Andrzejewski, Jerzy (1909–1983)

Polish writer. His early volume of short stories Lad secra/Mode of the Heart (1938) won the award of the Polish Academy of Literature. Two of his novels were filmed by Polish director Andrzej Wajda – Popioli i diament/Ashes and Diamonds (1948, filmed 1958) reflects the mood in Poland after World War II, and Bramy raju/The Gates to Paradise (1960, filmed 1968) explores the causes of religious zeal among youth. His works reveal an initial support a nd later opposition to the mid-20th century Communist government.

He was elected president of the Polish Writers' Union in 1949, and he was a founding member of the Komitet Obrony Robotnków (KOR)/Workers' Defence Committee, a Polish opposition group that helped families of striking workers during the Communist era. Other works include the short story collection Drogi nieuniknione/Unavoidable Roads (1936), and the novels The Inquisitors (1960) and Idzie skaczac po górach/He Cometh Leaping upon the Mountains (1965).

He was born in Warsaw, Poland, and studied literature at the University of Warsaw, where he contributed Prosto z mostu/Off the Cuff, a weekly literary magazine. He was editor of the weekly cultural magazine Przeglad kulturalny/Cultural Review 1952–54 and was a member of the Polish parliament 1952–57, a position he resigned as an act of protest against censorship.