Herling-Grudziński, Gustaw (1919–2000)

Polish novelist and essayist. An anti-Nazi journalist in 1939, he was deported to a Russian labour camp during the war, an experience reflected in the juxtaposed horror and beauty of his distinguished autobiographical novel Inny świat/A World Apart (1953). He later fought with the Allies and eventually settled in Italy. Some of his stories, humane but detached, with medieval settings, were collected and translated as The Island (1967). His work was officially suppressed in Poland until 1988, but later became a compulsory text on the Polish school syllabus.