Katarzyna Herbert, a literary translator and the wife of one of Poland’s greatest poets, died on Saturday aged 95.
Described as a “guardian” of the legacy of her late husband, Zbigniew Herbert, after his death she set up a charitable foundation and a high-profile international poetry prize in his name.
Considered one of the country's foremost post-war writers, Zbigniew Herbert – who died in 1998 – was a poet and essayist, whose work inspired the opposition movement standing up to Poland’s totalitarian communist regime.
In a tribute, the Herbert Foundation said that Katarzyna – whose surname is sometimes given as Dzieduszycka-Herbert – was convinced of the need to care for literature, especially poetry.
Born in present-day Ukraine in 1929, she was part of Warsaw artistic circles in the 1950s, but later moved to Paris, joining a lively Polish émigré scene that included the likes of Józef Czapski, a prominent painter and writer with whom she exchanged regular correspondence.
During this period, she worked in the Parisian publishing sector and translated several literary works from French into Polish, including volumes by novelist Jean d’Ormesson and poet Valery Larbaud.
In 1968 she married Zbigniew Herbert, becoming “his life companion, the first one to read his poems, and a devoted collaborator”, the Herbert Foundation said.
Considered one of the country's foremost post-war writers, Zbigniew Herbert – who died in 1998 – was a poet and essayist, whose work inspired the opposition movement standing up to Poland’s totalitarian communist regime.
In a tribute, the Herbert Foundation said that Katarzyna – whose surname is sometimes given as Dzieduszycka-Herbert – was convinced of the need to care for literature, especially poetry.
Born in present-day Ukraine in 1929, she was part of Warsaw artistic circles in the 1950s, but later moved to Paris, joining a lively Polish émigré scene that included the likes of Józef Czapski, a prominent painter and writer with whom she exchanged regular correspondence.
During this period, she worked in the Parisian publishing sector and translated several literary works from French into Polish, including volumes by novelist Jean d’Ormesson and poet Valery Larbaud.
In 1968 she married Zbigniew Herbert, becoming “his life companion, the first one to read his poems, and a devoted collaborator”, the Herbert Foundation said.
The Herberts lived at different stages in Paris, Berlin and Warsaw, while also traveling across the world thanks to the poet’s burgeoning international reputation.
“After Zbigniew Herbert’s death [Katarzyna] became a guardian and promoter of his work, and her efforts led to the publication of more poems from his archive, along with volumes of essays and correspondence, which maintained Herbert’s presence in literature in Poland but also worldwide,” the Herbert Foundation said in its tribute.
In 2010 she set up the foundation and, two years later, the first Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award was handed out.
The award, which is active to this day, is given to “recognize outstanding artistic and intellectual literary achievements on the world stage which have a bearing on the world of values towards which Zbigniew Herbert’s work gravitated.”
“After Zbigniew Herbert’s death [Katarzyna] became a guardian and promoter of his work, and her efforts led to the publication of more poems from his archive, along with volumes of essays and correspondence, which maintained Herbert’s presence in literature in Poland but also worldwide,” the Herbert Foundation said in its tribute.
In 2010 she set up the foundation and, two years later, the first Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award was handed out.
The award, which is active to this day, is given to “recognize outstanding artistic and intellectual literary achievements on the world stage which have a bearing on the world of values towards which Zbigniew Herbert’s work gravitated.”
