozmaitości (Variety), and Mały (Little) Theaters. In Lwów he developed his own concept of "monumental theatre," pertaining to the production of great Romantic works: Kordian (1930), Dziady (Forefathers' Eve, 1932) and Sen Srebrny Salomei (Salomea's Silver Dream, 1932). Schiller's connection with Lwów lasted sporadically until 1939. His directorial work included 29 dramas and some dozen vaudeville and operetta productions. In 1933 he headed the directorial department at the National Theater Arts Institute. On 29 June 1908 Schiller initiated a correspondence with the English actor, theater director, scenic designer, and theoretician of drama, Edward Gordon Craig. Together with his letter Schiller sent Craig, in Florence, his essay, "Dwa teatry" ("Two Theaters"), translated into English by Madeline Meager. Craig responded immediately, accepting the essay for his international theater magazine, The Mask. This was the beginning of a productive collaboration between the two prominent theater directors, who introduced each other's theoretical writings to foreign readers. • Illustration — Bust of Leon Schiller near Warsaw's Teatr Polski

• Illustration — Schiller's grave, Powązki Cemetery, Warsaw During World War II, as part of German repressive measures after the Volksdeutsch German-collaborator actor Igo Sym had been shot dead by the Polish underground (7 March 1941), Schiller was imprisoned at the Pawiak prison and at Auschwitz-Birkenau. In May 1941 he was ransomed by his sister, Anna Jackowska, with 12,000 złotys that she received for her jewelry. After the war, in 1946–49, Schiller was president of the National Drama School in Łódź (Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Teatralna w Łodzi). In 1952 he founded the publication, Pamiętnik Teatralny (The Theater Memoir). He died in 1954, aged 66, in Warsaw.

Essays: • Teatr Ogromny (Monumental Theater), 1961 • U progu nowego teatru (On the Threshold of the New Theater), 1978 Performance scripts: • Pastorałka (Pastorale), 1931 • Kram z piosenkami (A Market Booth of Songs), 1977 "Monumental" productions: • Samuel Zborowski, 1927 • Kordian, 1934 • Dziady, 1934 • Nie-Boska Komedia (The Un-Divine Comedy), 1938 Zeittheater - productions on current social issues: • Opera za trzy grosze (The Three-Penny Opera), 1929 • Krzyczcie Chiny (Cry, China!), 1938 • Kapitan z Koepenick (The Captain from Koepenick), 1932 Musicals: • Dawne Czasy w Piosence, Poezji i Zwyczajach (Old Times in Song, Poetry and Custom), 1924 • Bandurka (Bandora), 1925 • Kulig (Sleigh Ride), 1929

Leon Schiller is recorded as having studied at Jagiellonian University and Bartłomiej Nowodworski High School.