Leopold Staff

Leopold Staff studied at Lviv University. The recorded working language is Polish. The field of work recorded is fiction. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are classicism, Decadent movement and parnassianism. Distinctions recorded are Officer of the Order of Polonia Restituta, Commander of the Order of Polonia Restituta, Work Flag Order, 1st class and Gold Cross of Merit.

• Name — Leopold Staff • Birth Name — Leopold Staff • Born — 14 November 1878 • Birthplace — Lemberg, Austrian partition • Died — 31 May 1957 • Place of death — Skarżysko-Kamienna, Poland • Language — Polish • Occupation — Poet, artist

Staff was born in Lwów (then in the Austrian partition; now Lviv, Ukraine) during the military partitions of Poland. He was one of three children of the local confectioner of Czech & German origin. He studied law and philosophy at the Lwów University, and in 1918 settled in Warsaw at the cusp of Poland's return to independence. He died at the age of 78 in Skarżysko-Kamienna soon after the end of Stalinism in postwar Poland, and was buried in Warsaw at the renowned Powązki Cemetery. Staff was highly influential in the interwar period, including in the literary life of Julian Tuwim, one of Poland's best-known poets. He served as vice-president of the Polish Academy of Literature since 1933, and since 1949 resided in Warsaw.

Staff's writing can be divided into three periods: Young Poland until 1918, Interwar period (1918–39), and postwar Poland (following the end of World War II). In the early 20th century, Staff became probably the most famous and influential Polish poet. He called his popularity a retiring, soft glory. He was also the main role-model for Polish group of experimental poets named Skamander (founded in 1918). In the 1950s, he moved to blank verse in line with the ideals of Polish avant-garde. Some of his best-known short poems include The Bridge ("Most"), Foundations ("Podwaliny", transl. by Czesław Miłosz), and Three Towns ("Trzy miasta", 1954).

Leopold Staff is recorded as having received Officer of the Order of Polonia Restituta, Commander of the Order of Polonia Restituta and Work Flag Order, 1st class.