Misplaced Pages

#561438

37-757: The Gaberbocchus Press was a London publishing house founded in 1948 by the artist couple Stefan and Franciszka Themerson . Alongside the Themersons, the other directors of the Press were the translator Barbara Wright and the artist Gwen Barnard who also illustrated a number of the company's publications. The name is the Latinized form of Jabberwocky and the earliest books were printed at their home on King's Road , Chelsea, London and in 1956 they moved to 42a Formosa Street in Maida Vale , London. In 1959

74-784: A Good Citizen ) (1937). These were shown with other experimental films of the time. All except Przygoda Człowieka Poczciwego , which remained in Warsaw, were lost in Paris in the Second World War, but the script for Europa , based on a poem by Anatol Stern was later published by the Themersons' Gaberbocchus Press , illustrated by surviving stills from the film and Apteka and Drobiazg melodyjny were remade by Bruce Checefsky from descriptions of them when they first appeared, stills and storyboards. In 1983 Stefan, now living in London, made

111-624: A Polish infantry regiment in France, just in time for the German invasion and the Allies' collapse. His memory was of marching day and night in the summer heat to St-Nazaire . There, in June, the regiment was disbanded, the officers abandoning their men and the men dispersing where they could. Themerson travelled inside France, first returning (on foot) to occupied Paris, then on to Toulouse , where, through

148-476: A decree on 25 September 1933, in which the new Faculty of Engineering was created. The number of the Warsaw University of Technology students in the 20 years between the wars grew from 2,540 in the 1918/1919 academic year to 4,673 just before the outbreak of World War II. In the same period, the school granted more than 6,200 diplomas, including 320 for women. The Warsaw University of Technology became

185-682: A reconstruction of the film with the London Film-Makers' Co-op . An incomplete copy of the original film was found in an archive in Berlin in 2019. Following restitution to the Themerson Estate, it was donated to the British Film Institute for conservation and preservation. In 1935, with other young filmmakers, the Themersons founded a cooperative, S.A.F , Spółdzielnia Autorów Filmowych . In 1936 and 1937

222-488: A year, he transferred to the Warsaw Polytechnic to take up architecture , but spent most of his time working on photography , collage and film-making . His first published piece of writing was also in 1928. He never formally left his studies but gradually withdrew to follow his other interests. Themerson met the art student Franciszka Weinles , in 1929. She graduated with distinction in 1931 and they married

259-485: The PEN club meeting to celebrate the three hundredth anniversary of John Milton 's Areopagitica , Themerson met Kurt Schwitters , who became a close friend until Schwitters' death in 1948. At about the same time he met others who remained close, including Jankel Adler , Julian Trevelyan and Anthony Froshaug . Also in 1944 the Themersons moved to Maida Vale , where they lived for the rest of their lives. A close neighbour

296-688: The 18th century. They were related to either military technology or mining , which demanded complicated technological processes as a result of the exploitation of deeper seams. The model school of technology, a university of technology, was designed by the French, who in 1794 founded the Ecole polytechnique , in Paris . In the beginning of the 19th century, universities of technology were opened in Prague (in 1806), Vienna (1815), and Karlsruhe (1824). In Poland,

333-492: The 2008 Rzeczpospolita newspaper survey, engineers govern Polish companies. Warsaw Tech alums make up the highest percentage of Polish managers and executives. Every ninth president among the top 500 corporations in Poland is a graduate of the Warsaw University of Technology. Professor Kurnik, the rector, explained that the school provides a solid basis for the performance of managers by equipping its students with an education at

370-600: The French avant-garde, one on recent English film. A third issue, on the Polish Avant-garde , was planned but remained unpublished when, in the winter of 1937–38 they moved to Paris: "I just knew I had to be in Paris." Themerson said. Here they found a circle of artists and writers, many Polish, among whom to live and move. Themerson wrote for various Polish publications in Paris; Franciszka started to paint, and illustrated children's books for Flammarion. They planned to stay there, but – as for most of their generation –

