A thread of either allegedly or openly LGBT Polish authors:

Sorry for making this thread disappear so suddenly! I made sure to include new people and correct some mistakes that sneaked in the first time. I hope people who enjoyed this manage to find their way to the thread again.

DISCLAIMER: Many of the people presented below might not be officially confirmed as gay/trans due to historians trying to erase their experience or dismissing their already vague confessions.

Let's dive in!

MARIA KONOPNICKA (1842-1910), a poet and a novelist best known for her patriotic stance in "Rota". She left her abusive husband for Maria Dulębianka (photo on the right), with whom she lived for over 20 years. Their relationship was dismissed as "friendship".

NARCYZA ŻMICHOWSKA (1819-1876), a writer, teacher and a feminist activist. Her most famous work included "Poganka". She was often criticized for her gender non-conforming behaviour. Her letters to her female students and friends were heavily censored due to their sapphic nature.

MARIA RODZIEWICZÓWNA (1864-1944), a writer, social activist and a GNC lesbian. She overtook social roles usually associated with men. Her partners were Helena Weychert and Jadwiga Skirmunttówna, the second one introduced to Maria's unaware visitors and friends as her relative.

PIOTR ODMIENIEC WŁAST (1876-1949) was a writer and a literary critic. He officially rejected the gender assigned at his birth in 1907 and even had some teeth removed to make his facial shape more masculine presenting.

JULIUSZ SŁOWACKI (1809-1849) belonged to the trinity of Polish romantic bards. Some of his letters to male friends were quite homoerotic in nature, and some of his poems - including "Do Zygmunta" - also indicated same sex interest.

NIKOLAI GOGOL (1809-1852) was a Russian author of Polish-Ukrainian descent. Subjected to religious devotions throughtout his life, he chose celibacy, repressing his homosexual feelings.

JAN LECHOŃ (1899-1956), a poet known for his contribution to the Warsaw-based poetic group Skamander. His sexuality was vague even to himself; by today's standards he was bisexual.

JAROSŁAW IWASZKIEWICZ (1894-1980) was also a member of Skamander, acclaimed for his novel "Panny z Wilka". When getting married with his wife Anna, he told her he had a "preference for men" but still loved her. She tolerated his affairs with men; many happened to be writers too.

Anna, in fact, was quite interested in same sex herself - she was in love with "the Skamander muse", actress and feminist Maria Morska (pictured). This woman's affairs led some historians to reflect whether a certain female poet was gay.

It was MARIA PAWLIKOWSKA-JASNORZEWSKA (1891-1945), ironically dubbed as "the Polish Sappho". Her poetry brought female perspective of love and sexuality to light, and some argue that there are some homoerotic hints in it, especially when we know how close she was with Morska.

One of Iwaszkiewicz's lovers was JERZY ANDRZEJEWSKI (1909-1983), an author of "Popiół i diament", a novel popularized by Andrzej Wajda's movie. He was aware of his sexuality ever since he was a child, but he kept having relationships with women, probably to conform to society.

His alleged lover was KRZYSZTOF KAMIL BACZYŃSKI (1921-1944), a poet of the so-called Columbus generation (a generation that suffered loss of youth and innocence during the WWII). His sexuality is widely erased, as he never came out. He died in Warsaw Uprising, married to a woman.

CZESŁAW MIŁOSZ (1911-2004) was a man of many talents, deemed as the best Polish poet of XX century. He was sometimes dismissed for endorsing communist values and of course because of his bisexuality. He was close with Iwaszkiewicz.

EDWARD STACHURA (1937-1979) was a writer known for his troubadour-like lifestyle and poetry. He was one of the infamous lovers of Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, but never really spoke about his sexuality.

MIRON BIAŁOSZEWSKI (1922-1983) was known for his World War II commentaries. In 1953, he was kicked out of a magazine's editorial team for his "dismissal of morals", that is his partnership with a painter Leszek Soliński.

My absolute favourite of Polish literature, that is WITOLD GOMBROWICZ (1904-1969), was famous for his humourous '37 novel "Ferdydurke". In his journals, he vaguely confessed to being bisexual; because he was scared of being criticized, he usually only talked publicly about women.

He married Rita Gombrowicz when he was practically on his deathbed, as if he made sure he bleached himself out of suspicions he ever had homosexual affairs.

JERZY WALDORFF (1910-1999) was a writer, publicist and a music journalist. He confessed in his autobiography to being disinherited by his father due to his sexuality. He lived with Mieczysław Jankowski for 60 years.

JERZY ZAWIEYSKI (1902-1969) was an actor, a playwright and a political activist. In 1933, he met his partner Stanisław Trębaczkiewicz - he stayed with him for 36 years. Their relationship was cheerfully accepted by their friends.

MARIA DĄBROWSKA (1889-1965) and her partner Anna Kowalska happened to be one of those friends. The author of "Noce i dnie" lived with Anna for over 20 years.

For now, the thread ends here! Thank you for your attention. If you know someone else, please let me know below.