Aleksander Miłosz, ojciec Czesława

Abstract

The author of this article presents a detailed profile of the father of Czesław Miłosz (1911– 2004), the Polish laureate of the Nobel Prize in literature of 1981. The father of the writer, Aleksander Miłosz, was born on the 17th of July 1883 in Riga, and died, according to the death certificate, aged 61, from a heart attack (the obituary stated: ‘after a severe, long illness’) on the 17th of November 1959 in Krakow. He was buried in the Rakowicki cemetery on Thursday, the 19th of November. One year before his death, he wrote to his son Czesław who was in Berkeley: “[...] I was moved when I heard on the radio, how famous a writer you are throughout the world. I wish I had one of your books”. The author emphasises that: “Although Aleksander Miłosz worked, he led a modest life. He did not refuse to take financial support from his son Andrzej (numerous money transfers) and material support from the other son, Czesław (for example in the form of parcels with high-quality coffee that he used to send from abroad”. After an insightful reconstruction of the biography of Aleksander Miłosz, the scientist also tracked the literary transformations of his character in the works of his famous son Czesław.