Sergiusz Piasecki

Sergiusz Piasecki (, ; 1 April 1901 (or 1 June 1899) in Lachowicze near Baranowicze – 12 September 1964 in Penley, London) was a Polish writer of the 20th century. His novel written in prison, Lover of the Great Bear, published in 1937, was the third most popular novel in the Second Polish Republic. Following World War II, Piasecki's books were banned by Communist censorship in the People's Republic of Poland. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, in early 1990s, Lover of the Great Bear became again one of the best selling books in the country according to Rzeczpospolita daily newspaper. His other novel, an Anti-Soviet satire The Memoirs of a Red Army Officer, had been reprinted several times.

Biography Early life Sergiusz Piasecki was born on 1 April 1901 (or 1 June 1899), the illegitimate son of a postmaster (Michał Piasecki) and a servant (Klaudia Kukałowicz) in Lachowicze, 130 km from Minsk, then in Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire (now Brest Province, Belarus). The latter date was presented by Piasecki on several occasions, in order to mislead the authorities.

His childhood was difficult because children at school mocked his Polish roots, calling him "Lach". Piasecki hated the Russian school – as he later explained – and in the seventh grade, armed with a pistol attacked the teacher. Sentenced to jail, he escaped from prison, and headed to Moscow, where he experienced the October Revolution and watched his close friends' deaths. In 1919 he traveled to Minsk, as a member of the Belarusian "White" organisation.

Ambiguities In the monograph about his life, work and legend, researcher Krzysztof Polechoński noted that most available data about Piasecki's whereabouts often do not correspond to reality, not to mention the claims made by the writer himself. Perhaps the discrepancies came from his work as intelligence agent, but there is no way to confirm many of his personal stories. Piasecki's addresses in Vilnius are not available and neither are the registers of houses in which he lived. His personal documents in possession of Piasecki's son: such as the copy of a marriage certificate with Jadwiga Waszkiewicz or the birth certificate of his son Władysław Tomaszewicz are falsifications, as revealed by Polechoński himself after a search performed in Vilnius archives. It is not possible to say whether his evacuation card is authentic. There is no photo of him in the prisoners' photo archives of Łukiszki penitentiary. There is no proof of his residency amongst the Vilnius city dwellers. He might have stayed in a hotel. he had cooperated with the Polish resistance, and in 1943 became an executioner, carrying out capital punishment sentences handed down by underground Polish courts. His wartime noms de guerre were "Sucz", "Kira" and "Konrad". Later, he wrote two books about his war activities. These are (The Tower of Babel) and (Adam and Eve). Among those who he was ordered to execute, was Józef Mackiewicz, falsely accused of cooperating with the Germans. However, Piasecki refused to kill him, and later it was revealed that Mackiewicz's accusations had been made up by the Soviets.

Living in exile After the war, Piasecki hid from the secret police for a year inside Poland. In April 1946, he escaped to Italy, where he spotted the Italian translation of his own . Soon, he got in touch with Polish writers living in exile, including Jerzy Giedroyc. In 1947, Piasecki moved to England, his name can be found on a resolution of Union of Polish Writers in Exile, which urged all concerned to stop publishing in the Communist-occupied country. He once publicly declared that he would gladly take any job that would result in erasing Communism. Living abroad, Piasecki did not stop writing. In the late 1940s he came to the conclusion that humor was the best weapon to fight the Communists. So, he wrote a satire The memoirs of a Red Army officer, which presents a made-up diary of Mishka Zubov - an officer of the Red Army, who, together with his unit enters Poland on 17 September 1939. Zubov claims in his "diary" that his only purpose is to kill all the bourgeoisie who possess watches and bicycles. Piasecki became fluent in English as an adult. Sergiusz Piasecki died in 1964 in London at the age of 65. On his tomb, located in Hastings Cemetery, England, it is said that he was born on 1 June 1899.

On September 29, 2025, with the participation of the President of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, his remains were brought back to Poland, and his ceremonial funeral took place at Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw.