Stanisław Lem

Elzbieta Foeller-Pituch (Northwestern University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.8.3: Polish Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Roman Koropeckyj (University of California, Los Angeles), Ewa M. Thompson (Rice University)

Dates

Born 12 Sep 1921
Died 27 Mar 2006
Activity 1940-2006

Places

Born in Ukraine
Active in Poland

Genres and Modes

Science Fiction

Cultural Identities

Jewish European

Activities

Primary

Novelist
Satirist

Resources

Lem's Works

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Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006) is a leading science fiction writer, whose narratives and essays offer satirical and philosophical speculation on the nature of science, technology, and the human. Over the course of his lifetime the Polish author wrote more than 20 novels, as well as volumes of short stories and books of non-fiction. His works have been translated into 41 languages, from English to Japanese, with more than 27 million volumes published. He has gained an international reputation as an innovative SF writer, whose acute observations of the development of science and technology and its influence on human nature bring up important philosophical questions. Lem’s books have been the basis of several film adaptations, most notably the two

Solaris

movies, one the 1972 cult classic by…

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1726 words

Citation: Foeller-Pituch, Elzbieta. "Stanisław Lem". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 June 2008; last revised 28 January 2019. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12214, accessed 26 April 2024.]

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