The Comedienne

Wladyslaw Stanislaw Reymont (1868-1925) was a Polish author, and Nobel laureate. His best known work is the novel Chlopi. In 1894 he began to send his short stories to different magazines, and, encouraged by good reviews, decided to write novels: Komediantka (The Deceiver) (1895) and Fermenty (Ferments) (1896). No longer poor, he would soon satisfy his passion for travel, visiting Berlin, London, Paris and Italy. Then, he spent a few months in Lódz collecting material for a new novel ordered by the Kurier Codzienny (The Daily Courier) from Warsaw. The earnings from this book-Ziemia Obiecana (The Promised Land) (1897)-enabled him to go on his next trip to France where he socialized with other exiled Poles. In 1924 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature over rivals Thomas Mann, Maxim Gorky and Thomas Hardy. Reymont's literary output includes about 30 extensive volumes of prose. There are works of reportage: Pielgrzymka do Jasnej Góry (Pilgrimage to Jasna Góra) (1894), Z ziemi chelmskiej (From the Chelm Lands) (1910), Z konstytucyjnych Dni (From the Days of the Constitution) (1905) and others.