Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

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Archives of the Literary
Institute in Paris (1946–2000)
(Association Institut Littéraire ‘Kultura’)
Inscribed 2009
What is it
The Literary Institute was a centre of independent
thought for emigrants from the Communist-controlled
countries of Eastern Europe during the Cold War era
and after.
Its archives include various types of documents,
including a collection of letters to and from writers,
artists, intellectuals and politicians from Western Europe
and dissidents from the Soviet bloc, journals, editorial
and publishing archive materials, recordings, films and
photographs, and a book and art collection.
Why was it inscribed
The Institute contributed to the success of the peaceful
transformation from Communist totalitarianism
to democracy through its lengthy dialogue with
intellectuals, writers and politicians in the decades
of the Cold War. It also provided a means for intellectuals
and dissidents behind the Iron Curtain to communicate
through the Soviet information blockade and censorship.
Where is it
91 Avenue de Poissy, Maisons-Laffitte, France
From its base just outside Paris, the Literary Institute
created a post-war network of free thought for dissident
thinkers and emigrants from Soviet-bloc countries such as
Poland, Ukraine, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, as well as
for those still caught behind the Iron Curtain.
From 1946 to 2000, the Institute organized support for
dissidents and writers and helped dissident organizations
such as the Czech Charter 77 and Solidarność (Solidarity)
in Poland. It sought to educate writers and thinkers in
the Free World about the true nature of the Communist
system in the Soviet Union (USSR) and the threat it posed
to the West. It published the journal Kultura for Eastern
European intellectuals and fought censorship in their
Communist-controlled countries.
Jerzy Giedroyc (1906–2000), a Pole of Russian birth,
was the Institute’s founder and editor of Kultura. Erudite,
thought-provoking and influential, Kultura saw more
486 Archives of the Literary Institute in Paris (1946–2000)
� The Literary Institute helped the Polish trade union
Solidarity (see page 549).
than 600 editions and was banned in Poland itself.
Giedroyc’s political vision foresaw the collapse of the Soviet
empire and the re-emergence of free nations in Eastern
Europe. His dedication to that cause saw him amass a
collection of 100,000 letters with many of the leading
international political and intellectual figures of his day
including André Malraux, Albert Camus and Alexander
Solzhenitsyn, Bertrand Russell, Henry Kissinger and
Zbigniew Brzeziński, as well as with noted Polish writers
and dramatists. Among the multiple honours Giedroyc
received was the Officer’s Cross of the French Legion
of Honour.
The Institute aided dissident publishing houses in
Eastern Europe, and translated and distributed in Eastern
Europe the works of banned authors, including Orwell,
Camus, Koestler, Solzhenitsyn and Pasternak.
The intellectual and political vision of its founders and
leaders and their persistence over decades allowed this