He was the youngest of four children of Jan and Antonina (née Kotkowska.) In 1911 his family moved to Warsaw. Gombrowicz was born in Małoszyce, in Congress Poland, Russian Empire to a wealthy gentry family. He gained fame only during the last years of his life but is now considered one of the foremost figures of Polish literature. In 1937 he published his first novel, Ferdydurke, which presented many of his usual themes: the problems of immaturity and youth, the creation of identity in interactions with others, and an ironic, critical examination of class roles in Polish society and culture. His works are characterized by deep psychological analysis, a certain sense of paradox and an absurd, anti-nationalist flavor. Witold Marian Gombrowicz (Augin Małoszyce, near Kielce, Congress Poland, Russian Empire – Jin Vence, near Nice, France) was a Polish novelist and dramatist. which together with his plays and his three-volume Diary have been translated into more than thirty languages. Witold Gombrowicz (1904-1969) wrote three other novels. and she allows English speakers to experience fully the masterpiece of a writer whom Milan Kundera describes as 'one of the great novelists of our century.' Danuta Borchardt deftly captures Gombrowicz's playful and idiosyncratic style. It has nonetheless remained one of the most influential works of twentieth-century European literature.įerdydurke is translated here directly from the Polish for the first time. the novel (as well as all of Gombrowicz's other works) was officially banned in Poland for decades.

Deemed scandalous and subversive by Nazis. Ferdydurke became an instant literary sensation and catapulted the young author to fame. a writer finds himself tossed into a chaotic world of schoolboys by a diabolical professor who wishes to reduce him to childishness. In this bitterly funny novel by the renowned Polish author Witold Gombrowicz.

Ferdydurke by witold gombrowicz