Christophe Jeżewski

Christophe Jezewski, in Polish Krzysztof Andrzej Jeżewski (born 24 April 1939) is a poet, musicologist, essayist and translator of Polish descent who has been living in France since 1970.

Biography Christophe Jeżewski was born in Warsaw, in a Francophone family of humanistic tradition. His maternal grandfather Adam Czartkowski, a scientist and historian of culture, was the author of monographs on Chopin and Beethoven; His father was an anglicist and economist, and his mother Zofia Jeżewska - a writer, journalist, and art critic was also the author of four books on Chopin.

At an early age, he developed a passion for translation, which he considered as a bridge between cultures and peoples. At the age of sixteen, he translated the Chantefables et Chantefleurs by Robert Desnos. Later, while studying the Romance languages at the Warsaw University, he became one of the most active translators of French poetry (Segalen, Oscar Venceslas de Lubicz-Milosz, Michaux, René Char, Jean Follain, the surrealists, Eugène Guillevic, etc.) and Hispano-American. He introduced the Poles to some poetic geniuses of this continent: Jorge Luis Borges, José Gorostiza, Octavio Paz. At the same time, he continued his poetic work (beginning in 1968 in the magazine Poezja) and was a musical critic. He also began to translate Polish poetry into French, in particular Cyprian Norwid (1821–1883), the father of Polish modern poetry and great Christian thinker of whom John Paul II claimed inspiration. In 1963 he completed his studies of Romance philology at the Warsaw University.

In 1970, the political climate in Poland had become unbearable because of the wave of "red fascism", and he left thanks to a French government scholarship and settled permanently in France. From 1971 to 1973, he collaborated with the Polish staff for the ORTF which broadcast his 65 portraits of the most prominent French poets of the twentieth.

In 1976 he obtained his degree of Polish literature at the Paris-Sorbonne University and married Maria Thelma Noval, a painter, poet and sociologist from Philippines, of whom he had two children. Since 1978, he has made several stays in the Philippines.

Since 1974, he continues in France an intense activity as a translator of Polish literature, makes discover among others Cyprian Norwid, Witold Gombrowicz, Bruno Schulz, , Czesław Miłosz (Nobel Prize in Literature 1980), Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, Wisława Szymborska (Nobel Prize in Literature 1996) and composers Karol Szymanowski, Stanisław Moniuszko, Mieczysław Karłowicz. He collaborates with the Polish emigre press and the French music press, organizes "poetry and music" evenings and gives lectures on Polish culture and music. After the Martial law in Poland was established on 13 December 1981, he had in France a vast activity of information and propagation of the democratic and Christian ideas of Solidarność.

In 1984 he left Paris and settled with his family in Noisy-le-Grand where he lived until now. In autumn 1989 he obtained French nationality.

A specialist of Cyprian Norwid, he has been president of the Les Amis de C. K. Norwid Parisian association since 2003.

Distinctions Scholarships for translation and creation of the CNL (1983, 1991, 1996, 2000, 2006, 2010, 2014) Karol Szymanowski medal (1984) Prize of the Society of Polish Authors and Composers ZAiKS (1987) C. Jelenski Prize of the literary Institute Kultura (1991) Scholarships from the Minister of Culture and the Polish National Heritage (1999, 2003, 2009) Prize of the Polish PEN-club (2007) Translation scholarship of the European Prize for Literature (2007) Silver Medal of the Gloria Artis (2011) Cyprian Norwid Foundation Medal (Lublin), (2013) Witold Hulewicz Prize (2019) APAJTE Prize (2019) Cyprian Kamil Norwid Prize (2021)

