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Czeslaw Milosz

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Author

The Resume

    (June 30, 1911-August 14, 2004)
    Born in Seteniai, Lithuania
    Defected from Poland to France (1951)
    Moved to the United States (1960)
    Wrote poetry collections ‘The Word: Naïve Poems’ (1943) and ‘Roadside Dog’ (1997)
    Professor of Slavic Languages and Literature at the University of California, Berkeley
    Nobel Prize for Literature (1980)

Why he might be annoying:

    He angered many Poles by identifying more with Lithuania than Poland.
    He was born Catholic, turned atheist and later returned to the Catholic faith.
    He was a diplomat for Poland’s Soviet government after World War II.
    He found California, his US state of residence, ‘alienating.’
    He felt intellectuals were often responsible for the rise of totalitarian regimes.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He slammed Poland’s rampant anti-Semitism of the 1930s and 1940s.
    His was fired from his radio job in the 1930s for his left-wing politics.
    He learned Hebrew so he could translate the Old Testament into Polish.
    His works were banned in Poland for years.
    He believed writers should eschew ideology and focus on human experience.

Credit: Georgina


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 35 Votes: 22.86% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 159 Votes: 38.99% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 11 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 58 Votes: 67.24% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 72 Votes: 40.28% Annoying