Emil Zegadłowicz – Bruno Schulz. Kwerenda archiwalna

Among many people present in the social and professional milieu of Bruno Schulz, was Emil Zegadłowicz (1888–1941), a writer who during the interwar period was famous mainly for his novels critical of Polish socio-political realities (Zmory, Motory). The essay presents almost all the available evidence concerning the two writers’ mutual artistic inspirations, correspondence, and personal contacts that have survived to this day. Crucial for this reconstruction was a search in the family archive of Zegadłowicz. Unfortunately, even though he certainly did his best to document his literary connections, the traces of Bruno Schulz’s life and work in the archive are scarce. It was much easier to find there the evidence of Zegadłowicz’s recognition of Schulz and his work. For example, the name of the artist from Drogobych was found on the mailing list of the copies of Zegadłowicz’s works, and handwritten remarks were discovered on the published texts of Schulz’s stories. Also, a letter written by Schulz includes remarks on one of Zegadłowicz's novels. Among the archive’s holdings, particularly interesting is the documentation of the two writers’ only meeting which took place in Drogobych in February 1939 during Zegadłowicz's lecture tour, and the author’s analysis of Schulz’s artworks that Zegadłowicz received on that occasion, including his portraits. A description of the two writers’ meeting includes also contextual information about Schulz’s family and his professional relationships with Drogobych. Today, while some documents seem to suggest that in the late 1930s Zegadłowicz and Schulz were close friends, there is no good reason to believe that it was really so. After all, Zegadłowicz’s archive contains no relevant evidence in this respect.