407-810: The Polish Red Cross , he re-established contact with Franciszka. She had been working for the Polish Government in Exile as a cartographer in Paris and Normandy and had subsequently escaped to London on a troopship from Bayonne . Meanwhile, he spent time in refugee camps, worked as a farm labourer, and spent nearly two years in a Polish Red Cross hostel, the Hôtel de la Poste in Voiron . Here he began writing Professor Mmaa's Lecture in Polish and wrote

SECTION 10

#1732802000562

444-421: The Themersons visited Paris , then the centre of the world for avant-garde art, and London, meeting Moholy-Nagy and other experimental artists and arranged first screenings of French and English avant-garde films on their return to Warsaw. They also founded a review Film Artistique , Stefan as editor, Franciszka as artistic editor (the journal of the film-makers' co-operative). Two issues were published, one on

481-437: The Warsaw University of Technology continued to operate underground. Teaching continued in clandestine and open courses, in vocational schools, and from 1942, in a two-year State Higher Technical School. Approximately 3,000 students took part in the clandestine courses and 198 earned engineer diplomas. Scientific research was conducted, as 20 PhD and 14 assistant-professorship qualifying theses were written. Considerable work served

518-629: The army in Scotland, where he finished Professor Mmaa , and then was sent to join the film unit of the Polish Ministry of Information and Documentation in London. There he and Franciszka, commissioned by the Polish Ministry of Information and Documentation, made two further short films, Calling Mr. Smith , an account of Nazi atrocities in Poland and The Eye and the Ear , inspired by four Julian Tuwim songs set to music by Szymanowski . In 1944 at

555-945: The basement of their office was turned into the Gaberbocchus Common Room, a meeting place for those interested in art and science. They showed films, plays and held poetry readings. Over its 31 years the Gaberbocchus Press published over sixty titles, including their own works and those by Oswell Blakeston , the Irish poet George Henry Perrott Buchanan , Christian Dietrich Grabbe , Hugo Manning , Heinrich Heine , Raymond Queneau , C. H. Sisson , Stevie Smith , Anatol Stern , Kenneth Tynan , Alfred Jarry , Kurt Schwitters (Themerson wrote Kurt Schwitters in England in 1958), and Bertrand Russell . Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi became one of its most celebrated titles and

592-464: The development of the school. Daily lectures only started in November 1920. The school taught the young future engineers at the faculties of Mechanics, Electrical Engineering, Chemistry, Architecture, Civil Engineering, Aquatic Engineering, and Geodesy (or, since 1925, Measuring). The last three faculties were merged on the basis of the new Academic Schools Law of 13 March 1933. The Polish Cabinet issued

629-697: The director. The school was closed in 1831, after the November Insurrection . In 1898, the Technological Section of the Warsaw Society for Russian Commerce and Industry, whose director was engineer Kazimierz Obrębowicz, collected funds for the opening of Emperor Nicolas II University of Technology. Classes, with Russian as the language of instruction, started on 5 September in the building at 81 Marszałkowska Street. They were soon moved to new buildings, built especially for

666-673: The end of the year, all the pre-war faculties were re-opened. Old and war-damaged buildings were rebuilt quickly; new ones were erected. In 1951 the Warsaw University of Technology incorporated the Wawelberg and Rotwand's School of Engineering. The Academic and Research Centre in Płock was created in 1967. In 1945 there were 2,148 students in six faculties (divisions). By 1999 there were 22,000 students enrolled in 16 faculties. The Warsaw University of Technology granted over 104,000 Bachelor of Science and Master of Science engineer degrees between

703-568: The family lived in Riga , St. Petersburg and Velikiye Luki . In 1918 they returned to Płock, in an independent Poland, where Stefan attended the Władysław Jagiełło Gymnasium. During this time he first showed an interest in photography and also built a radio receiver. Stefan's older brother, Roman, also qualified as a doctor, but died of spinal tuberculosis in 1929. In 1928 Themerson went to Warsaw University to study physics . After

