Janusz Korczak

Olga Medvedeva Nathoo (Independent Scholar - North America)

Ed. by Roman Koropeckyj, University of California, Los Angeles
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.8.3: Polish Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Roman Koropeckyj (University of California, Los Angeles), Ewa M. Thompson (Rice University)

Dates

Born c. 22 Jul 1878
Died 1942
Activity c. 1896-1942

Places

Born in Poland
Active in Poland

Activities

Primary

Educationalist
Physician/ Doctor
Prose writer

Other

Editor
Memoirist
Radio Broadcaster / Producer

Resources

Korczak's Works

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Janusz Korczak (pen name of Henryk Goldszmit) was a Polish–Jewish physician, pedagogue, champion of children’s rights, and an author. His written legacy includes essays, novels, children's stories, and pedagogical works among others. He was also director of a Warsaw Jewish orphanage where he implemented innovative educational principles. During World War II he, along with two hundred orphanage pupils and staff, was murdered in the gas chamber of the Treblinka Nazi extermination camp.

Korczak was born in Warsaw in a Polonized Jewish family to Cecilia Gębicka, a homemaker, and Józef Goldszmit, a lawyer. In 1896, while still a high school student, he made his literary debut publishing humoresques in the weekly Kolce [Spikes] on the subject of social morals. In 1898, he joined the

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3337 words

Citation: Medvedeva Nathoo, Olga. "Janusz Korczak". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 March 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13977, accessed 24 November 2024.]