Kazimierz Braun

Kazimierz Braun (born June 29, 1936) is a Polish director, writer, and scholar.

Education Braun was born in Mokrsko Dolne. He earned a master's degree in Polish literature from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań in 1958 and a master's degree in directing from the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw in 1962. He earned a Ph.D. from Adam Mickiewicz University in 1971. He completed a habilitation in theatre studies at the University of Wrocław in 1975 and a habilitation in directing at the Warsaw theatre academy in 1988.

Career Braun became a tenured professor at the University at Buffalo in 1989. In 1992, he received the title of Professor of Humanities from the President of Poland, based on a 1984 resolution of the University of Wrocław that had been delayed during the Communist period.

He made his debut as a professional theatre director in 1961, and as a professional television director in 1962. He has directed works at the Polish Theatre in Warsaw, Teatr Wybrzeże in Gdańsk, the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków, and Teatr Solskiego in Tarnów, as well as in Canada, Germany, Ireland, and the United States. He was artistic director of Teatr im. Juliusza Osterwy, Lublin from 1967 to 1971, and general and artistic director there from 1971 to 1974. From 1975 to 1984, he was general and artistic director of Teatr Współczesny, Wrocław. He was removed from the Wrocław position in 1984 during the Communist period; Encyklopedia Teatru Polskiego identifies his 1983 adaptation of Albert Camus's The Plague as the immediate cause of the authorities' decision.

Since 1985, Braun has lived and worked in the United States, where he has directed productions at professional theatres including the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis and the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles, while also teaching and directing at several universities. His best-known directorial works include plays by Cyprian Norwid (15 theatre and television productions), Tadeusz Różewicz (19 shows), William Shakespeare (12 shows in Polish and English), and Adam Mickiewicz (two shows). He has taught at the University of Wrocław, New York University, Swarthmore College, the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the University at Buffalo.

Braun has translated works from English, French, and Italian into Polish, and from Polish, French, and Russian into English.

Personal life Braun's father, Juliusz Braun, was a lawyer, professor of ecology, Catholic activist, and political prisoner under Joseph Stalin. His mother was Elżbieta Korwin-Szymanowska. They both died in 1990.

Braun is married to Zofia Reklewska-Braun, a writer and theatre historian. They have three children (Dr. Monika Braun, a writer and academic; Grzegorz Braun, a politician; and Dr. Justyna Braun, an academic) and eight grandchildren (Anna, Joanna, Aniela, Zofia, Elżbieta, Aleksander, Helena, and Jerzy).

Credits Between 1961 and 2016 Braun directed 155 theatre productions in Poland, the United States, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, Germany and other countries, including: 1961: Karol / On the Sea / Strip-tease (Sławomir Mrożek), Gdańsk 1962: The Ring of a Great Lady (Cyprian Norwid), Warsaw 1962: Two Theatres (Jerzy Szaniawski), Warsaw 1963: The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Bertolt Brecht), Gdańsk 1963: Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare), Warsaw 1965: The Wedding (Stanisław Wyspiański), Toruń 1967: November's Night (Wyspiański), Gdańsk 1968: Hamlet (Shakespeare), Lublin 1968: Kleopatra and Cezar (Norwid), Lublin 1970: Interrupted Act (Tadeusz Różewicz), Lublin 1970: Behind the Wings (Norwid), Kraków 1971: The Ashes (Stefan Żeromski), director's adaptation, Television Theatre 1972: The Deliverance (Wyspiański), Lublin 1973: The Old Woman (Różewicz), Lublin 1977: Operetta (Witold Gombrowicz), Wrocław 1978: The Forefathers' Eve (Adam Mickiewicz), Wrocław 1979: Birth Rate (Różewicz), director's adaptation, Wrocław 1982: The Forefathers' Eve (Mickiewicz), director's adaptation, Wrocław 1982: Twelfth Night (Shakespeare), Wrocław 1983: The Plague (Albert Camus), director's adaptation, Wrocław 1984: The Trap (Różewicz), Wrocław 1986: Rhinoceros (Eugène Ionesco), Minneapolis 1987: The Hunger Artist (Różewicz), Buffalo 1988: The Shoemakers (Witkacy), Los Angeles 1989: King Lear (Shakespeare), Buffalo 1990: Immigrant Queen (Braun), Toronto 1991: As You Like It (Shakespeare), Buffalo 1995: Tango (Sławomir Mrożek), Knoxville, Tennessee 1996: A Man for All Seasons (Robert Bolt), Buffalo 1999: Richard III (Shakespeare), Buffalo 2003: Europe (Jerzy Braun), Tarnów 2004: Paderewski's Children (Braun), Buffalo 2006: The Fall of a Stone House (Brandstaetter), Tarnów 2006: Card Index Scattered (Różewicz), Buffalo 2008: The Tales of Pola Negri (Braun), Toronto 2010: The Book of Christopher Columbus (Paul Claudel), Steubenville, Ohio 2011: Father Maximilian's Cell (Braun), Tarnów 2012: Ordonka's Mysteries (Braun), Toronto 2012: The Power and the Glory (Graham Greene), director's adaptation, Buffalo 2014: The Tempest (Shakespeare), Buffalo 2016: Norwid Returs (Braun), Tarnów

