Janusz Korczak

Janusz Korczak

Janusz Korczak (whose real name was Henryk Goldszmit) is one of the greatest and most impressive figures in contemporary pedagogy. His was a multi-faceted personality, with broad interests and extensive knowledge, a great empathy with children and a genuine concern for all social problems. A doctor by education and an educator by predilection, his passion for improving the reality he observed drove him to writing and journalism.

His life, his community activities, educational work and creative output cannot be squeezed into any standard mould, or even presented in a complete manner. For Janusz Korczak was the kind of individual who exerted a strong influence on his surroundings, changed social practice, destroyed the petrified scientific dogma, and laid the foundations of new theories. At the same time he was involved in wide-ranging practical activities, in the fields of medicine, education and journalism. He condemned all manifestations of evil, and derided stupidity, while himself setting an example of how the world can be made better and more beautiful. He fought for this better and more beautiful world especially for children. He set the highest value in his life on the happiness of children, and their smiling, unhampered development. In fact, he devoted his entire life to trying to bring happiness to more and more children.

Janusz Korczak was born in Warsaw in 1878. His father, Józef Goldszmit, was a respected lawyer with broad scholarly interests and ambitions. The Goldszmit family had a living tradition of community activity. Janusz Korczak's grandfather, Hirsz Goldszmit, was very much involved in progressive Polish Jewish circles, belonging to 'Haskale' (which represented the Enlightenment movement in the Jewish milieu), and also practiced medicine.2 His father's brother, Jakub, was a lawyer, also involved in journalism.

His family atmosphere no doubt had an enormous influence on Janusz Korczak's development, and especially on his awareness of social problems. He was himself quite conscious of the fact that he owed a great deal to his family and immediate circle.3 A. Lewin writes: 'His struggle against evil, injustice and ignorance was a continuation of the actions of preceding generations. There is good reason to believe that he attached great importance to genealogy. In his writings he often expressed the conviction that outstanding individuals, the "good spirits of mankind", appear as the result of many generations of development.'4

Janusz Korczak's personality was greatly influenced by his studies at the Praskie Gimnazjum (the school's name deriving from the name of the Praga district in Warsaw), now well known in Poland as the Wladyslaw IV Liceum. He was particularly impressed by his teacher of Greek.

Young Janusz Korczak displayed great interest in nature, and quickly developed a passion for reading, being deeply moved by the poetry of A. Mickiewicz and the novels of J.I. Kraszewski.

By 1891, that is, as a 13-year-old boy, he was keeping a diary. As the years passed, various forms of writing became a strong need and an ingrained habit.

He wrote his first literary works while still at school, for example 'Samòbojstwo' (Suicide) in 1895, and a ...