Władysław Broniewski — portret rodzinny

Abstract

The biography of Władysław Broniewski, who is considered a canonical poet of the People’s Republic of Poland, remains moderately recognised despite the attempts made. According to critics and readers, there is a belief that facts from Broniewski’s life which were incongruent with the socialist reality were intentionally understated or falsified. The issues are in fact more complicated in the case of the author of Bagnet na broń. In many cases there was no clear borderline between the private and official life, politics and family. The three marriages of Władysław Broniewski overlapped with three main stages of his writing intricate in complex relations with the history, however, they, above all, gave rise to a family conflict, the subject‑matter of which was, among other things, a literary heritage. A large part of archives, in line with Janina Broniewska’s decision (his first wife), was separated from the collections of Władysław Broniewski Museum, and, at the same time, a big part of his works, because of Wanda Broniewska’s decision (his last wife) was not published. The legend of Broniewski was the effect of matching the image of a rebellious poet to official frames, but, at the same time, and (in most cases, above all) was the result of a “multi‑family” correction of a very difficult and complicated personality, trying to place the image of a poet within the scope of a family portrait.