Among many obituaries following the death of Leszek Kołakowski, 81, a renowned Polish philosopher, the one by Christopher Hitchens on Slate seemed particularly poignant. Kołakowski was a colorful figure. An ardent communist in his early days, he soon became disillusioned with the realities of post-war Eastern Europe and became one of the leading voices of dissent. Forced into exile, he taught at the University of California, Berkeley, and Oxford University and wrote extensively. His best known work, Main Currents of Marxism, published in 1978 and widely circulated in underground editions, became one of the most influential critiques of Marxism that shaped the intellectual underpinnings of the Solidarity movement and helped precipitate the collapse of communism in the region.
Hitchens summarizes well the historical irony in Kołakowski’s journey:
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“He was at last able to fulfill his boyhood dream by becoming the esteemed intellectual ally of a working-class movement that actually succeeded in taking power. The realization that this movement was the gravedigger of communism was well-attuned to Kołakowski’s very highly developed sense of historical irony.”
Published Date: July 23, 2009