Bolesław Prus

Bolesław Prus (Aleksander Głowacki) was a Polish writer.

He was born into the family of an impoverished nobleman. He became an orphan at an early age. He took part in the Polish Uprising of 1863. He was wounded, captured by Russian troops, and released after treatment in a hospital. In 1864 he was arrested and imprisoned for three months.

After graduating from the lyceum in Lublin, he entered the Physics and Mathematics Department of the Main School in Warsaw (1866–1868). Having left his studies because of financial difficulties, he tried to study at the School of Agriculture and Forestry in Puławy, but soon returned to Warsaw.

He made his debut in print in 1872. He collaborated with Warsaw newspapers (1874–1903). He was editor of the journal Nowiny (1882–1883), where he published his own journalistic articles. Bolesław Prus’s literary-critical articles contributed to the formation of a realist conception of art in Polish criticism.

He highly valued the творчество of Russian writers, especially L. N. Tolstoy.