Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz

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Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz
Rafał Ziemkiewicz Sejm 2016.jpg
BornRafał Aleksander Ziemkiewicz
(1964-09-13) 13 September 1964 (age 56)
Piaseczno, Poland
OccupationWriter
Alma materUniversity of Warsaw
GenrePolitical fiction, science fiction, journalist
SpouseAleksandra Ciejek
Children2 (daughters)
Signature

Rafał Aleksander Ziemkiewicz (born 13 September 1964, in Piaseczno) is a Polish political and science fiction author and right-wing activist.

Biography[]

Science-fiction writer[]

In 1984, during his studies at the University of Warsaw (Polish language and literature), he joined SFAN science fiction fan association and started writing short stories. His first science-fiction short story (Z palcem na spuście) was published in 1982. His book debut was Władca szczurów (Warsaw), (1987). He also worked for two Polish science-fiction magazines: Fantastyka (1986–1990) and as a chief editor for Fenix (1990–1994), and collaborated with an underground publishing house "STOP" by distributing its books at the Department of Polish, University of Warsaw.

In the 1990s, he became one of the most popular Polish science-fiction authors. For his novels Pieprzony los kataryniarza (1995) and Walc stulecia (1998), as well as his short story Śpiąca królewna (1996), he was awarded the Zajdel Award, the most prestigious Polish award for science fiction and fantasy literature. He was also awarded Śląkfa for Writer of a Year in 1990 and 1998.

A popular theme in his works is the fate of Poland and more broadly, Europe, in the near future (from several to several dozen years). His books often paint the future in dark colors, showing the Commonwealth of Independent States disintegrate into a civil war, European Union becoming powerless in the face of Islamic terrorism, and predatory capitalism and political correctness taken ad absurdum leading to the erosion of morality and ethics. Thus his books are often classified as political fiction and social science fiction, although they are not seen as dystopian fiction.

Journalist and publicist[]

After the fall of communism, Ziemkiewicz became a conservative journalist and essayist. He began this career in the early 1990s as a publicist for Najwyższy Czas! weekly magazine. Until February 1997, Ziemkiewicz wrote political and socio-economical essays for Gazeta Polska (1993–1997). He was also a columnist of popular Polish magazine Wprost (2001–2003) and the Polish edition of Newsweek (2003–2007), and occasionally published essays in Polityka. Currently his columns are being published in Rzeczpospolita, Uważam Rze, Gazeta Polska, Niezależna Gazeta Polska and Interia.pl webportal. Many of his essays have been collected and published in book format. In 2001 he won the Kisiel Prize.

He has also worked as a radio journalist, working for and Polskie Radio Program IV in the 1990s, in the early 2000s, later with and Program 1 Polskiego Radia. He hosts a television talkshow on TVP Info and a program on TVP Historia.

He was a spokesman for the Real Politics Union (Unia Polityki Realnej) party (1993–1994). In 1995, as a stipendiary of the National Forum Foundation he worked for the Republican Party in United States.

In September 2006, Ziemkiewicz published an article in the Polish edition of Newsweek criticizing the editor-in-chief of Gazeta Wyborcza, Adam Michnik; Michnik brought a civil suit against Ziemkiewicz, which was settled in 2007 after Ziemkiewicz agreed to publish an apology.[1]

In 2012, Adam Michnik felt offended by the overly critical column by Ziemkiewicz in which he referred to the court disputes between Michnik and Jarosław Rymkiewicz -- it is, of course, about terrorizing opponents with "obliging, warm judges". In the lawsuit, he demanded that an apology be published and a payment of PLN 50,000. PLN for the indicated social purpose. The court of first instance dismissed the claim because:[2]

  • the plaintiff as an intelligent and educated person had to understand that it is impossible to interpret the phrase about terrorizing judges literally - as intimidating someone with violence or cruelty;
  • the phrase about "service judges" cannot be seen as a (false) accusation of corruption of the justice system by Michnik;
  • Although this epithet offends the dignity - but the dignity of judges, the claimant lacks legal standing to apply for the protection of the personal rights of the judiciary.[3]

In 2018, he cancelled a planned speaking tour in the UK following appeals by activists and politicians to the Home Office to block his entry due to hate speech concerns.[4] In the wake of the event, Ziemkiewicz tweeted that he would no longer be coming to the UK, describing Britain as “fascist”.[5]

The same year, the Kantor Center at Tel Aviv University published an annual report on anti-Semitism, which included, among others, Ziemkiewicz’s statements. According to Ziemkiewicz, he was being regularly included on various “Jewish lists”, and from his perspective it was a “professional success - something like winning the "crown of Sinai”.[6] At the same time, he stated that the content of the report that concerned him was untrue. Ziemkiwiecz also attacked Rafał Pankowski, Polish sociologist and political scientist, by calling him a “snitch”, as he was the one who stood for the Polish part of the report.[6]

