Cultural diplomacy
at its best
Giedroyc in St Petersburg
DOROTA SIEROŃ-GALUSEK
Ежи Гедройц: К Польше своей мечты (Jerzy Giedroyc.
To a Poland of dreams). By: Magdalena Grochowska.
Publisher: Ivan Limbach Publishing House, St Petersburg, 2017.June 1st 2017 marked the
70th anniversary since the
first issue of Kultura – a Pol-
ish-émigré magazine – was
published by Instytut Lite-
racki (the Literary Institute)
in Paris. Without a doubt,
Kultura was one of the most
important Polish magazines
of the post-war period. Fo-
cusing on politics, it deep-
ly analysed the situation in Eastern Eu-
rope, paying great attention to literature
and the role it played in the formation of
citizenry. The first issue of the magazine
was actually published in Rome. Howev-
er in 1948 the editorial team relocated
to Pairs where it stayed until Jerzy Gie-
droyc’s death in 2000. That date is tan-
tamount to the closing down
of Kultura as it was declared
by Giedroyc in his will.
The Literary Institute,
however, is still an active
institution today. It contin-
ues to be widely recognised
by its address: the famous
Maisons-Laffitte, which also
once housed the editorial of-
fices of Kultura. Maisons-
Laffitte was indeed an extraordinary
place in the post-war period. It sheltered
Czesław Miłosz in 1951 when he decid-
ed to quit working for the Polish com-
munist authorities. It was also where
Miłosz wrote the Captive Mind in which
he analysed the mechanisms of politi-
cal instrumentalisation that can both be