The Vampire

Władysław Stanisław Reymont (1867–1925) was a Polish novelist of the realist period (the period of “Organic Work,” as it is known in Poland, for its rejection of revolutionism and its dedication to preserving Polish culture among the three partitions by work among the people), and, especially, the Young Poland period, often equated with “Polish Modernism.” He preferred to work as a labourer than to follow his parents’ wishes into higher education, training as a tailor and labouring on the railroad. His fame as a novelist is based on two works, the epic Chłopi [The Peasants, 1902–1908] and Ziemia obiecana [The Promised Land, 1897–1898]. In 1924 he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. Bunt [The Revolt of the Animals, 1922, 1924], his last major work, was suppressed by the Communist régime of the People’s Republic of Poland on account of its blatant rejection of Marxism and satirising of revolutions.