PRZYBOS, JULIAN

born March 5, 1901, Gwznica, Rzeszw, Austrian Empire [now in Poland] died Oct. 6, 1970, Warsaw, Pol. Polish poet, a leading figure of the Awangarda Krakowska, an avant-garde literary movement that began in Krakw in 1922. By the time Przybos graduated from Jagiellonian University, Krakw, in 1924, he had already begun to publish poetry and prose for the little magazine Zwrotnica (The Switch), one of the primary vehicles of the Awangarda Krakowska. In his early works, Sruby (1925; Screws) and Oburacz (1926; Twin Grasp), he introduced his theory of poetry as a new language system characterized by concise but intricate metaphors. In the 1930s he turned to themes of social protest in such collections as W glab las (1932; Into the Deep Forest) and Rwnanie serca (1938; Equation of the Heart). He also wrote for the journal Linia (Line) from 1931 to 1933 and was a member of a group called a.r. (revolutionary artists) in Ldz from 1930 to 1935. During World War II, Przybos lived in Soviet-controlled Lww (now Lviv, Ukraine) and Nazi-occupied Gwznica and wrote poems for the Resistance movement. After the war he served the Polish government as a diplomat and as an emissary to Switzerland (194751) and as chairman of the Writers' Union. His postwar verse was published in Rzut pionowy (1952; Vertical Movement), Najmniej slw (1955; The Minimum of Words), Naredzie ze swiatla (1958; Tools of Light), and Prba calosci (1961; A Try for Completeness). He was also noted for his critical essays on literature and art.