Polish Academy of Literature

The Polish Academy of Literature (Polish: Polska Akademia Literatury, PAL) was one of the most important state institutions of literary life in the Second Polish Republic, operating between 1933 and 1939 with the headquarters in Warsaw. It was founded by the decree of the Council of Ministers of the Republic (Rada Ministrów RP).^[1]

The academy was the highest opinion-forming authority in the country, in charge of all aspects of promoting and honoring the most outstanding contemporary achievements of Polish literature. According to its own statute, the main objective of the academy was to raise the quality level of Poland's publishing, while working in conjunction with the government efforts and NGO endeavors focused on the advancement of Polish culture and art in general. The century of foreign Partitions of Poland, ending in 1918, was marked by the forcible suppression of Polish education, language and religion under Prussian (and later German rule, see Kulturkampf),^[2] and outright Russification in the territories occupied by the Tsarist Empire,^[3][4] reaching its epitome under Otto von Bismarck on the one hand, and Nicholas II on the other. It resulted in staggering levels of illiteracy on Polish lands, as noted by Stefan Żeromski in 1923.^[5] PAL was called forth to reinforce the historic standards of quality, exalt the honor of Poland's literary tradition and explore the intricacies of her heritage. It was proposed for the first time by Żeromski in 1920 already, but accepted as an idea only nine years later (and five years after his death), in 1929.^[6]