Jaroslaw Marek Rymkiewicz

Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz was a prominent Polish poet, essayist, dramatist, translator and literary critic. He was the recipient of the 2003 Nike Award, Poland's most important literary prize. He was also a professor of humanities and a member of the Polish Writers' Association. He was known for his classical and baroque influences, his exploration of Polish identity and history, and his translations of American and Spanish poetry. He was the author of two influential novels: Rozmowy polskie latem, 1983 (Polish Conversations in Summer 1983), which discusses the meaning of being Polish and the preoccupation with achieving independence, and Umschlagplatz (1988), which focuses on the symbolic meaning of the place in Warsaw from which the Germans sent more than 300,000 Jews to their deaths during World War II. He was also a political commentator and a supporter of the conservative Law and Justice party. He died on 3 February 2022 in Milanówek, near Warsaw, at the age of 86.