Jeleński, Konstanty A. (Konstanty Aleksander), 1922-1987

Dates

• Existence: 1922-01-02 - 1987

Biography

Konstanty Aleksander Jeleński (in French: Constantin Jelenski) was born January 2, 1922 in Warsaw, Poland and died May 4, 1987 in Paris, France. At the age of eighteen he left Poland to serve the Polish Army in France. He lived the remainder of his life as an émigré, first in Italy for several years after the Second World War, then settling in Paris in 1951.

In Paris, Jeleński was active in Polish émigré literary circles. He led the Eastern European division of the Congress for Cultural Freedom (after 1967, the International Association for Cultural Freedom) and was a prolific contributor to the Association's monthly publication Preuves and to Kultura, the Polish émigré literary journal. Beginning in 1975, he became increasingly active with the Institut national de l'audiovisuel.

Jeleński's criticism, translations and edited works addresses a wide range of literary, political and artistic topics, especially twentieth-century Polish literature and history. Among his most influential works are many critical essays about Witold Gombrowicz and the edited volume Anthologie de la poesie polonaise (1965).