Jules Verne in Poland

Speech at Mondial Jules Verne, Amiens, March 22nd, 2005

by Krzysztof Czubaszek, president of the Polish Jules Verne Society

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen

Let me start my speech with a few personal remarks.

My first contact with Jules Verne’s book was when I was twelve. It was The Mysterious Island. It made so enormous impression on me that I immediately turned to his other novels. I was delighted by their unusual climate, spirit of adventure, faith in unlimited powers of human genius. Fascination with his books was followed by the interests in their author. At the beginning it was collecting of his personal details, reproductions of the photos, press articles, literature analysis. Then I got in touch with other Verne’s fans, from Poland and many other countries. Finally, I set up the Polish Jules Verne Society which I have a pleasure and honour to chair.

When my adventure with Verne started I didn’t dare to think that one day I would enter his house, the office he was working in, that I would walk down the streets he was walking every day, that I would nod my head in front of his grave – the place where he finished his human journey. Today my dream has come true and, believe me, it’s an unforgettable moment for me. What’s more, everything takes place exactly 100 years after the Magician from Nantes, as he is called in Poland, said final good-bye to his readers. Physically, of course, his spirit has remained with us until now. And our today’s meeting is the best evidence for this fact. It shows that although one century has passed, the interest in Verne’s life and works is not declining. Just the opposite – it’s still growing all around the world and also in Poland.

Now, let me briefly present the history of Verne’s presence in Poland, which is more than 140 years by now. I would also like to mention the connections that Jules Verne had with my country, which despite not being present on the 19th century world map, had always been there in the hearts of those for whom the issue of Poland’s independence was dear and crucial.

I have my reasons to mention our struggle for independence. It was the subject of one of the first texts Verne created. I’m using the word “text” on purpose. As it was not a work, it was an essay, a kind of an exercise on a selected topic. Verne wrote it in 1848, when he was only 20, a long time before he started his career in literature. It was entitled: Has France got a moral duty to interfere in the matters of Poland? In this essay Verne presented the reasons why Poland fell down and offered his point of view concerning the engagement of France in the help for the nation which was struggling for independence. This text was forgotten for more than a century. It was rediscovered and published in 1988 in “Cahiers du Centre d’etudes verniennes et du Musee Jules Verne”, which means that it became one of the earliest texts by Verne ever published. By the way, its first translation into Polish was published in the latest issue of the bulletin “Nautilus” issued by the Polish Jules Verne Society.

The text about Poland had been waiting for its premiere for a long time, both in Poland and in France. It was quite a different matter with the books from the series The Extraordinary Voyages. Polish readers had the access to them almost simultaneously with the French readers. The first novel from that series, Five Weeks in a Balloon, was brought out in France in 1863 and in the same year it was published in the Polish daily “Gazeta Polska”. The same refers to other titles. Captain Hatteras was published by the above mentioned newspaper in parts in 1865. It was followed by A Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1865), From the Earth to the Moon (1866), The Children of Captain Grant (1868), Around the Moon (1869) and Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea (1870). After the press debut the novels were brought out as books. Many titles reached the bookshops immediately, without being published in the press. It’s the case of A Floating City (1872) or another famous novel Around the World in 80 Days (1873-74).

It’s impossible to mention all Verne’s books translated into Polish and published in any form in Poland. It’s enough to tell you that out of 68 Verne’s novels 48 have been published in Polish and a few others have been translated and are waiting for the issuing. As refers to the stories 14 out of 21 have been brought out. We should also mention one play (A Nephew from America) and a few poems.

As we’re referring to numbers, I should also add that the most often published Verne’s novel in Poland is Around the World in 80 Days. It has been brought out 52 times by now. It is followed ex aequo by Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea and The Children of Captain Grant 38 editions each. The Mysterious Island with 37 editions ranks the third.

Those meaningful data wouldn’t be available, hadn’t it been for the work of Winicjusz Łachaciński, the late Honourable President of the Polish Jules Verne Society, who as the first one in Poland started to study and popularize life and works of the Magician from Nantes. He prepared the bibliography of Polish editions of Verne’s works, printed in 1986. The second edition, extended and revised, was issued in 1999. At present the works started by Winicjusz Łachaciński is being continued by Andrzej Zydorczak, vice-president of the Polish Jules Verne Society. He is collecting and describing all new Polish editions of Verne’s works and reaching old ones which have not been classified so far. His achievements are available on the website of the Polish Jules Verne Society.

Let me come back, for a while, to Winicjusz Łachaciński, whose input in the Polish vernology can’t be overestimated. He spent his childhood here in Amiens, where he lived from 1927 to 1935 with his parents-emigrants. On his way to school he went pass Verne’s house every day. The writer totally seized his imagination. After his return to Poland Winicjusz Łachaciński still kept in touch with France. He became a member of Société Jules Verne, exchanged letters with the most eminent Verne’s experts – a lot of them are present here today.

