Władysław Kopaliński, or rather Jan Stefczyk, was born in 1907. He is the author of Dictionary of Symbols, Dictionary of Words and Phrases of Foreign Origin, Dictionary of Myths of and Cultural Traditions, Lexicon of Love Themes and many other valuable works. He enjoyed surrounding himself with an aura of mystery, and that is perhaps why he used a pseudonym. The Kopaliński surname that served this purpose belonged to a teacher who had instilled in him a love for literature.

He was an exceptional lexicographer, encyclopedist, publicist, publisher, and also wrote a number of studies devoted to classical and contemporary literature. As far as Polish intellectual life is concerned, our patron was an institution in his own right, a polymath humanist; a journalist, essayist, columnist, and translator of English literature. He held the positions of chairman and editor-in-chief in the Czytelnik publishing cooperative in the years 1949-1954 and hosted his own radio show for 19 years. His interests were numerous: cats and perfumes can be counted among the more unusual ones, but it was his passion for symbols that he was most famous for. He admired classical music. In his own view, Dictionary of Myths and Cultural Traditions was his greatest work, but all of his works are remarkable, written in an extraordinary way that betrays a profound involvement in the subject matter. His dictionaries draw the reader in with an accessibly composed introduction, and though one might be surprised by the selection of entries, by their arrangement or even their definition, one nonetheless surrenders to the overwhelming passion of the author’s hunt for symbols, and is thus invited into his fascinating world. It’s not easy, however, to speak of Kopaliński’s private life – he kept to himself. It is said that his work would take him all day, leaving only the evenings with enough time to spare for meeting with his friends. He worked alone, without a team of linguists to help him in his research; he didn’t even use a typewriter – not to mention a computer – and he stored his archive inside shoeboxes…