a region of Poland. His father, Aleksander (a civil
engineer) and mother, Weronika, were also of
Lithuanian descent. Although the traditions of
Lithuania influenced Milosz as a child, he was
also shaped by Polish culture and language.
Milosz attended the King Sigismundus
Augustus Secondary School, located in Vilnius,
from 1921 to 1929. His religious education was
varied and expansive. He studied Catholicism,
Orthodox Christianity, and Protestantism, yet
also explored Lithuanian literature that relied
heavily on mysticism and folklore. However, the
most influential was Gnosticism, derived from
Christian theology, which centers on philosophies
of spirit and matter. Although he was exposed to
and influenced by nationalist and other political
views, this exploration of religious studies more
significantly shaped his ideological development.
Although Milosz enrolled at the University
of Vilnius in 1930 as a law student, he continued
to pursue the study of literature. His first collec-
tion of poems,Poemat o czasie zastygłym(later
translated asPoem About Congealed Time), pub-
lished in 1933, was essentially an emulation of
Russian revolutionary poets. In 1934, Milosz
received a master’s degree in law, and in 1936,
his second volume of poems,Trzy zimy(later
translated asThree Winters) was published. This
collection shows Milosz exploring verse that
delves into metaphysics and mysticism and hark-
ens back to his Lithuanian roots.
Milosz was granted a position at Warsaw
Broadcasting Station, which sympathized with
the Polish resistance movement, and worked
there until the beginning of World War II. In
1939, when poets were discouraged from pub-
lishing because of governmental restrictions, he
publishedWiersze(later translated asPoems)
under the pseudonym Jan Syruc. This work has
the distinction of being the first underground
publication in Poland.
Milosz remained in Warsaw during World
War II where he witnessed the German occupa-
tion of Poland, the obliteration of the Jewish
ghetto (1944), and the futile attempts of the Polish
underground army. These experiences factored
prominently in his writing during and after
World War II. Milosz and his wife later escaped
to Krakow where he published his third volume
of poetry,Ocalenie(later translated asRescue), in- With this publication, he was deemed one
of the most important post-war poets.
Milosz’s post-war writings were complex.
His work was characterized by his traumatic
experiences in Warsaw and his recognition of
the dark side of the human condition and of
human nature. This awareness manifested in
his stark view of the world and of literature.
However, his ever present religious, yet non-
denominational, piety and his belief in literature
as a cultural force leavened moments of darkness
with empathy and hope. This ideology is evident
in his 1953 publication of essays,Zniewolony
umysł(later translated asThe Captive Mind),
which gained him attention in the West.
Milosz’s political views were challenged as he
simultaneously opposed Soviet communism and
recognized it as the unavoidable political system
of a period of European history. However, he
began to distance himself from socialist realism,
which asked writers to conform fully to the Com-
munist Party’s strict regulations on the content
and publication of literature. In 1950, he accepted
a position as cultural attache ́ from Poland and
worked briefly in Paris and Washington, D.C.
However, facing pressure from the Communist
Party to conform to literary restrictions and
Czeslaw Milosz(ÓChristopher Felver / Corbis)
In Music