Stulecie Tyrmanda. Cezura w biografii publicznej pisarza
The Centenary of Tyrmand. A Time Mark in Writer’s Public Biography

Summary/Abstract: The springboard for this article is the resolution adopted by the lower house of the Polish parliament (Sejm) that established the year 2020 as Leopold Tyrmand’s anniversary year which is a crucial time landmark in his posthumous legacy. Based on four biographical texts on Tyrmand’s life, which are the subject matter of this article, one can easily notice Tyrmand’s duality that manifests through his legend in the period of PRL (Polish People’s Republic) and his American experience that confirmed his consistency in anticommunist attitude. In all four cases the key issue is the biographical time mark that sets apart the years spent in Poland and the period of Tyrmand’s emigration. Wojciech Skalmowski draws attention to the fact that the author of Zły [The Evil One] had to start his new life over and over again. According to Mariusz Urbanek (Zły Tyrmand) [The Evil Tyrmand], leaving Poland breaks Tyrmand’s biography into two separate stages and the authors of the book Amerykański brzeg Leopolda Tyrmanda [The American Shore of Leopold Tyrmand] claim that it was the emigration that clearly disclosed Tyrmand’s dominant worldview incorporated in his literary works. On the other hand, Marcel Woźniak shifts the focus to identity matters which originated from the novelist’s Jewish background. From this perspective Tyrmand’s biography proves to be one of many examples of migration biographies coming into being between the old and the new world.

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