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Witold Gombrowicz was born in a small village near the eastern border of Poland (actually Ukraine) in a relatively rich, noble family. He studied law and French literature at Warsaw University in Poland, from 1926 to 1932. During his studies he was something of a bon-vivant, strongly involved in the cultural and social life of the Warsaw establishment. After finishing his education, he was employed by the Polish Ministry of International Affairs as a translator. There he met his best friend Wladyslaw Gierdoyc. In 1933 he published several short stories as Memoirs of a Time of Immaturity; however, they were found strange and unpopular in the Warsaw cultural establishment. His first success was the novel Ferdydurke, which became famous because of strong criticism by the nationalistic part of Warsaw establishment.
Several days before World War II he bought a ticket for a trial trip of the very first Polish transatlanitic ship called Stefan Batory. During this trip Germany suddenly invided Poland. Stafan Batory's trip was finished in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where all civilian passengers of the trip were forced to disembark; many of them, including Gombrowicz, were to remain in Argentina due to lack of money. Gombrowicz was initially invited by the Argentinian part of his friend Giedroyc's family to wait in their estate for the end of the war, but after the German invasion of France, it became obvious that the war might take some time. As a result, Gombrowicz settled down in Buenos Aires, where he remained for the next 25 years. He worked as a teacher of French language in a private secondary school; and at the same time, he met his future wife Rita, who was a member of the Buenos Aires artistic bohema.
After World War II, Gombrowicz, as a son of a rich land-owner, could not come back to communist Poland. His novels and dramas were blacklisted in Poland until the late 70s; however, they were published in Polish by his friend Witold Giedroyc, who in 1950 established a Polish publishing house called Kultura in Paris, France. Because many books published by Kultura were then smuggled to Poland, Gombrowicz's works were well known in Poland. Giedroyc also translated Ferdydurke and Trans-Atlantyk to French. In the late 50s, the semi-autobiographical Trans-Atlantyk was put on stage in Paris and the drama was met with interest by many French theatre critics, bringing Gombrowicz relative fame there. In 1965 Gombrowicz left Argentina and settled down with his wife in Paris.
His works are notable for their deep psychologism, a strong flavor of paradox and the absurd, and anti-nationalism.
His most famous novels and dramas: