Zdzisław Najder (31 October 1930 – 15 February 2021[1]) was a Polish literary historian, critic, and political activist.
He was primarily known for his studies on Joseph Conrad, for his periods of service as political adviser to Lech Wałęsa and Jan Olszewski, and for having served as chief of the Polish-language section of Radio Free Europe.
Educated in Poland and England, Najder had worked as a professor in Poland and abroad before his exile from Poland in 1981. During most of that exile, he worked for Radio Free Europe. Sentenced to death in absentia in his native land, he did not return to Poland until the overthrow of its communist regime, whereupon he became an active political adviser.
Najder's 1983 biography of Conrad, substantially revised in 2007, is regarded as a definitive work in Conrad scholarship. He was married to the Polish-British literary translator, Halina Carroll-Najder.[2]
Life
Early life
Born in Warsaw, Poland, on 31 October 1930, Najder studied at Warsaw University (1949–1954) and at St Antony's College, Oxford (1959–1969), earning doctoral degrees in philosophy and Polish literature.[3] He added a second doctoral degree in Polish literature in Poland in 1978.
Najder taught at Warsaw University as a professor of literature,[4] co-edited the Polish monthly literary journal Twórczość (Creation), and was a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences' Institute for Literary Studies.[3]
Exile
When martial law was declared in Poland on 13 December 1981, Najder was a visiting scholar at Oxford University.
Select bibliography
References
- Nie żyje Zdzisław Najder, były dyrektor Radia Wolna Europa^
- Adamowicz-Pośpiech, Agnieszka. In Memoriam Halina Najder (1926-2017) Yearbook of Conrad Studies, 2017, retrieved 2022-06-03^
- Zdzislaw Najder Hoover Institution Archives, retrieved 11 September 2011