Scholarly books (selection)

1967: Teofil Trzciński (with Zofia Reklewska-Braun), PIW, Warsaw 1971: Cyprian Norwid's Theatre Without Theatre, PIW, Warsaw 1972: Theatre of Communion, Wyd. Literackie, Kraków 1975: New Theatre in the World, WaiF, Warsaw 1979: The Second Reform of Theatre, Ossolineum, Wrocław 1982: Theatre Space, PWN, Warsaw 1984: The Great Reform of Theatre, Ossolineum, Wrocław 1994: Polish Theatre 1939-1989, Semper, Warsaw 1996: A History of Polish Theatre 1939-1989, Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut 2000: Theatre Directing, Mellen Press, Lewiston, New York 2003: A Concise History of Polish Theatre, Mellen Press, Lewiston 2005: A Concise History of American Theatre, Wyd. UAM, Poznań 2010: Lady Designer, Jadwiga Pożakowska, Muzeum Narodowe, Gdańsk 2011: Brothers Adamowicz (with Zofia Reklewska-Braun), Wyd. Uniw. Rzeszowskiego 2013: My Różewicz's Theatre, Wyd. Uniw. Rzeszowskiego 2014: My Norwid's Theatre, Wyd. Uniw. Rzeszowskiego 2015: Direccion teatral: Arte, etica, creatividad, Universitado Nat. Aut., Mexico 2019: The Bright Light of Gietrzwałd (with Zofia Reklewska-Braun), Wyd. Osuchowa 2019: The Great Reform of Theater (with Justyna Braun), Mellen Press, Lewiston 2020: Theatricality of Life, Wyd. A. Marszałek 2022: The Second Reform of Theatre (expanded edition), Wyd. Volumen 2023: Cyprian Norwid on Frederyk Chopin and His Music, (translations and essays), Literary Waves, London 2024: What Happened to 21st-Century Theatre?, Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek, Toruń

Novels, plays, poetry and translations (selection)

