Filmowe portrety Stanisława Siedleckiego (1912-2002) na tle Svalbardu: Fragmenty wizualnej historii nauki

Abstract

The article offers a new perspective on Stanisław Siedlecki’s biography through visual history, with a particular emphasis on film history. The connections between Siedlecki’s life and the cinema can be grouped in three sections: 1. films starring Siedlecki, 2. films by Siedlecki and 3. films about Siedlecki. The film <i>Do Ziemi Torella (To Torell Land)</i> represents the pre-war period; the post-war period is marked by Siedlecki’s collaboration with Jarosław Brzozowcki on the making of <i>Skroplone Powietrze (Liquefied Air)</i> and <i>Wieliczka</i> – both from 1946. In the International Geophysical Year 1957/1958, Siedlecki led the Polish polar expedition, during which the visual material was created. He appeared in all three ‘roles’ (as a co-writer, protagonist, and consultant) in Jarosław Brzozowski’s film <i>W Zatoce Białych Niedźwiedzi (In the Polar Bear Bay)</i>. He consulted polar films until the early 1990s. There are also two film biographies (portraits) of Siedlecki by Wanda Rollna and Iwona Bartólewska. The analysis of this material has also shed new light on the visual narration of the Polish polar expeditions in the 20th century.