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Jerzy Kosiński ((:ˈjɛʐɨ kɔˈɕiɲskʲi); June 14, 1933 – May 3, 1991), born Józef Lewinkopf, was an award-winning Polish-American novelist and two-time President of the American Chapter of P.E.N., who wrote primarily in English. Born in Poland, he survived World War II and, as a young man, emigrated to the U.S., where he became a citizen. He was known for various novels, among them ''The Painted Bird'' (1965) and ''Being There'' (1971), which was adapted as an Academy Award-winning film (1979). == Early life, teaching, and marriage == Kosiński was born Józef Lewinkopf to Jewish parents in Łódź, Poland. As a child during World War II, he lived in central Poland under a false identity, Jerzy Kosiński, which his father gave to him. A Roman Catholic priest issued him a forged baptismal certificate, and the Lewinkopf family survived the Holocaust thanks to local villagers who offered assistance to Polish Jews, often at great risk. (The penalty for helping Jews in Nazi- Germany-occupied Poland was death for all members of a family and sometimes for the inhabitants of the village). Kosiński's father was assisted not only by town leaders and clergymen, but also by individuals such as Marianna Pasiowa, a member of an underground network that helped Jews evade capture. The family lived openly in Dąbrowa Rzeczycka, near Stalowa Wola, and attended church in nearby Wola Rzeczycka, with the support of villagers in Kępa Rzeczycka. For a time, they were sheltered by a Catholic family in Rzeczyca Okrągła. Jerzy even served as an altar boy in the local church.〔James Park Sloan. Jerzy Kosiński: A Biography (New York: Dutton/Penguin, 1996), pp.7–54.〕 After the war ended, Kosiński and his parents moved to Jelenia Góra. By age 22 he had earned two graduate degrees, in history and sociology, at the University of Łódź.〔 He then became an associate professor at the Polish Academy of Sciences. Kosinski also studied in the Soviet Union, and served as a sharpshooter in the Polish Army.〔 In order to emigrate to the United States in 1957, he created a fake foundation, which supposedly sponsored him. He later claimed he forged the letters from prominent communist authorities guaranteeing his loyal return to Poland, as were then required for anyone leaving the country.〔 Kosiński first worked at odd jobs to get by, including driving a truck,〔 and he managed to graduate from Columbia University. He became an American citizen in 1965. He also received grants from the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1967 and the Ford Foundation in 1968. In 1970, he won the American Academy of Arts and Letters award for literature. The grants allowed him to write a political non-fiction book that opened new doors of opportunity.〔 He became a lecturer at Yale, Princeton, Davenport, and Wesleyan Universities. In 1962, Kosiński married an American steel heiress, Mary Hayward Weir. They divorced four years later. Weir died in 1968 from brain cancer, leaving Kosiński out of her will. He would fictionalize his marriage in his novel ''Blind Date'', speaking of Weir under pseudonym Mary-Jane Kirkland.〔 Kosiński later married Katherina "Kiki" von Fraunhofer, a marketing consultant and a member of the Bavarian nobility.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jerzy Kosiński」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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