CZESLAW MILOSZ
177
Whitmanesque among American poets was Allen Ginsberg, not so much
because of his open homosexuality as through the courage with which
he broke with convention, often against his own will.
ZAN, Tomasz. In the city of my childhood and youth he was a grand
figure. In his student years he belonged ro a Masonic lodge, just like
Kontrym, the university librarian who discreetly supported the Philo–
maths and who, it seems, was hierarchically above l\ltickiewicz, who, as
far as we know, never belonged
to
any lodge in Wilno. Wilno freema–
sonry, long banned by order of the tsars, returned after 1900 when the
new Scoundrels' Society began
to
meet. This does not mean that all the
Scoundrels' members were Masons, but those circles were related.
It
appears, roo, that the Tom<lsz Zan lodge was founded immediately after
[9
0
5.
For me, a
gymnasilll1l
student, what was important was the Tomasz
Zan Library, founded in the 1920S and intended as support for the
schools; that is, young people came there
to
read books and periodicals
(not to borrow books to take home). For the lower grades, the lending
library of the Polish School Society was adequate; it was housed right
next to my school on Linle Pohulanka Street. But one read Conrad's
works, translated into Polish, or more serious books on the history of
literature in the Tomasz Zan Library, which at that time was located on
the corner of Greater Pohulanka Street, across from the theater, and
later moved
to
its own building on Portowa Street.
Why was the library given this name? The founders, Father
Milkowski and Miss Ruszczyc, were probably not moved by any
Masonic designs and perhaps did not even know the Masonic connec–
tions of that name. Tomasz Zan simply appealed to them as patron by
virtue of having been a Philomath and an exile who remained faithful
to
his country.
I still remember evenings spent at the Tomasz Zan Library, including
readings of the literary supplement
to
the Warsaw newspaper,
The Voice
of Truth.
It was edited by .Juliusz Kaden-Bandrowski, who maintained
it patiently and seriously as a mini literature school for youth. It was in
that supplement-most likely in 1927 or 1928-that I first came upon
a poem by .J6zef Czechowicz and commined it
to
memory. It is also
where a letter I wrote to the editor appeared-my first published text. I
think with gratitude of the founders of the Tomasz Zan Library. May at
least some trace of their activity remain.
