Kubiak was an writer, essayist, translator and lecturer at the University of Warsaw, an outstanding expert and propagator of ancient culture. He was an author of, among others, such books as "Mitologia Greków I Rzymian” (Mythology of the Greeks and Romans), "Literatura Greków I Rzymian” (Literature of the Greeks and Romans) and "Historia Greków I Rzymian” (History of the Greeks and Romans).
Zygmunt Kubiak, photo: Mariusz Kubik
He perceived mythology differently than his predecessors, especially differently from famous Jan Parandowski. For Kubiak, it was not only a set of beliefs characteristic of past, often idealized ancient cultures, but rather a legendary reflection of real events that took place in the Mycenaean era. In his reflection on the mythology of the Greeks and Romans, it was also important to show the cultural continuity between the stories of different eras - also between ancient myths and the nowadays. At the same time, he always tried to show myths in their deepest dimension, that is, as "stories that have never happened, but are always happening", and therefore as a record of universal human experience.
Zygmunt Kubiak was born on 30th of April, 1929 in Warsaw, a city with which he was associated throughout his life. As a graduate of the 6th Municipal Junior High School and Secondary School named “Powstańców Warszawy” he has started studies at the University of Warsaw. He studied classical philology, but - as he himself mentioned many times - he was a classical philologist even before he started these studies, because he learned Greek on his own at the age of thirteen. In 1952 he was expelled from the university for political reasons. Much later, in 1994, he obtained a doctoral degree at the Faculty of Polish Studies of the University of Warsaw based on a thesis entitled "Studies on the works of Klemens Janicki and Jan Kochanowski".
He made his debut as an author very early - at the age of seventeen he published an article in the magazine "Młoda Rzeczpospolita" entitled "Don't forget about spiritual culture." In the following years, he was involved as an author, among others, with "Tygodnik Powszechny". “He was one of the people who gave shape to Tygodnik Powszechny. Its humanistic and classical formation made Tygodnik a humanistic periodical. He was passionate, he did everything with great commitment," recalled Fr. Adam Boniecki.
He was primarily engaged in essay writing and translating classical literature - both from Greek and Latin, as well as from English. His most outstanding translation works are certainly the translations of the "Confessions" of Saint. Augustine, "The Aeneid" by Virgil, "The Ancient History of Israel" by Josephus, all the poems of Constantinos Cavafy, as well as selected poems by William Blake. Also important were the anthologies he published: "Greek Muse" (1960), "Roman Muse" (1963) and "Antologia Palatine" (1978), which contained his own translations of ancient literature.
As an essayist, he was the author of, among others, such books as "The Twilight of the Human World" (1963), "Mythology of the Greeks and Romans" (1997), "The Breviary of the European" (1998), "Literature of the Greeks and Romans" (1999), "The Smile of Kore (2000) and "The History of the Greeks and the Romans” (2003). For "The Mythology of the Greeks and Romans" he was a finalist of the Nike Literary Award in 1998, and for "The Twilight of the Human World" - a winner of the Kościelski Award (1963). He was also a winner of the Literary Award. Władysław Reymont for lifetime achievement (2000), the A. Jurzykowski Foundation award (1980) and the Polish PEN Club award (1990). In 1997, he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
He died on 19th of March, 2004 in Warsaw. He was buried in Laski near Warsaw.
source: Instytut Książki
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