In 2019, Ziemkiewicz publicly attacked Pankowski on Polish Public Television, TVP, saying that: “Mr. Pankowski is one of the most despicable people I have come across in my life. (...) We are talking about a man who lives off the fact that (...) he accuses Poles of fascism. He travels all over the world and tells the story of Polish anti-Semitism in Kociewie".[7] The attack was condemned by the Polish Ombudsman Adam Bodnar, who stated that Pankowski's work deserves the highest recognition.[7]

In 2020, he published Cham niezbuntowany, an antisemitic book meant to instigate hatred of Jews.[8][9] The anti-racist watchdog  [pl] said that the book contained examples of criminal hate speech, such as when it describes Israeli children as being molded into "killing machines" and calls the Holocaust a "myth".[10][11][12]

Bibliography[]

Fiction[]

  • Władca szczurów Warsaw, 1987 (short stories anthology)
  • Skarby stolinów Warsaw, 1990 (second edition in 1993) (short stories anthology)
  • Zero złudzeń Białowieża, 1991 (short stories anthology)
  • Wybrańcy Bogów Warsaw, 1991 (second edition in 2000)
  • Pieprzony los Kataryniarza Warsaw, 1995
  • Czerwone dywany, odmierzony krok Warsaw, 1996
  • Walc Stulecia Warsaw, 1998 (second edition in 2010)
  • Cała kupa wielkich braci Lublin, 2002 (short stories anthology)
  • Ciało obce Warsaw, 2005
  • Ognie na skałach Lublin, 2005
  • Coś mocniejszego Lublin, 2006 (short stories anthology)
  • Żywina (2008)
  • Zgred (2011)
  • Władca Szczurów" (juvenilia), 2012

Non-fiction[]

  • Zero zdziwień Warsaw, 1995 (essays)
  • Viagra mać Warsaw, 2002 (essays)
  • Frajerzy Lublin, 2003 (essays)
  • Polactwo Lublin, 2004 (essays)
  • Michnikowszczyzna. Zapis choroby Lublin, 2006
  • Czas wrzeszczących staruszków Lublin, 2008
  • W skrócie, 2009
  • W sieci, 2009
  • Wkurzam salon, 2011
  • Myśli nowoczesnego endeka, 2012
  • Jakie piękne samobójstwo, 2014
  • Złowrogi Cień Marszałka 2017
  • Sanacja czy demokracja?, 2018 (essays)
  • Cham niezbuntowany, 2020

Awards[]

Preceded by
Andrzej Sapkowski 		ESFS award for Best Author
1997 		Succeeded by
James White

References[]

  1. ^ Ziemkiewicz przeprosił Michnika, Wprost, 5 march 2007
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ [2], Lege Artis, 28 September 2015
  4. ^ Polish far-right speaker cancels UK visit amid hate speech concerns, The Guardian, 16 February 2018
  5. ^ "Polish far-right speaker cancels UK visit amid hate speech concerns". the Guardian. 16 February 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "Tel Awiw: Rafał Ziemkiewicz w raporcie o antysemityzmie. "Nie powinien się dziwić"" (PDF). 17.04.2018. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b "RPO: TVP Info zdyskredytowano działalność założyciela Stowarzyszenia „Nigdy więcej"". www.rp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  8. ^ Sawicka, Paula; Gumkowski, Marek (29 May 2020). "Stowarzyszenie składa zawiadomienie do prokuratury na Rafała Ziemkiewicza w związku z podejrzeniem popełnienia przestępstwa" [Association submits affidavit against Rafał Ziemkiewicz to prosecutor's office regarding suspected offense]. Wyborcza (in Polish). Retrieved 30 June 2020. Kilka dni temu Rafał Ziemkiewicz zapowiedział premierę swojej najnowszej książki „Cham niezbuntowany”. Publikowane w internecie fragmenty nie pozostawiają wątpliwości, że w książce głoszone są poglądy o charakterze antysemickim, mające wywołać nienawiść do Żydów, a także podać w wątpliwość historyczne fakty dotyczące Zagłady Żydów podczas II wojny światowej.
  9. ^ [3] Polish science fiction writer calls Israelis ‘killing machines’, June 9, 2020, The Jerusalem Post
  10. ^ ""Wybory, to rodzaj wojny". Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz o języku debaty publicznej". PolskieRadio24.pl. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  11. ^ Markusz, Katarzyna (4 June 2020). "Right-wing Polish journalist calls Jews 'ruthless' and the Holocaust 'a myth' in new book". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  12. ^ Ziemkiewicz, Rafał A. (2020). Cham niezbuntowany (in Polish). Fabryka Słów Sp.zo.o. pp. 190, 188. ISBN 9788379645770. (190) Syjonizm [...] pod wpływem Holokaustu, a raczej mitu Holokaustu, który sam zbudował (188) Trzeba formowanym na maszyny do zabijania [...] dzieciakom wtłoczyć do głów, że są przedstawicielami rasy szczególnej, rasy, którą wszyscy zawsze prześladowali

External links[]

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