Tygodnik Powszechny - History

History

The first edition of Tygodnik Powszechny appeared on 24 March 1945. Initially, the editorial staff consisted of four people: a priest, Jan Piwowarczyk; Jerzy Turowicz (editorin-chief for many years), Konstanty Turowski and Maria Czapska. Later they were joined by Zofia Starowieyska–Morstinowa, Stefan Kisielewski, Leopold Tyrmand, Antoni Gołubiew, Paweł Jasienica (until he was arrested by the Communists in 1948), Stanisław Stomma, Hanna Malewska and Józefa Golmont–Hennelowa.

In 1953, the newspaper was closed after it refused to print Stalin’s obituary. The paper resumed publication in December 1956. From 1953 to 1956, it was published by the pro-government PAX Association and informally known as Tygodnik Paxowski. The same format was used and the continuity of numbering, although none of the previous editors were involved.

The original editors were able to resume control of Tygodnik Powszechny after the "Thaw" of 1956. Columnists included Karol Wojtyła (to become Pope John Paul II), Władysław Bartoszewski, Jerzy Zawieyski, Jacek Woźniakowski, Stefan Wilkanowicz, Leszek Kołakowski, Stanisław Lem, Zbigniew Herbert, Tadeusz Kudliński, Czesław Zgorzelski. It was affiliated with the officially recognized political party Znak, which was also allowed to form in the wake of the Thaw.

When Znak helped establish the Solidarity movement, one of the Cracow's edition writers, Father Józef Tischner became its chaplain). After Karol Wojtyła was elected pope, Tygodnik Powszechny became the most popular vehicle for John Paul II’s teachings in Poland. For a long time it was the only magazine in the world which was able to publish an interview with the new Pope (3 August 1980).

Czesław Miłosz published his poems in Tygodnik Powszechny for many years. In 1945, he prepared a hand-written volume of poems called “Wiersze pół-perskie” for Jerzy Turowicz. It was the only magazine in which Miłosz published his poems after receiving the Nobel Prize. After martial law was declared, the magazine suspended its publication for several months. Since 1982, Tygodnik Powszechny has been published continuously.

In the 1980s, the magazine became an informal tool of the Polish democratic opposition and sometimes was regarded as the only legal oppositional magazine in the People’s Republic of Poland (PRL). In 1987, it published a controversial essay, “The Poor Poles Look at the ghetto” (“Biedni Polacy patrzą na getto”) by Jan Błoński.

Since the 1990s, a part of the church hierarchy was critical to Tygodnik Powszechny due to its, in their opinion, too liberal outlook (it reflects almost absent parochial distribution of the magazine).

In 1998, Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz produced the movie 'Ordinary Kindness' (Zwyczajna dobroć), telling the story of editor Jerzy Turowicz.

In 1999, after Jerzy Turowicz’s death, Father Adam Boniecki became the chief editor.

In April 2007, the ITI Group purchased 49 per cent of the magazine.

Since 5 December 2007 Tygodnik Powszechny has been published in a smaller size. The format and editorial staff was also changed.