Měrćin Nowak-Njechorński

Měrćin Nowak (around 1960)

Měrćin Nowak-Njechorński (German name from 1958 Martin Nowak-Neumann ; born June 13, 1900 in Nechern / Njechorń ; † July 6, 1990 ibid) was a Sorbian painter, graphic artist, publicist and writer.

Life

Měrćin Nowak-Njechorński (1970)

Martin Nowak Neumann House in Nechern

After attending primary school in Wurschen , he continued his education in correspondence courses in the field of painting. In 1919 he had his first sales exhibition in Görlitz , the financial result of which enabled him to study at the Leipzig State Academy for the Graphic Arts and Book Industry in 1920 . He studied from 1921 to 1923 at the Dresden Art Academy . There he became increasingly enthusiastic about the Sorbian folk culture , which was an incentive for him to study in Slavic countries. He also began to deal artistically with motifs from Slavic mythology .

He went to Prague in 1923 , where he studied with Max Švabinský , among others, until 1927 . In the years 1927–1929 he studied at the Art Academy in Warsaw . After his return to Bautzen , he worked as an editor for the Sorbian daily Serbske nowiny from 1929 . He was removed from this post in 1933 for political reasons. In the Second World War he was drafted into the Wehrmacht . After his return from American captivity, he worked from 1947 as editor-in-chief of the newspaper now renamed Nowa doba ("New Epoch"), and from 1950 to 1969 as the successor to Ota Wićaz as editor-in-chief of the Sorbian cultural magazine Rozhlad . After his retirement in 1969 he lived as a freelance painter and writer in his hometown of Nechern. His birthplace and home in Nechern was opened to the public as a museum in June 1999.

Names, pseudonyms, logo

Nowak-Njechorński grave cross in the Gröditz cemetery

Měrćin Nowak's official birth name was Martin Neumann . In 1958 he officially changed his German name to Martin Nowak-Neumann . He used his Sorbian and German surnames as double names. His Sorbian nickname Njechorński comes from the name of his place of residence Nechern (Sorb. Njechorń). He also used numerous pseudonyms . He used the linden leaf as a signet on his drawings. The linden tree is the symbol of the Sorbian people.

Honourings and prices

Měrćin Nowak-Njechorński was awarded twice with the Patriotic Order of Merit of the GDR, the National Prize of the GDR , the Ćišinski Prize , the Domowina Literature Prize and the Star of Friendship of Nations .

Fonts (selection)

• Po serbskich pućach . Bautzen 1936
• Zapiski bobaka . Bautzen 1952
• Serbski wšudźebył . Bautzen 1954
• Mišter Krabat . Bautzen 1954

literature

• Moler serbskeho luda . Bautzen 1959 (with texts by Měrćin Nowak-Njechorński and Alfred Schneider).
• Wubrane spisy, zwjazk 1 (pućowanske wobrazy). Bautzen 2000, ISBN 3-7420-1822-1 .
• Wubrane spisy, zwjatsk 2 (bajki). Bautzen 2000, ISBN 3-7420-1824-8 .
• Helmut Kaltšmit: Leksikon awtorow serbskich knihow 1945–1978 . Bautzen 1979.
• Martin Nowak-Neumann: A newspaper in the mother tongue . In: Institute for Marxism-Leninism at the Central Committee of the SED , Kulturbund der DDR (Ed.): … The beginning of a new era. Memories of the beginnings of our cultural revolution 1945–1949 . Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin / Weimar 1981, p. 341-352 .

Web links

Commons : Měrćin Nowak-Njechorński  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Měrćin Nowak-Njechorński in the catalog of the German National Library
• Dietrich Scholze: Martin Nowak-Neumann (1900–1990) . In: Institute for Saxon History and Folklore (Ed.): Saxon Biography .