Ernest Bryll, poet, writer, songwriter, journalist, translator, film critic, and diplomat, died at the age of 89 on Saturday, March 2024. The information was shared on social media on Sunday by the Jan Nowak-Jeziorański Radio Free Europe Association. It was also confirmed by the Association of Polish Writers.
Ernest Bryll was born on March 1, 1935 in Warsaw. During the World War II German occupation, he was a member of the youngest team of the Grey Ranks clandestine scouting organization. After the war, he briefly continued involvement in the underground scouting movement and obtained his high school diploma at the age of 16. He briefly worked at the power plant in Gdynia before entering the Polish Studies Department at Warsaw University.
Although he was raised in the patriotic tradition of the Second Polish Republic by his father Stanisław, a pre-war military officer, he found his way into the post-war reality of Communist Poland. Throughout his life, he worked as a journalist, headed film companies, and managed theaters. He was also a translator, author of musicals, playwright, and diplomat, having served as Poland’s Ambassador to Ireland between 1991 and 1995.
He was, first and foremost, a poet, having published almost 40 volumes of poetry.
As Mateusz Wyrwich, a journalist and writer, once wrote of Bryll, although many have accused him of graphomania, the undeniable fact was his poetry sold thousands of copies, and meetings with Bryll attracted crowds of hundreds, something few modern poets can achieve.
“His poetry molded the aesthetic tastes of Poles,” Wyrwich wrote.
Following the political thaw of 1956, he got involved in establishing the “Współczesność” weekly but his literary work in the period eventually resulted in an unofficial ban on publication of his works for a time.
In 1964 he became the literary head of Teatr Telewizji, TVP’s cyclical television play program. In subsequent years he would receive more lucrative postings to communist-controlled state institutions, including as director of the Polish Cultural Institute in London.
“Bryll is not one of those authors who would explain that they meant it ‘well, Polish, national, independent,’ but it just came out wrong. He doesn’t whitewash his biography. And as he always stresses, his poems were wiser than he was himself,” Wyrwich wrote.
Bryll resigned from membership in the Polish United Workers’ Party after Martial Law was declared on December 13, 1981.
“I think that was the time when I received the greatest number of enticing propositions from the authorities,” he recollected. “So as not to fall to temptation, I handed in my party membership card and I felt a relief. I toured around Poland meeting with my readers, mostly in churches.”
Following the political transformation, Bryll was considered a possible minister of culture. He vehemently refused when he learned that, but he agreed to set up the first post-war Polish diplomatic mission to Ireland, partly due to his long-time interest in Irish culture.
He received numerous state awards for his work, among the most prestigious ones being the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2006), the Golden Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture (2010), and the Per Artem at Deum Medal granted by the Papal Council for Culture (2021).
Ernest Bryll will be laid to rest on March 25 in Warsaw, in a family tomb in the Wałbrzyska Street cemetery, following a funerary mass at the Dominican Friars’ church in Warsaw’s Old Town at 1.30 p.m.
Although he was raised in the patriotic tradition of the Second Polish Republic by his father Stanisław, a pre-war military officer, he found his way into the post-war reality of Communist Poland. Throughout his life, he worked as a journalist, headed film companies, and managed theaters. He was also a translator, author of musicals, playwright, and diplomat, having served as Poland’s Ambassador to Ireland between 1991 and 1995.
He was, first and foremost, a poet, having published almost 40 volumes of poetry.
As Mateusz Wyrwich, a journalist and writer, once wrote of Bryll, although many have accused him of graphomania, the undeniable fact was his poetry sold thousands of copies, and meetings with Bryll attracted crowds of hundreds, something few modern poets can achieve.
“His poetry molded the aesthetic tastes of Poles,” Wyrwich wrote.
Following the political thaw of 1956, he got involved in establishing the “Współczesność” weekly but his literary work in the period eventually resulted in an unofficial ban on publication of his works for a time.
In 1964 he became the literary head of Teatr Telewizji, TVP’s cyclical television play program. In subsequent years he would receive more lucrative postings to communist-controlled state institutions, including as director of the Polish Cultural Institute in London.
“Bryll is not one of those authors who would explain that they meant it ‘well, Polish, national, independent,’ but it just came out wrong. He doesn’t whitewash his biography. And as he always stresses, his poems were wiser than he was himself,” Wyrwich wrote.
Bryll resigned from membership in the Polish United Workers’ Party after Martial Law was declared on December 13, 1981.
“I think that was the time when I received the greatest number of enticing propositions from the authorities,” he recollected. “So as not to fall to temptation, I handed in my party membership card and I felt a relief. I toured around Poland meeting with my readers, mostly in churches.”
Following the political transformation, Bryll was considered a possible minister of culture. He vehemently refused when he learned that, but he agreed to set up the first post-war Polish diplomatic mission to Ireland, partly due to his long-time interest in Irish culture.
He received numerous state awards for his work, among the most prestigious ones being the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2006), the Golden Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture (2010), and the Per Artem at Deum Medal granted by the Papal Council for Culture (2021).
Ernest Bryll will be laid to rest on March 25 in Warsaw, in a family tomb in the Wałbrzyska Street cemetery, following a funerary mass at the Dominican Friars’ church in Warsaw’s Old Town at 1.30 p.m.
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