LECHON, JAN

born March 13, 1899, Warsaw, Pol., Russian Empire died June 8, 1956, New York, N.Y., U.S. pseudonym of Leszek Serafinowicz poet, editor, diplomat, and political propagandist, considered one of the foremost Polish poets of his generation. Lechon's first volume, Karmazynowy poemat (1920; The Scarlet Poem), dealt with patriotic themes, followed by Rzeczpospolita Babinska (1921; The Republic of Babin). In 1924 he collected his lyric poems in Srebrne i czarne (Silver and Black). In 1926 he became editor of a satirical weekly, Cyrulik Warszawski (The Barber of Warsaw), and in 1932 was appointed cultural attach to the Polish embassy in Paris, where he remained until France capitulated to the Nazis, when he escaped to Lisbon and finally to Rio de Janeiro. In 1941 Lechon went to New York City, where for four years he edited a Polish weekly. His Lutnia po Bekwarku (Bekwark's Lute) appeared in 1942 in London; it was followed in 1945 by another volume of verses. Lechon worked for Radio Free Europe from 1952 until his death by his own hand.