Tyrmand was an icon of the Polish artistic world of the 1950’s .Born in 1920 , he became a legendary figure of the culture world and was instrumental in popularizing jazz in then communist Poland .
Known for his uncompromising and unconventional lifestyle, he was associated with the phenomenon of “bikin’ers” Polish beatniks, even though he did not consider himself to be one.
In 1966 Tyrmand emigrated to the USA , where he died on the 19th of March , 1985 .
Leopold Tyrmand’s most popular books are “Diary 1954”, which covers the first three months of 1954. The excerpts were published in 1956 ,by Tygodnik Powszechny , where Tyrmand also wrote, but was dismissed in 1953, together with the whole team for refusing to publish an obituary to Joseph Stalin as demanded by the communist authorities .Tyrmand was unofficially banned from publications.
Tyrmand returned to the “Diary 1954” , in 1973, when he was already in the US. The first publishing of the Diary in its book form was in 1980 in London, by the Polonia Book Fund. “Diary 1954” is a vivid, picturesque portrayal of post war Warsaw and of the most important figures from the Polish culture scene of those times.
Another of Tyrmand’s best known novels is “Zły”(The Man with White Eyes), written on commission and published in 1955 . Set in Warsaw , the book’s plot is a combination of crime and romance , but in fact it is considered to be yet another of Tyrmand’s fabulous portraits of Warsaw of the 1950’s.
In 2019 the Lower House of the Polish parliament proclaimed 2020 as the year of Leopold Tyrmand ,commemorating the centenary of the author's birth.
Polish Radio has set up a special portal honouring the writer: www.Tyrmand.polskieradio.pl , is a colourful , multimedia narrative about the legendary fuigure of Polish literature.
Source :IAR