Juliusz Kydryński

Juliusz Kydryński (1921–1994) was an author, translator, theatre critic and columnist. He translated several Elizabethan dramas, but only one Shakespeare play: Hamlet (1987). The translation takes up a version of the play then unknown in Poland, the so-called Bad Quarto, which is a pirated edition of the text from 1603. Kydryński also earned his place in the history of the Polish reception of Shakespeare by writing afterwords for the translations of Maciej Słomczyński.

He studied Polish and English at the Jagiellonian University. For over a decade he was the editor of the weekly magazine Przekrój (Cross-section). Later in life he concentrated on his translation work. He translated four plays by Christopher Marlowe: Masakra w Paryżu (The Massacre at Paris, 1975), Tamerlan Wielki (Tamburlaine the Great, 1977), Tragiczna historia doktora Fausta (Doctor Faustus, 1982) and Edward II (1983). He also translated Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy as Tragedia hiszpańska (1982). He also translated Ben Jonson, Thomas Dekker and Thomas Heywood, as well as Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher.

Kydryński was a professional and versatile translator, working with a variety of texts from different eras and in different genres. His translation of the non-canonical version of Hamlet was intended to bring readers into close contact with the milieu in which Shakespeare worked. In his afterword, Kydryński explains the publishing culture of the time and looks at the most significant differences between the surviving versions of Hamlet. It was, to a large extent, an academic translation, but Kydryński strove for clarity and directness, emphasising the fact that the earlier 1603 text is more accessible than the familiar version, which is longer and more sophisticated in its poetry.

Kydryński’s innovative translation was largely overlooked. It was, however, intended as a supplement to the Shakespeare canon and as such was directed towards a narrow audience. Witold Chwalewik was the only previous translator to draw attention to the textual instability of Shakespeare’s plays. Kydryński’s Hamlet has never been reissued nor performed.