Janusz Szpotański

Who was Janusz Szpotański?

Janusz Szpotański, was a Polish poet, satirist, critic, translator, literary theorist and chess player.

He was the creator of satirical tragi-comedic poems which ridiculed the communist government of Poland. These works were often written in an absurdist, grotesque style, and specifically lampooned prominent members of the Polish communist party, as well as the general "low life" mentality of the average Communist Party member.

He is best known for creating the character of "Towarzysz Szmaciak" - an uneducated, dull, cynical, sadistic, anti-semitic and stupid individual who supported the communist party out of opportunistic, not ideological motives. The metaphor of a "dishrag" alludes to the fact that individuals of this kind, while forming the support base of communism in Poland at the time, where considered useful by the party elite but at the same time despised by them. For ridiculing Władysław Gomułka in his poem "Cisi i gęgacze" he was arrested in 1967 and in 1968 sentenced to three years in prison on the charge of "spreading information harmful to the interests of state".