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| Polish journalist’s legacy under threat ‘because he was a commie’ | |
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| He was the foreign correspondent from behind the iron curtain who won plaudits from across the cold war divide for his innovative reportage of power struggles in Africa, Latin America and elsewhere. Nine years after his death, however, Ryszard Kapuściński’s legacy is once again the subject of fraught debate in his homeland after his widow claimed that the Polish state news agency where he became famous has been planning to cancel an eponymous reporting award in his memory. | He was the foreign correspondent from behind the iron curtain who won plaudits from across the cold war divide for his innovative reportage of power struggles in Africa, Latin America and elsewhere. Nine years after his death, however, Ryszard Kapuściński’s legacy is once again the subject of fraught debate in his homeland after his widow claimed that the Polish state news agency where he became famous has been planning to cancel an eponymous reporting award in his memory. |
| An angry Alice Kapuścińska said on a Polish news channel that she had been told by two unnamed independent sources that management at the Polish Press Agency (PAP) – which she described as her husband’s “second home” – were going to kill off the award “because he was a commie”. | An angry Alice Kapuścińska said on a Polish news channel that she had been told by two unnamed independent sources that management at the Polish Press Agency (PAP) – which she described as her husband’s “second home” – were going to kill off the award “because he was a commie”. |
| Kapuścińska’s claims were rejected by the newly appointed president of PAP’s management board, Artur Dmochowski, who told the Guardian by email that the award had not been abolished and that the board had not considered the issue. | Kapuścińska’s claims were rejected by the newly appointed president of PAP’s management board, Artur Dmochowski, who told the Guardian by email that the award had not been abolished and that the board had not considered the issue. |
| But the row has reignited tensions in Polish political and cultural spheres between supporters of the country’s rightwing Law and Justice party and their opponents, who are viewed by some as political descendants of the country’s former Communist rulers. | But the row has reignited tensions in Polish political and cultural spheres between supporters of the country’s rightwing Law and Justice party and their opponents, who are viewed by some as political descendants of the country’s former Communist rulers. |
| The media has been a recent political battleground: there was considerable opposition on the streets to the enactment earlier this year of a media law that allows the Polish government control over state broadcasters. | The media has been a recent political battleground: there was considerable opposition on the streets to the enactment earlier this year of a media law that allows the Polish government control over state broadcasters. |
| It is not the first row, either, to surround Kapuściński’s own legacy: a 2010 biography provoked controversy for suggesting that he frequently embellished the truth in dispatches from the cold war’s front line. The book, Kapuściński – Non-Fiction, claimed that he often strayed from the strict rules of “Anglo-Saxon journalism” and was inaccurate with details, claiming to have witnessed events at which he was not present. | It is not the first row, either, to surround Kapuściński’s own legacy: a 2010 biography provoked controversy for suggesting that he frequently embellished the truth in dispatches from the cold war’s front line. The book, Kapuściński – Non-Fiction, claimed that he often strayed from the strict rules of “Anglo-Saxon journalism” and was inaccurate with details, claiming to have witnessed events at which he was not present. |
| Its author, Artur Domosławski, was nevertheless scathing of “nationalist radicals and idiots” who viewed Kapuściński with hostility, saying on Friday: “I wouldn’t be surprised if they remove even [Polish 19th century poet] Adam Mickiewicz’s name from monuments, or if they cancel the law of gravity.” | Its author, Artur Domosławski, was nevertheless scathing of “nationalist radicals and idiots” who viewed Kapuściński with hostility, saying on Friday: “I wouldn’t be surprised if they remove even [Polish 19th century poet] Adam Mickiewicz’s name from monuments, or if they cancel the law of gravity.” |
| He added: “When it comes to ‘Kapuściński the communist’ for many people in Poland it sounds today [like an] accusation – but not for me. | He added: “When it comes to ‘Kapuściński the communist’ for many people in Poland it sounds today [like an] accusation – but not for me. |
| “Kapuściński was a communist and a member of the party for about three decades, but again there was nothing scandalous about this for me. Over time he was more and more disappointed – as many people of his generation were –because of the failures of the system and in the end he dropped his party’s card in 1981. He still continued to be – as I’d call him – a man of the left, say, somebody who considered social justice and equality as values he believed in, who spoke for the powerless and the weak.” | “Kapuściński was a communist and a member of the party for about three decades, but again there was nothing scandalous about this for me. Over time he was more and more disappointed – as many people of his generation were –because of the failures of the system and in the end he dropped his party’s card in 1981. He still continued to be – as I’d call him – a man of the left, say, somebody who considered social justice and equality as values he believed in, who spoke for the powerless and the weak.” |
| Kapuściński, who won critical acclaim for books such as The Shadow of the Sun and Another Day of Life, died in January 2007. Hailed by admirers as the greatest journalist of the 20th century, he was born in Pinsk, in what is now Belarus, and embarked on a career in journalism after university in Warsaw. | Kapuściński, who won critical acclaim for books such as The Shadow of the Sun and Another Day of Life, died in January 2007. Hailed by admirers as the greatest journalist of the 20th century, he was born in Pinsk, in what is now Belarus, and embarked on a career in journalism after university in Warsaw. |
| In 1964 he became the only foreign correspondent of the PAP, and for the next 10 years was “responsible” for 50 countries. He travelled across the developing world during the final stages of European colonialism, witnessing 27 revolutions and coups. | In 1964 he became the only foreign correspondent of the PAP, and for the next 10 years was “responsible” for 50 countries. He travelled across the developing world during the final stages of European colonialism, witnessing 27 revolutions and coups. |
| The PAP award is entirely separate from another one which is also named after the correspondent, the Ryszard Kapuściński award for literary reportage, which is organised each year by the city of Warsaw and partners. | The PAP award is entirely separate from another one which is also named after the correspondent, the Ryszard Kapuściński award for literary reportage, which is organised each year by the city of Warsaw and partners. |