Polish novelist Witold Gombrowicz was born into a Polish upper-middle-class family on August 4, 1904. His father owned a country estate; the young Witold spent his childhood within the secure microcosm of the Polish squirearchy, and his early adulthood in Warsaw where he read law at Warsaw University. After a trip to France Gombrowicz began his apprenticeship in the municipal court of Warsaw. However, he was more interested in writing fiction than in working his way up in the world of officialdom. In 1933 he published a collection of short stories,

Pamiętnik z okresu dojrzewania

[Memoir from Adolescence], and in 1937 his first novel

Ferdydurke

; these works established his reputation as an eccentric novelist and storyteller. In 1939 he traveled to Argentina on a Polish cruise ship and…

2980 words

Citation: Thompson, Ewa M. . "Witold Gombrowicz". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 February 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11932, accessed 19 March 2024.]

11932 Witold Gombrowicz 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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