Stanisław Lem
1921 – 2006 · aged 85
Polish science fiction author, philosopher and futurologist, studied medical doctor (1921–2006)
- Born
- 12 Sept 1921 · Lviv
- Died
- 27 Mar 2006 · Kraków
Life timeline
Their life from birth to death. On the timeline, world events of the time are shown faintly.
- 12 Sept 1921BornBorn in Lviv
- 1955AwardGold Cross of Merit
- 1959AwardOfficer of the Order of Polonia Restituta
- 1970AwardCommander of the Order of Polonia Restituta
- 1977AwardSeiun Awards
- 1979AwardGrand Prix de Littérature Policière
- 1979AwardWork Flag Order, 2nd class
- 1981AwardHonorary doctor of Wrocław University of Science and Technology
- 1985AwardAustrian State Prize for European Literature
- 1991AwardFranz Kafka Prize
- 1995AwardPolish PEN Club Award Jan Parandowski
- 1996AwardOrder of the White Eagle (Third Polish Republic)
- 1999AwardKraków Book of the Month
- 27 Mar 2006DiedDied in Kraków
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Meanwhile in the world
Major world events during their lifetime (1921 – 2006).
- 1933 – 1945The Holocaust
- 19341934 FIFA World Cup
- 19361936 Summer Olympics
- 1937 – 1945Second Sino-Japanese War
- 19381938 FIFA World Cup
- 1938Munich Agreement
- 1939 – 1940Winter War
- 1939 – 1945World War II
- 1940 – 1945Auschwitz concentration camp
- 1941Attack on Pearl Harbor
- 1941 – 1945Eastern Front
- 1941Operation Barbarossa
- 1942 – 1943Battle of Stalingrad
- 1945Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- 1945 – 1946Nuremberg trials
- 19501950 FIFA World Cup
- 1950 – 1953Korean War
- 1953 – 1959Cuban Revolution
- 19541954 FIFA World Cup
- 1955 – 1975Vietnam War
- 1956Hungarian Revolution of 1956
- 1956Suez Crisis
- 19581958 FIFA World Cup
- 1959Antarctic Treaty System
- 19621962 FIFA World Cup
- 1962Cuban Missile Crisis
- 19661966 FIFA World Cup
- 1966 – 1976Cultural Revolution
- 1968Prague Spring
- 1969Apollo 11 Moon landing
- 19721972 Summer Olympics
- 19741974 FIFA World Cup
- 19781978 FIFA World Cup
- 1978 – 1979Iranian Revolution
- 1979 – 1989Soviet–Afghan War
- 1980 – 1988Iran–Iraq War
- 19841984 Summer Olympics
- 1985Schengen Agreement
- 19891989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
- 1989Fall of the Berlin Wall
Biography
Stanisław Herman Lem (Polish: [staˈɲiswaf ˈlɛm] ; 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006) was a Polish writer. He was the author of many novels, short stories, and essays on various subjects, including philosophy, futurology, and literary criticism. Many of his science fiction stories are of satirical and humorous character. Lem's books have been translated into more than 50 languages and have sold more than 45 million copies. Worldwide, he is best known as the author of the 1961 novel Solaris. In 1976, Theodore Sturgeon wrote that Lem was the most widely read science fiction writer in the world.
Lem was the author of the fundamental philosophical work Summa Technologiae, in which he anticipated the creation of virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and also developed the ideas of human autoevolution, the creation of artificial worlds, and many others. Lem's science fiction works explore philosophical themes through speculations on technology, the nature of intelligence, the impossibility of communication with and understanding of alien intelligence, despair about human limitations, and humanity's place in the universe. His essays and philosophical books cover these and many other topics. Translating his works is difficult due to Lem's elaborate neologisms and idiomatic wordplay.
The Sejm (the lower house of the Polish Parliament) declared 2021 Stanisław Lem Year.
Text from the Wikipedia article Stanisław Lem, CC BY-SA 4.0
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