Krzysztof Boruń

Krzysztof Boruń (23 November 1923 – 22 May 2000) was a Polish physicist, journalist and science fiction writer. As an author of a number of essays, articles and novels, he was an important popularizer of science. By his contemporaries, Boruń was described as the "visionary of space travel"^[1]

Biography

Early life and World War II

Krzysztof Boruń was born on 29 November 1923 in the Polish town of

After the war he would work as a journalist for the daily newspaper "Ilustrowany Kurier Polski" and the weekly "Tygodnik Demokratyczny".

Boruń became a member of the

He started his career as a science fiction writer in 1953 with the novel Zagubiona przyszłość (Polish: "Lost future"), co-authored with Andrzej Trepka. The novel was first printed as a series in the daily newspaper Ilustrowany Kurier Polski. Later in 1954 a somewhat revised version of the novel was published as a standalone hardcover edition. The success of Zagubiona przyszłość, sparked two follow-up novels Proxima [pl] and Kosmiczni bracia (Polish: "Space brothers") that together form a trilogy.

An active popularizer of science, he wrote articles for the astronautics and astronomy sections for the popular science periodical "Kto, Kiedy, Dlaczego" (Polish: "Who, When, Why"). His articles in the periodical expressed careful criticism of the Soviet space program, in particular the decision not to bring Laika, the first dog in space, safely back to earth.^[2]

Two of Boruń's novels written in the 1960s – Próg nieśmiertelności (Polish: "Edge of immortality") and Ósmy krąg piekieł (Polish: "8th circle of Hell") were first published in Russian and Ukrainian, they have not been published in Poland until the 1970s. His works have also been translated to Japanese, German, Czech, Hungarian languages.

Between 1982 and 1984 he was editor-in-chief of the periodicals Astronautyka and Postępy Astronautyki, both dedicated to astronautics and space research.

Personal beliefs

He was an

• Zagubiona przyszłość, (coauthor: Andrzej Trepka), (1954).
• Proxima [pl], (coauthor: Andrzej Trepka), (1956).
• Kosmiczni bracia, (coauthor: Andrzej Trepka), (1959).
• Próg nieśmiertelności(1975).
• Ósmy krąg piekieł (1978).
• Małe zielone ludziki I (1985).
• Małe zielone ludziki II (1985).
• Jasnowidzenia inżyniera Szarka (1990).

Short story collections

• Spadkobiercy (1958) - an anthology that included short stories by Boruń.
• Antyświat i inne opowiadania fantastyczno-naukowe (1960)
• Toccata (1980).
• Człowiek z mgły (1986).

Other publications

• Księżyc zdobyty (1956)
• Tajemnice parapsychologii, (coauthor: S. Manczarski), (1982)
• Mały słownik cybernetyczny (1973)
• Kto, kiedy, dlaczego? - (a popular science periodical, Boruń wrote for the astronautics section)
• Ossowiecki - zagadki jasnowidzenia, (coauthor: Katarzyna Boruń-Jagodzińska) (1990)
• W świecie zjaw i mediów. Spór o duchy (1996)
• Na krawędzi zaświatów. Sporu o duchy ciąg dalszy (1999)

References