Publications Translations into French Cyprian Norwid, L'Intarissable source, Pierre-Guillaume de Roux, 2017 Cyprian Norwid, Chopin/Szopen, Maison d'édition GAL, 2010 John-Paul II, Mon dernier livre de méditations pour le troisième millénaire, Éditions du Rocher, 2008 Tadeusz Różewicz, Regio et autres poèmes, Arfuyen 2008 Cyprian Kamil Norwid, Cléopâtre et César : tragédie historique écrite aussi bien pour la scène que pour la lecture, avec une mise en valeur des gestes dramatiques et de leur succession, Cahiers bleus-Librairie bleue, 2006 Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, Testament de feu : poèmes, Arfuyen, 2006 Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, L'insurrection angélique, Le Cri édition : In'hui, 2004 Cyprian Norwid, Vade-mecum Les Éditions Noir sur Blanc, 2004 Anna Bolecka, Mon cher Franz, Sabine Wespieser éditeur, 2004 John-Paul II, Mon livre de méditations pour ceux qui souffrent, qui doutent, qui espèrent, Éditions du Rocher, 2004 Witold Gombrowicz, Souvenirs de Pologne, Éditions Gallimard, 2002 Andrzej Czcibor-Piotrowski, Un amour couleur myrtilles, Éditions Robert Laffont, 2001 Cyprian Norwid, Lumières du Royaume, Éditions Bénédictines, 2001 Maria Nurowska, Celle qu'on aime, Éditions Phébus, 2000 Tadeusz Kępiński, Witold Gombrowicz et le monde de sa jeunesse, Gallimard, 2000 Cyprian Norwid, O Szopenie/Sur Chopin, Lodart, 1999 Andrzej Kuśniewicz, Constellations : les Signes du zodiaque, 10-18, 1999 Andrzej Kuśniewicz, Eroica, Éditions des Syrtes, 1999 Andrzej Zaniewski, Mémoires d'un rat, Belfond, 1994 Librairie générale française, 1998 Maria Nurowska, Un amour de VarsovieEditions Albin Michel, 1996, France Loisirs, 1997, Editions de la Seine, 1998 Wisława Szymborska, Dans le fleuve d'Héraclite, Maison de la poésie Nord-Pas-de-Calais, 1995 Witold Gombrowicz, Journal. Tomes I à III, 1953–1969, Julliard, then Denoël 1976, then Christian Bourgois 1981, then Gallimard, 1995 Witold Gombrowicz, Souvenirs de Pologne, Christian Bourgois, 1990, 1995 Andrzej Kuśniewicz, Constellations : les signes du zodiaque, Robert Laffont, 1993 Jerzy Andrzejewski, Les ténèbres couvrent la terre, Belfond, 1991 Witold Gombrowicz, Moi et mon double, L'Œil de la lettre, 1990 Witold Gombrowicz, Varia II, Christian Bourgois, 1989 Czesław Miłosz, Terre inépuisable, Fayard, 1988 Czesław Miłosz, Témoignage de la poésie, Presses universitaires de France, 1987 Andrzej Kuśniewicz, L'État d'apesanteur, Albin Michel, 1979, then Librairie générale française, 1983 Andrzej Kuśniewicz, La Leçon de langue morte, Albin Michel, 1981 Andrzej Kuśniewicz, Le Roi des Deux-Siciles, Albin Michel, 1977

Poems and essays Music, Anima Poetry Press, 2017 Księga snów/Le Livre des rêves, Éditions Polyglotte, 2013 Swiatłość u progu, Topos, 2012 Płomień i noc/ La Flamme et la nuit, Adam Marszałek, 2012 Cyprian Norwid et la pensée de l'Empire du Milieu,L'Harmattan, 2011 Cyprian Norwid a myśl i poetyka Kraju Srodka, Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 2011 Adam Czartkowski, Beethoven. Próba portretu duchowego. Rozszerzył, opracował i antologią polskich wierszy o kompozytorze opatrzył Krzysztof Andrzej Jeżewski, PIW, 2010 Le pire est certain. Anthologie de la poésie catastrophiste polonaise du XX, Zurfluh/Cahiers Bleus, 2009 Druga księga snow, Miniatura, 2009 W zaświecie snu, Correspondance des Arts, 2009 Zagle niebieskie, Adam Marszałek, 2008 Okruchy z wysokości, in: Angelus Silesius Anielski wędrowiec, Biblioteka Telgte, 2007 Popiół słoneczny Nowy Swiat, 2005 L'épreuve du feu; précédé de Les vignes de l'espace : poèmes, Librairie Bleue, 2005 Cyprian Norwid, poète et penseur catholique, Liberté politique, 2001 Kryształowy ogrod, Oficyna Krakowska, 2000 Chopin, Szymanowski et leurs poètes = Chopin, Szymanowski i ich poeci, Librairie Bleue, 1999 Znak pojednania, "W drodze", 1997 Muzyka, Tikkun, 1995 La musique : poèmes, L'Harmattan, 1994 Księga snów Miniatura, 1990 Próba ognia, Editions Dembinski, 1990

Other He also translated into Polish many French poets of the 20th century, notably Victor Segalen, Oscar Milosz, Henri Michaux and René Char, as well as authors from other languages such as Octavio Paz, José Gorostiza, Jorge Luis Borges, Kathleen Raine, Angelus Silesius and Maya Noval.