Mieczysław Smolarski

Who was Mieczysław Smolarski?

Mieczysław Smolarski was a Polish writer and poet, whose works included examples of the utopian novel in Polish science fiction. He was a close friend of Stefan Żeromski. His novels and short stories were inspired by the fantastic works of Antoni Lange and Stefan Grabiński. His poems were influenced by the experiences of both World Wars.

He was born on April 6, 1888 in Kraków. In 1906-1910, he studied law at Jagiellonian University, but then studied the history of literature, art history and philosophy, earning a doctorate in 1911. In 1912 he moved for a year to Paris. After returning to Poland in 1914 he became an employee at Czartoryski Museum in Kraków. In 1916-1918, he was a middle school teacher in Zakopane.

His books Miasto światłości and Podróż poślubna pana Hamiltona were allegedly plagiarized by Aldous Huxley in Brave New World, published in 1932.