Stefan Themerson

Polish experimental filmmaker, children's writer, poet, publisher, composer and philosopher (25 January 1910, Płock, Russian Empire — 6 September 1988, London, UK). Stefan Themerson invented semantic poetry and wrote in English, Dutch and Polish languages. He worked in a lifelong artistic partnership with Franciszka Themerson (1907—1988); their "husband & wife" duo is widely regarded among the pioneers of avant-garde cinema in Poland and Europe's most active proponents of surrealism at the time. Stefan Themerson was born in the Polish-speaking part of the Russian Empire. During World War I, his father served as a medical officer in Tsar's army, and Themersons constantly relocated, living in Riga, Saint Petersburg and Velikiye Luki. In 1918, the family returned to their hometown Płock, which became part of independent Poland. Stefan attended the Władysław Jagiełło Gymnasium, where he began photographing and built his first radio receiver. In 1928, Themerson enrolled at Warsaw University to study physics; after one year, he transferred to Warsaw Polytechnic and switched to architecture. Stefan never excelled academically, dedicating most of his time to photography, art and writing. In 1929, he met an art student, Franciszka Weinles, and they married two years later. Between 1931 and 35, Themersons lived and worked in Warsaw. Stefan wrote for various periodicals and published ten critically-acclaimed children's books illustrated by Franciszka. He also began experimenting with "photograms" (a type of photography popularized by Man Ray, where images are produced without the camera by directly exposing objects on light-sensitive paper). In Warsaw, Stefan Themerson directed five short films, co-produced and co-written with Franciszka, including Apteka (1930), Europa (1931–32) based on Anatol Stern's poem, Drobiazg Melodyjny (33), or "Musical Moment," and Zwarcie (35), "Short Circuit." They are widely regarded among the earliest examples of Polish avant-garde cinema (alongside works of J.M. Brzeski and a few other filmmakers). In 1935, Themersons established an artist-run cooperative, Spółdzielnia Autorów Filmowych, which united several local filmmakers. Most of Themerson's early films were lost in Paris during WWII; however, he later published Europa script illustrated by surviving stills and photos. In 1936 and 37, Stefan and Francizska traveled to Paris and London, where they befriended László Moholy-Nagy and other experimental artists and assembled a program of French and English avant-garde films to screen in Warsaw. In 1939, as World War II began, they both enlisted: Stefan fought with joint troops in Western France, while Franciszka served as a cartographer for the Polish Army, first in Paris and later in London, where they reunited closer to the war's end. In 1944, Themersons moved to Maida Vale in West London, where they permanently resided. In subsequent years, Stefan was associated with Kurt Schwitters, whom he met at PEN International's 300th-anniversary celebration of Milton's Areopagitica and experimental poet and publisher Bob Cobbing who lived nearby in Maida Vale, among others.