740-486: The first English translation of Alfred Jarry 's Ubu Roi , Raymond Queneau 's Exercises in Style and The Good Citizen's Alphabet by Bertrand Russell . The latter wrote an encouraging preface to Professor Mmaa’s Lecture . Influenced by Queneau and his Oulipo circle, whom they visited in 1950, Stefan was the inventor of Semantic Poetry (see his 1945 novel Bayamus , and his 1975 tract On Semantic Poetry ). His work

777-530: The first multidisciplinary university of technology was the Preparatory School for the Institute of Technology, which opened on 4 January 1826. The Warsaw University of Technology still cultivates its traditions. The man who played the most important part in creating the school and writing its charter was Stanisław Staszic . Kajetan Garbiński , a mathematician and Warsaw University professor became

SECTION 20

#1732802000562

814-475: The highest level and a preparation with the tools and information, including knowledge of foreign languages. The origins of Warsaw University of Technology date back to 1826 when engineering education was begun in the Warsaw Institute of Technology. In 2018, Times Higher Education ranked the university within the global 601–800 band. The origins of Polish universities of technology go back to

851-470: The institute. They were designed by Bronisław Rogóyski and Stefan Szyller. On the day of its opening, the university had three faculties: Mathematics, Chemistry, as well as Engineering and Construction. In June 1902, the Faculty of Mining was opened. Poles constituted the majority of students until 1905 when their number reached 1,100. After German troops entered Warsaw on 5 August 1915, they wanted to gain

888-535: The long poem in French Croquis dans les Ténèbres ( Sketches in Darkness ). Much of their sporadic correspondence from the years 1940–1942 concerned attempts to engineer Stefan's escape from France. Towards the end of 1942 Themerson got across France via Marseille and Spain to Lisbon whence he was flown to Britain by the R.A.F. , rejoining his wife and re-enlisting in the Polish army. He spent time with

925-569: The most important scientific centre of engineering in Poland and gained international prestige. At that time, 66 graduates earned Doctor of Philosophy degrees, and 50 qualified as assistant professors. The university was a centre of scientific research for people whose achievements were fundamental for world science and technology, including Karol Adamiecki , Stefan Bryła , Jan Czochralski , Tytus Maksymilian Huber , Janusz Groszkowski , Mieczysław Wolfke and many others. During World War II , despite enormous material losses and repressive measures,

962-693: The outbreak of World War II changed their lives. With the declaration of war in 1939, the Themersons both enlisted, Stefan joined the Polish Army in the West forming in France after the German and Soviet invasions and partition of Poland. Franciszka was seconded to the Polish government-in-exile as a cartographer, first in France then from 1940 in London after the Fall of France . In 1940 Themerson volunteered for

999-549: The reconstruction of Poland after the war and constitute the foundation for the development of science. Students and professors secretly worked on projects. Professors Janusz Groszkowski, Marceli Struszyński , and Józef Zawadzki conducted a detailed analysis of the radio and steering devices of the German V-2 rockets , at the request of Polish Home Army Intelligence. After German troops were dislodged from Warsaw, classes started in improvised conditions on 22 January 1945. By

1036-625: The same year in Warsaw. During these years the Themersons lived and worked in Warsaw. Stefan contributed articles to various periodicals and prose and verse to school textbooks and wrote at least ten books for children which Franciszka illustrated. Pan Tom Buduje Dom , Mr Rouse Builds His House is still in print in Poland. Stefan also experimented with photograms and the two of them made five short experimental films Apteka ( The Pharmacy ) (1930), Europa (1931–1932), Drobiazg Melodyjny ( Musical Moment ) (1933), Zwarcie ( Short Circuit ) (1935) and Przygoda Człowieka Poczciwego ( The Adventures of