1989: The Monument, Instytut Literacki, Paris 1993: Helena: The Story of Modjeska, High Park Press, Toronto 1996: Farewell to Alaska, PAX, Warszawa 1996: The Story of Norwid: A One-Man Drama, Bernardinum, Pelplin 1999: Day of Witness, Wyd. 4K, Bytom 2003: A Bird on Stilts: Short Stories, Wyd. A. Marszałek, Toruń 2005: Day of Witness (expanded edition), Wyd. Św. Wojciecha, Poznań 2006: Radiation, Archiwum Emigracji, Toruń 2008: Ten Days in People's Poland, Norbertinum, Lublin 2011: Maximilianus, Wyd. Bratni Zew, Kraków 2011: Tarnów's Wind of Freedom, Wyd. Biblioteka Publiczna, Tarnów 2013: Good Priests (with Zofia Reklewska-Braun), Bernardinum, Pelplin 2016: The Alarm Bell, Volumen, Warszawa 2018: A Rehearsal of the Apocalypse, Wyd. A. Marszałek, Toruń 2021: Paderewski's Children. Paderewski Returns (a bilingual edition), Inst. Dziedzictwa I Myśli Narodowej, Warszawa 2022: Zagłada, Wydawnictwo Capital, Warsaw 2022: Dramas 2022, Wyd. A. Marszałek, Toruń 2022: Anticipation. Poetry, 3DOM, Częstochowa 2023: The Pyramid. Memoirs, Volumen, Warszawa 2024: Zagłada 2.0, Wydawnictwo Capital, Warsaw 2024: Zagłada 3.0, Wydawnictwo Capital, Warsaw 2024: Cyprian Norwid: Poems and Poetic Fragments, translated by Kazimierz Braun, Literary Waves Publishing, London 2024: Cyprian Norwid: The Actor, introduction, edition and translation by Kazimierz Braun, Literary Waves Publishing, London 2024: Collected Plays, Volume 1: Plays for One Actor, bilingual Polish-English edition, Moonrise Press, Los Angeles 2024: Collected Plays, Volume 2: Theater of Discord, bilingual Polish-English edition, Moonrise Press, Los Angeles 2025: Collected Plays, Volume 3: Theater of Woman Artists, bilingual Polish-English edition, Moonrise Press, Los Angeles 2025: Collected Plays, Volume 4: Theater of Memory, bilingual Polish-English edition, Moonrise Press, Los Angeles 2025: Avventura in Sardinia, Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek, Toruń 2025: Three Paderewski Plays, Moonrise Press, Los Angeles 2026: You Have Spoken, Lord…, Arcana Publishing, Kraków 2026: Lord Conrad: The Story of Józef Korzeniowski, Literary Waves Publishing, London

Additionally, books-interviews: 1989: The Languages of Theatre, with Tadeusz Różewicz, Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie, Wrocław 1993: A Torn Curtain, conversation with Stanisław Bereś, Aneks Publishing House, London

In total, between 1967 and 2026, Kazimierz Braun published 95 books.

Awards and honors 1963: Best Director, Caucasian Chock Circle (Brecht), Toruń Theatre Festival 1964: Best Director, Enchanted Circle (Rydel), Television Theatre Festival 1965: Best Director, Actor (Norwid), Television Theatre Festival and Kalisz Theatre Festival 1966: Best Director, The Wedding (Wyspiański), Toruń Theatre Festival 1970: Best Director, Interrupted Act (Różewicz), Kalisz Theatre Festival 1971: Medal for Merit to Culture, Poland 1976: Medal for Educational Theatre, Poland 1978: Gold Cross of Merit, Poland 1979: Award for the Mise-en-Scène, Operetta (Gombrowicz), International Theatre Festival, Sitges, Spain 1980: Golden Fredro Award for Director, Birth Rate (Różewicz), Wrocław 1980: Japanese Foundation Award 1984: Golden Fredro Award for Director, The Plague (Camus), Wrocław 1985: Independent Culture Award, Poland 1990: Guggenheim Foundation Award, United States 1996: Director, Best Production in Buffalo, A Man for All Seasons (Bolt) 1997: Chivalry Cross of the Polish Order of Merit 2001: Aurum Literary Award, Toronto 2001: Fulbright Program, United States 2003: Turzański Foundation Award, Canada 2004: Minister of Education Award, Poland 2005: Polish-American Congress Annual Award 2005: Medal for Merit to Culture, Poland 2005: Officer's Cross of the Polish Order of Merit 2007: Medal for Merit to Culture, Poland 2011: Golden Owl Award, Austria 2011: Commander's Cross of the Polish Order of Merit 2016 Commander's Cross of the Order Polonia Restituta 2021: Norwid Foundation Medal, Poland 2023: London Prize for Literature, awarded by the Union of Polish Writers Abroad 2025: Golden Award from the Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club in Los Angeles