Duch wynalazczy, nauka, fikcja – Jan Szczepanik i Franciszek Pik Mirandola jako prekursorzy science fiction
Invention, science, fiction – Jan Szczepanik and Franciszek Pik Mirandola as forerunners of sci-fi literature

Summary/Abstract: The paper focuses on an early episode in the history of science fiction literature in Poland. Two friends since childhood, Jan Szczepanik and Franciszek Pik Mirandola shared a flair for inventions. The former received an international acclaim for his weaving technology based on photography and for a bulletproof jacket that saved the king of Spain’s life when an assassin’s bullet hit him. The latter stored his ideas for inventions in a special drawer, but his primary ambition was to become an artist. Paradoxically, it was Szczepanik who was recognized as a creative genius misunderstood by conservative readers, whereas Pik had to earn a living as a chemist, unsuccessfully claiming his position as a man of letters. Nevertheless, his technical expertise enabled him to contribute to the emergence of Polish science fiction literary. In his short stories Cel, Lux perpetua, or Pamiętnik płomienia Pik explored the metaphysical and existential dilemmas of his time, expressing his ideas with an inventory borrowed from his technical and chemical profession. The novelty of his writing as well as of Szczepanik’s ideas was not recognized at the time and was only appreciated posthumously.

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