Didn’t Kultura play a major role in shaping Polish identity? Kultura sometimes referred to as Kultura Paryska or Paris-based Culture was a leading Polish émigré literary-political magazine. It was published from 1947 to 2000 by Instytut Literacki or the Literary Institute. Initially it was based in Rome. Then Kultura moved to Paris.
Jerzy Giedroyc edited and produced Kultura. Publication ceased upon his death. Giedroyc ensured Kultura had unwavering prestige. He also secured a constant stream of esteemed contributors. This enabled it to play a prominent role in Polish literary life.
Kultura published polemics and articles. Nobel Prize laureates Czesław Miłosz and Wisława Szymborska contributed. Numerous other authors also wrote for Kultura. Literary critics like Maria Janion and Wojciech Karpiński contributed. Kultura remains essential reading for students of Polish literature.
Over the years Kultura printed and popularized the names of many leading Polish writers. These writers and poets lived under communism. Some were anti-communist political refugees throughout the Polish diaspora. Notable figures include Gustaw Herling-Grudziński and Witold Gombrowicz. Others were Marek Hłasko and Juliusz Mieroszewski. Józef Czapski and Konstanty Jeleński were also contributors. Bogdan Czaykowski added to its rich tapestry.
Kultura played a major role in Poland’s reconciliation with Ukraine Belarus and Lithuania. It was the first independent Polish intellectual circle to openly advocate recognizing Poland’s postwar eastern borders in the 1950s. This involved renouncing Poland’s claims to Lwów to a future independent Ukraine. It also meant relinquishing claims to Wilno for a future independent Lithuania.
Furthermore Kultura had a major role in Ukrainian literature publishing. This happened through the major work The Executed Renaissance. Ukrainian writer Yurii Lavrinenko published it with Giedroyc’s support. This book featured work by prominent Ukrainian writers and poets. These figures from the early period of Soviet Ukraine were later arrested and executed in the 1930s.
Juliusz Mieroszewski elaborated the concept of supporting the independence of Poland’s eastern neighbors. It is known as ULB or Ukraine Lithuania Belarus. It was inspired by Józef Piłsudski’s Interbellum Prometheist policy. It has had a major influence on Poland’s foreign policies since 1989.
The founders of the magazine were Jerzy Giedroyc Józef Czapski Zofia Hertz and Zygmunt Hertz. They were all former soldiers of the Second Polish Corps. General Władysław Anders commanded them.
Jerzy Giedroyc born in 1906 in Minsk studied history and law at the University of Warsaw. He founded and directed magazines. He also worked in public administration. In September 1939 he joined the Polish army.
In 1946 he founded the Literary Institute in Rome. In 1947 he established the magazine Kultura. He directed both until his death in 2000. Since then Giedroyc’s life is identified with the history of these two institutions. They became beacons of Polish emigration.
Maisons-Laffitte became a center of independent thought. Its influence on the formation of Polish elites remains unprecedented. Supporting intellectuals and artists in exile allowed the tradition of Polish patriotic creation to continue. The communist regime proscribed this tradition.
Jerzy Giedroyc never returned to Poland. According to his wishes Kultura and the Literary Institute ceased publication after his death. However the Cahiers Historiques collection continues to be published.
Today Maisons-Laffitte is a center for researchers interested in its rich archives. Henryk Giedroyc brother of the founder directs this historical center. It enjoys great intellectual prestige in democratic Poland. The archives of Kultura have been digitized. They are accessible online. In 2009 they were added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register.