Winicjusz Łachaciński for many years had popularized the knowledge about the life and works of the Magician from Nantes. In 1982 he established The Club of Jules Verne’s Fans under the auspices of the Municipal Library in the city of Łódź, which was the subsidiary of Société Jules Verne. It used to be very popular, however, due to financial problems – lack of money and lack of the staff – its activities had to be stopped. Winicjusz Łachaciński did not give up. In 1987 together with the newspaper for the youth “Świat Młodych” and the TV program for young viewers he set up the Club of Jules Verne’s Fans. It wasn’t lucky either. It stopped existing before it had time to develop. However, Winicjusz Łachaciński wasn’t discouraged. In 1988 he established the Club of Jules Verne’s Fans under the auspices of the Primary School in Pabianice near Łódź, where he lived. The agenda of weekly meetings was very ambitious. It was not limited to the popularization of live and works of the Magician from Nantes, it also included the French language and culture. As the time passed it became too difficult for the ageing and sick man to run the meetings of the club. And that’s how the whole activity finished. However, Winicjusz Łachaciński still kept in touch with Société Jules Verne and Polish and foreign Verne’s fans.

It’s the activity of this man, with whom I had a pleasure to meet and correspond for years, that inspired me to establish in 2000 the Polish Jules Verne Society. Winicjusz Łachaciński was appointed its Honourable President. He passed away one year later.

Now, I would like to describe briefly the Society that I have a pleasure to represent today. The Polish Jules Verne Society operates on the area of the whole Poland and has contacts with many organizations and fans of Verne from abroad. At present it has more than 50 members and this number is gradually growing. It is a big honour for us to have Monsieur Olivier Dumas, the president of Société Jules Verne, among our members. We run our own website, twice a year we publish our bulletin “Nautilus”. By the way it is older than the Society itself. It was initiated in 1997 by Wojciech Jama, the present secretary of our Society, who for a few years was writing and issuing the bulletin on his own. We also issue “Prace Verneologiczne” (“The Verneological Studies”) published irregularly (11 numbers have been brought out so far), the series Biblioteka Andrzeja (The Andrew’s Library) in which we publish the works of Jules Verne which have not been popularized in Poland so far. We cooperate with publishing houses for which we prepare Verne’s works to be printed. We organize exhibitions, participate in books fairs.

As you can see Verne has always been present in Poland. The reverse is also the truth. Poland was, in a way, present in Verne’s life. The mentioned text about our struggle for independence was not the only Polish episode in the works of the father of science fiction. We know that Verne, moved by the uprising which broke out in 1863 in the Polish Kingdom, was going to give the Polish origin to the main character of his new novel Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea. The captain Nemo was supposed to sink Russian ships in revenge for all the suffering that we fell the prey to after the uprising had been suppressed. The plans went out of the window due to the editor – Pierre Jules Hetzel, who was afraid that such a message of the novel could make the relations with Russia worse, which would be disadvantageous for his business. Finally Verne changed the origin of his main character and the only sign of his previous plans was the portrait of the Polish fighter for freedom of Poland and of the USA – Tadeusz Kościuszko, with the latin inscription „Finis Poloniae!” („The end of Poland!”).

However, the strongest Polish accent in Verne’s life was the gossip about his alleged Polish origin. According to this gossip the author of The Mysterious Island was a Jew from Polish city of Płock, whose name used to be Joel (Julian) Olszewiec. According to one version – the six year old Julian emigrated with his parents to France, where he changed his surname into Verne (a Polish word ‘olcha’ in the old French was vergne or verne). The second version suggested that Julian Olszewiec arrived to Rome in 1861, and was rebaptised in the church of the Convent of the Resurrection, as he wanted to marry the Polish princess Krzyżanowska that he had already been engaged to. For unknown reasons the marriage was cancelled and Olszewiec emigrated to France.

Verne heard this gossip. Apparently in 1875 he received a letter from a Pole, who claimed to be his brother and described his earlier past, also the emigration and the change of his surname. That letter was followed by the other one. Finally a journalist from Poland arrived at his house and personally wanted to confirm or reject the gossips. To his surprise, Verne did not deny. Moreover, he enriched them with a few funny particulars. He said that when he was leaving Poland, he kidnapped one wealthy woman – her surname was Krakowianka, who after the quarrel with him, jumped into the Lake of Geneva.

This gossip widespread all over the world. The articles popularizing it could be found until the first half of the 20th century, until the whole matter was finally explained by the professor Edmondo Marcucci. He made research in the archive of the Convent of the Resurrection in Rome, which let him state that there was a Polish Julian Olszewiec, who emigrated from Poland and took a name Julien de Verne. However he had nothing in common with the famous writer.

The gossip widespread by the press was just a curious detail and had no influence on the reception of Verne’s works in Poland. It was not the origin of the author that made generations of the Poles take delight with his books. They themselves were working on their success. Despite the passing time they preserved their charm and enjoy never-ending popularity in Poland. Their numerous re-editions, exhibitions devoted to Jules Verne, the activity of the Polish Jules Verne Society – is the best evidence of their strong position. And last but not least, in 2002 the children from a primary school in Białe Błota, a small place near the city of Bydgoszcz, chose Jules Verne for the patron of their institution.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Krzysztof Czubaszek

president of the Polish Jules Verne Society

member of Société Jules Verne (memb. card No. 942)

member of Centre International Jules Verne (memb. card No. 713)