Janusz Minkiewicz

Janusz Minkiewicz (born June 15, 1911 in Saint Petersburg , † May 29, 1981 in Warsaw ) was a Polish writer, poet, satirist, journalist and translator.

Minkiewicz studied philosophy at the University of Warsaw . He made his debut at the age of seventeen under the pseudonym HI Polit , and published his first satirical poem under his own name in 1932 in the magazine Cyrilik Warszawski . He became known as the pioneer of limerick in Poland.

In 1935 he was a correspondent for the Kurier Poranni in London, and the following year he reported for the Kurier from the Olympic Games in Berlin. He became known as a co-author of satirical plays by Światopełk Karpiński and Jerzy Zaruba , which were performed at the Nowa Komedia . His book Nic świętego was published shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War.

In 1939 he went to Vilnius and founded the Ksantypa cabaret with Karpiński . After the German invasion of Lithuania, he returned to Warsaw. After the war he worked first in Lublin for the magazine Stańczyk and then in Lodz as a theater critic for the Dziennik Łódzki . In the following years he wrote in Warsaw for the magazine Szpilki and published in Przekrój glosses under the heading Pigulki .

He translated literature from Russian, wrote children's books and, with Antoni Marianowicz, translated and edited libretti for musicals and operettas (including My Fair Lady , Kiss Me, Kate , The Man of La Mancha ) for the Teatr Syrena, among others . 1954-55 he was artistic director of the Warsaw satirical theater Kleks . He became one of the most distinctive characters in post-war Warsaw and known as the "Prince of Warsaw Nights" ( księc warszawsjich nocy ). He spent most of the last years of his life in New York.

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• Gazeta Petersburska, July 2, 2009: Janusz Minkiewicz
• Encyclopedia Teatru Polskiego - Janusz Minkiewicz