1073-564: The sympathy of Poles and allowed University of Warsaw and the Warsaw University of Technology to open with Polish as the language of instruction. The grand opening of both universities was held on 15 November 1915. Zygmunt Straszewicz was the first rector of the Warsaw University of Technology. World War I , together with the events connected with the restitution of the Polish State and the Polish-Bolshevik war, did not help

1110-667: The years 1945 and 1998. Over the years, the university was an important scientific centre, educating academic staff for its own purposes and for other Polish schools of technology. Between 1945 and 1998, 5,500 PhD theses were written. There were almost 1,100 theses qualifying for assistant professorships. The number of academic staff grew significantly. In 1938, the university had 98 tenured professors and associate professors, as well as 307 assistant professors and teaching assistants; in 1948 there were 87 and 471; while in 1999 there were 371 professors, 1,028 tutors, 512 lecturers, and 341 teaching assistants. Płock Campus: The transport faculty

1147-686: Was born on 25 January 1910 in Płock , in what was then part of Congress Poland within the Russian Empire , and died in London on 6 September 1988. His father, Mieczysław Themerson, was a physician, social reformer and aspiring writer (some of his work was published). His mother was Ludwika Smulewicz. During the First World War Dr. Themerson served as a medical officer in the Tsar 's army and

Gaberbocchus Press - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-627: Was published in 0 to 9 magazine , a US publication which explored language and meaning-making. He wrote an opera, ' St. Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio ' (1972). In 1981, Themerson delivered the annual Huizinga Lecture in Leiden in the Netherlands, under the title "The Chair of Decency". He died in London a few weeks after the death of his wife, in September 1988. In 1979, the Gaberbocchus Press

1221-465: Was published in many editions. The National Art Library owns 20 of their titles. Yearly greeting cards were sent to various contacts in the publishing business and a large set of these have been preserved at the National Library of Poland as Gaberbocchus: some of the old favourites . The content of the Themersons' own books were often experiments with language and visual effects. The form

1258-867: Was read by someone with connections at Faber and Faber , which in turn published the book in English, now called The Mystery of the Sardine (1986), and his last novel Hobson's Island (1988). These two novels and the earlier Tom Harris were later republished by Dalkey Archive Press . The Themersons' eight volume archive has been assembled and catalogued by Franciszka's niece, the British arts curator, Jasia Reichardt . A Themerson Festival takes place annually in Themerson's native city, Płock in Poland. Warsaw Polytechnic The Warsaw University of Technology has about 5,000 graduates per year. According to

1295-788: Was tailored for each publication to support and complement the content, using self-produced paper and other techniques. The couple sold their publishing company in 1979 to the Dutch publishing house Uitgeverij De Harmonie , which was also making experimental visual publications throughout the 1970s. Stefan Themerson Stefan Themerson (25 January 1910 – 6 September 1988) was a Polish writer of children's literature , poet and inventor of Semantic Poetry , novelist, script writer filmmaker, composer and philosopher . He wrote in at least three languages. With his wife, Franciszka Themerson , they are regarded as leading husband-and-wife exponents of European Surrealism and publishers. Stefan Themerson

1332-465: Was taken over by Dutch publisher De Harmonie , at Themerson's invitation. They maintain the press's archive as well. It was through this Dutch connection that some of his novels gained recognition in the English-reading world; in 1985, Dutch publisher De Bezige Bij published a translation of an English manuscript, which they titled Euclid Was an Ass (Dutch: Euclides was een ezel"). This book

1369-589: Was the experimental poet and publisher Bob Cobbing with whom the Themersons kept close relations. Stefan and Franciszka Themerson published many of their works through their own Gaberbocchus Press (the Latinised version of Jabberwocky ) from 1948 to 1979. Most were designed and illustrated by Franciszka. They also worked with the translators Barbara Wright and Stanley Chapman , and the artist Gwen Barnard . Their list of some 70 titles included works by Guillaume Apollinaire , Jankel Adler and Kurt Schwitters ,

#561438