Andrzej Szczypiorski (1928 – 2000) was born in Warsaw, took part in the city’s uprising against German occupation in 1944 and was subsequently sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. After the war, he worked as an author and publisher and became a member of the executive board of the Polish PEN Club and the Writer’s Association. In December 1981, he was interned in a camp and remained a prisoner there until spring 1982. In 1989, he was chosen as a candidate by Solidarnosc and elected to the Polish Senate by the people. He received the Austrian ›State Award for European Literature‹ and the ›Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany‹.