Piotr Domaradzki


Piotr Krystian Domaradzki was a Polish-American journalist, essayist and historian who, during a longtime association with Chicago's Polish community, worked for 30 years at Dziennik Związkowy, the oldest and largest Polish-language newspaper in the United States. From October 2009 to March 2013, he served as the paper's editor-in-chief. He emigrated from Poland in 1984 and became a U.S. citizen in 1996.

Biography

Writer in Poland

Born in Strzelce Opolskie, a town and county seat in south-western Poland, Domaradzki received his high school diploma from II Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. dra Władysława Pniewskiego in Gdańsk. He graduated from University of Gdańsk with a major in late antiquity military history.
At the time martial law was declared in December 1981, Domaradzki was 35 years old and deeply involved as an activist and organizer in the Independent Self-governing Trade Union "Solidarity", with responsibility for frontline members as well as publications and press releases. Although martial law was lifted in July 1983, there was little immediate improvement in the country's political situation and, in January 1984, he left the Polish People's Republic for France. Ten months later he immigrated with his wife Janina and son Krystian to the U.S. where, in November 1985, they were granted political asylum. The Domaradzkis became parents of another child, daughter Sara, in 1991, six years after they settled in Chicago.

Newspaper editor in Chicago

Almost immediately upon arriving in Chicago, Domaradzki began working for Dziennik Związkowy. Before becoming editor-in-chief in 2009, he served as the newspaper's assistant editor from 1985 to 1987 and from 1998 to 2009. In 1996, along with another Chicago-based Polish exile, literary and film critic and academic Wojciech Wierzewski, he founded the discussion forum, Konwersatorium "Dialog 96" which, under the aegis of the Chicago chapter of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, focused primarily on activities within the cultural and intellectual communities in Poland and abroad.

Death

On October 20, 2015, fire erupted at Domaradzki's home on Grace Street in the Portage Park community of Chicago. He was unconscious when rescued by firefighters and taken to Community First Medical Center and subsequently to a special unit of Loyola University Hospital where he died on November 4, without regaining consciousness, from the aftereffects of smoke inhalation. He was 69.

Works

Domaradzki was a graphic artist, musician and painter, as well as author of numerous writings, including the novel Wiórki kokosowe published in Poland in 2003. He also translated into Polish Harvey Sarner's 1997 book General Anders and the Soldiers of the Second Polish Corps. Among his historical treatises are Homo Armatus: History of Warfare in Antiquity, The Defense of Lwów and Polish Corps in Russia 1917–1919 and General Anders and the Soldiers of the II Polish Corps.
His numerous historical essays were a regular feature in Dziennik Związkowy's weekly culture and entertainment section, Kalejdoskop.

Wikipedia activity

Under the user name "Belissarius", Domaradzki was a prolific and multifaceted contributor on numerous topics in the Polish Wikipedia, where his first edit was on September 26, 2004 and his final two edits were made on the day of the fatal fire, October 20, 2015.
Domaradzki also contributed, under the handle Belissarius, to the English Wikipedia and was active in the Poland and Military history "WikiProjects," collaborative projects among Wikipedia editors. He frequently contributed to Wikimedia Commons, uploading photographs and drawings. He made over 110,000 edits to various Wikimedia projects, with most activity in Polish Wikipedia, where he made over 100,000 edits and created about 1,200 articles.