Jan Brzechwa - Biography

Jan Brzechwa , (15 August 1898 – 2 July 1966), born Jan Wiktor Lesman in Żmerynka, Podolia to a Polish family of Jewish descent was a Polish poet and author, mostly known for his contribution to children's literature.

He studied at the Jesuit school Zakład Naukowo-Wychowawczy Ojców Jezuitów w Chyrowie and upon moving to the city of Warsaw he graduated from the School of Law at Warsaw University. During the Polish-Soviet War, he served in the 36th Regiment of the Academic Legion and his formal writing debut took place in 1920 by way of various humor magazines. In 1926 he published Oblicza zmyślone, his first book of poems and his first set of poems for children Tańcowała igła z nitką was published in 1937. He also worked as a lawyer and attorney for the Polish Society of Authors and Composers (ZAIKS) where he specialized and excelled in copyright law.

Brzechwa was the writer's pseudonym; and translates into 'fletching' (the tail section of an arrow). He changed his name in order to better integrate and avoid being confused with his cousin Bolesław Leśmian, also a poet. Brzechwa was also a translator of Russian literature, translating works by Aleksandr Pushkin, Sergey Yesienin and Vladimir Mayakovskiy. He was married twice and had a daughter, Krystyna, from his first marriage.

Among his works is Chrząszcz (A Beetle), a poem famous for being one of the hardest to pronounce texts in Polish literature, even for adult, native Polish speakers. Its first line “W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie” (In [the town of] Szczebrzeszyn a beetle buzzes in the reeds) is a popular Polish tongue-twister, where almost all of the consonants make distinct buzzing sounds. Brzechwa is well known in Poland for having written a number of lyrical and amusing children's poems.

Brzechwa also wrote a long running series of children's books based on the adventures of Pan Kleks, the headmaster of a magical academy, and his students. Many of the Kleks books and plot points were made into a series of films in the 1980s. While a poem Pchła Szachrajka (Adventures of a Cheating Flea) was developed into an animated film in 1989.

Many of Brzechwa’s texts have been translated into English by Walter Whipple, but as of 2004 they have yet to be published.

He died in Warsaw in 1966 and is buried at the Powązki cemetery.