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a satirical poet, one of the most
interesting figures in the democratic opposition in Post-Yalta
Poland.
Expelled from university during the Stalinist period for his attitude of
hostility to the regime, he could not find a place for himself in the
world of real socialism and earned a living from temporary jobs (among
other things as a chess instructor).
He gained fame and popularity in 1964 through his satirical
„opera” Cisi
i Gęgacze (The Quiet Ones and the Gabblers), which made fun of communist
Poland
and the political police, and through his own readings of it at private
gatherings. It cost him 3 years of prison. After his release he
published a number of further political satires: Caryca
i zwierciadło (The Tsarina
and the Mirror), Towarzysz
Szmaciak (Comrade Szmaciak),
and Szmaciak w mundurze (Szmaciak
in Uniform). He was not politically active, confining himself to
literary activity, but in spite of this he was considered a enemy of the
regime and subjected to continuing harassment and persecution. Among
these was his internment during the period of martial law. He was rehabilitated
after the transition to democracy in 1989.
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