Holdings Information

Bibliographic Record Display

• Author/Creator:
  Jeleński, Konstanty A. (Konstanty Aleksander), 1922-1987.
  
• Title:
  Konstanty Jeleński papers, 1940-1988.
  
• Physical Description:
  6.43 linear feet (19 boxes)
  
• Links:
  View a description and list of collection contents in the Yale Finding Aid Database.
  

• Yale Holdings

  Holdings Record Display

  Location:
  BEINECKE (Non-Circulating)
  To request for use in the Beinecke Reading Room select a box in the finding aid
  
  
  Call Number:
  GEN MSS 676
  
  Status:
  Not Checked Out
  
  Notes:
  Boxes 17-18
  
  
  
  Location:
  LSF- BEINECKE
  To request for use in the Beinecke Reading Room select a box in the finding aid
  
  
  Call Number:
  GEN MSS 676
  
  Status:
  Not Checked Out
  
  Notes:
  Boxes 1-16, 19
  
  
  
   
• Notes:
  In French, Polish, and English.
  Purchased from Institut littéraire on the Edwin J. Beinecke Book Fund, 1989, and gift of Richard Overstreet and the estate of Leonor Fini, 2001.
  
• Organization:
  Organized into five series: I. General Papers of Konstanty Jeleński, 1940-1988. II. Papers Relating to Witold Gombrowicz, 1951-1987. III. Papers Relating to the Congress for Cultural Freedom, 1959-1976. IV. Papers Relating to the Royaumont Foundation, 1970-1973. V. Papers Relating to the Institut national de l'audiovisuel, 1979-1984.
  
• Access and use:
  Box 19: Restricted fragile material. Reference surrogates have been substituted in the main files. For further information consult the appropriate curator.
  
• Biographical / Historical note:
  Konstanty Aleksander Jeleński (in French: Constantin Jelenski) was born January 2, 1922 in Warsaw, Poland and died May 4, 1987 in Paris, France. At the age of eighteen he left Poland to serve the Polish Army in France. He lived the remainder of his life as an émigré, first in Italy for several years after the Second World War, then settling in Paris in 1951. In Paris, Jeleński was active in Polish émigré literary circles. He led the Eastern European division of the Congress for Cultural Freedom (after 1967, the International Association for Cultural Freedom) and was a prolific contributor to the Association's monthly publication Preuves and to Kultura, the Polish émigré literary journal. Beginning in 1975, he became increasingly active with the Institut national de l'audiovisuel. Jeleński's criticism, translations and edited works addressed a wide range of literary, political and artistic topics, especially twentieth-century Polish literature and history. Among his most influential works are many critical essays about Witold Gombrowicz and the edited volume Anthologie de la poesie polonaise (1965).
  
• Summary:
  The papers include correspondence, writings and other material that document Konstanty Jeleński's editorial work, literary criticism and involvement with several cultural organizations, including the Congress for Cultural Freedom, the Royaumont Foundation, and the Institut national de l'audiovisuel. A significant portion of the papers documents Jeleński's translation and criticism of the writings of Witold Gombrowicz. The Papers are not a complete literary archive of Jeleński's life and work and contain only a portion of his correspondence and writings. Series I consists chiefly of Jeleński's general correspondence, writings and writings of others; the remaining series consist of papers related to specific topics and organizations. Correspondents include Witold and Rita Gombrowicz, fellow affilates with the Congress for Cultural Freedom, and publishers. Essays and other writings relate chiefly to mid-twentieth-century Polish literary and political life (especially that of Polish émigrés), to the activities of the Congress for Cultural Freedom, and to Jeleński's translations from Polish to French. Printed material relates to literary, historical and political topics, especially in Poland in the mid- to late-twentieth century. A small amount of material relates to Jeleński's affiliation with the Royaumont Foundation and the Institut national de l'audiovisuel, documenting a portion of the activity of these organizations in the 1970s and 1980s.
  
• Format:
  Archives or Manuscripts
• Indexes/Finding aids:
  Finding aid available.
  
• Cite as:
  Konstanty Jeleński Papers. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
  
• Subjects:
  Jeleński, Konstanty A. (Konstanty Aleksander), 1922-1987.
  Gombrowicz, Witold.
  Congress for Cultural Freedom.
  Institut national de l'audiovisuel (France)
  Royaumont Foundation (France)
  Polish literature.
  Authors, Polish.
  Poland--Intellectual life--1918-1945.
  Poland--History--1945-1980.
  Poland--Intellectual life--1945-1989.
  Europe--Intellectual life--20th century.
  France--Emigration and immigration.
  Poland--Emigration and immigration.