Brandys spent his childhood in Łódź, where he attended the Secondary School of the Merchants Association. He graduated from the Economy and Law Department at the University of Warsaw (a master’s degree earned in 1935). Brandys fought in the September Campaign of 1939 under General Kleeberg. Between 1939 and 1949 he was in Oflag, a Nazi prisoner of war camp for officers only. After World War II, he worked as a journalist in Gdynia (1945 – 1948) and then in Warsaw writing features, columns and reviews. In 1950, Brandys joined the editorial board of the Nowa Kultura weekly, while between 1957 and 1958 he served as the head of the reportage section. After the war, the writer joined the Polish Workers’ Party (PPR), later the Polish United Workers’ Party which he left in 1966 and became affiliated with a democratic opposition. In 1976, he signed The Letter of 101, a protest against the draft amendments to the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Poland A ban on printing his works was subsequently imposed.
Brandys made his debut as a writer with feature stories from Poland and abroad, among them a reportage on the construction of the Nowa Huta district in Kraków in "Początek opowieści"/ "The Beginning of a Tale", a trip to Italy in "Spotkania włoskie"/ "Italian Meetings", the Soviet Union in "Wyprawa do Arteku”/ "A Trip to Artek", and to Africa in "Od Kairu do Addis Abeby"/ "From Cairo to Addis Abeba", along with popular non-fiction stories for teenagers.
With a collection of sketches "O królach i kapuście"/ "About Kings and Cabbage", Brandys turned into historical writing. He wrote biographical stories about a nephew of the last Polish king, beginning with "Nieznany książę Poniatowski"/ "The Unknown Poniatowski Prince", Józef Sułkowski ("Oficer największych nadziei"/ "The Officer of the Greatest Hope"), Maria Walewska in "Kłopoty z panią Walewską"/ "The Trouble with Mrs. Walewska" and a comprehensive series "Kozietulski i inni"/ "Kozietulski and Others" as well as "Koniec świata szwoleżerów"/ "The End of the Light Cavalry World", exploring the history of the famed light cavalry regiment – the heroes of the Battle of Somosierra and other Napoleonic battles in the times of the Kingdom of Poland, and the theme of dramatic political choices made till the November Uprising. Marian Brandys created a specific type of a 'reportage from the past', a documented narrative (with numerous quotations from letters and memoirs) conveying the social and cultural atmosphere of the epoch as well as the personality of the characters through examining the moral and intellectual choices behind their decisions.
Starting 1972 Marian Brandys was a member of the Polish PEN Club (and since 1988 the Member of its Board), and between 1980 and 1983 the Board Member of the Polish Writers’ Association. He was the recipient of many prizes, including the Jurkowski Foundation Prize (1975) and Zygmunt Hertz Literary Prize awarded by the Paris-based literary journal "Kultura"(1982).
Selected Works:
• "Spotkania włoskie"/ "Italian Meetings", Czytelnik, Warsaw 1949
• "Nowa huta", ZG ZMP, Warsaw 1950
• "Początek opowieści"/ "The Beginning of a Tale", PIW, Warsaw 1951
• "Dom odzyskanego dzieciństwa"/ "The House of Regained Childhood", Nasza Księgarnia, Warsaw 1953
• "Wyprawa do Arteku. Notatki z podróży do ZSRR"/ "A Trip to Artek. Notes from a Trip to the Soviet Union", Nasza Księgarnia, Warsaw 1953
• "Wiewiórczak"/ "Squirrel", Nasza Księgarnia, Warsaw 1955
• "Wyprawa do oflagu"/ "An Expedition to Oflag", PIW, Warsaw 1955
• "Honorowy łobuz"/ "Honourable Rascal", Nasza Księgarnia, Warsaw 1957
• "Od Kairu do Addis Abeby"/ "From Cairo to Addis Abeba", MON, Warsaw 1957
• "O królach i kapuście"/ "About Kings and Cabbage", PIW, Warsaw 1959
• "Nieznany książę Poniatowski"/ "The Unknown Poniatowski Prince", Iskry, Warsaw 1960
• "Śladami Stasia i Nel"/ "Following the Path of Staś and Nel", Nasza Księgarnia, Warsaw 1961
• "Z panem Biegankiem w Abisynii"/ "In Abyssinia with Mister Bieganek", Nasza Księgarnia 1962
• "Oficer największych nadziei"/ "The Officer of the Greatest Hope", Iskry, Warsaw 1964
• "Kozietulski i inni / "Kozietulski and Others", Iskry, Warsaw 1967
• "Kłopoty z panią Walewską"/ "The Trouble with Mrs. Walewska", Iskry, Warsaw 1969
• "Koniec świata szwoleżerów"/ "The End of the Light Cavalry World", Iskry, Warsaw:
- vol. 1 "Czcigodni weterani"/ "The Respectable Veterans", 1972
- vol. 2 "Niespokojne lata"/ "Troubled Times", 1972
- vol. 3 "Rewolucja w Warszawie"/ "Revolution in Warsaw", 1974
- vol. 4 "Zmęczeni bohaterowie"/ "Exhausted Heroes", 1976
- vol. 5 "Nieboska komedia"/ "The Undivine Comedy"– [1] "Odejścia i powroty"/ "Leaving and Coming Back"1978, [2] "Ogień i popiół"/ "Fire and Dust"1979
• "Najdziwniejsze z miast"/ "The Strangest City", RUCH, Warsaw 1972
• "Moje przygody z historią"/ "My Adventures with History", Puls, London 1981
• "Twardy człowiek"/ "A Tough Man", Oficyna WE, Warsaw 1982
• "Z dwóch stron drzwi"/ "On Both Sides of the Door", NOWA, Warsaw 1982
• "Strażnik królewskiego grobu"/ "The Keeper of the Royal Tomb", Iskry, Warsaw 1984
• "Generał Arbuz"/ "General Arbuz", Iskry, Warsaw 1989
• "Moje przygody z wojskiem"/ "My Adventures with the Army", Puls, London 1992
• "Jasienica i inni"/ "Jasienica and Others", Warsaw 1995
Author: Bartłomiej Szleszyński, Department of Polish Studies, University of Warsaw, April 2003. Translated by Katarzyna Różańska, January 2012.