Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish playwright, philosopher, photographer and writer, also known as Witkacy, born 24 February 1885 in Warsaw, died 18 September 1939 in Jeziory, was a Polish writer, painter, philosopher, art theorist and dramatist. His work is characterised by profound individualism, experimentalism and often surrealism.

Witkiewicz was the son of a well-known painter, Stanisław Witkiewicz, and Maria née Pietrzkiewicz. He received a careful home education, and his father, deeply interested in art theory, had a significant influence on the development of his aesthetic and intellectual interests. In his youth, Witkacy travelled around Europe, which broadened his artistic and philosophical horizons.

He spent his childhood years in Zakopane. He took private lessons from his father. Between 1904 and 1905, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. During the First World War, he went to St Petersburg and entered an officer's school. It was then that a catastrophic view of the world was formed in him. In 1918, he returned to Zakopane. He began to focus mainly on literature, profitably creating only portrait paintings (the so-called Portrait Company). He wrote theoretical treatises, dramas and philosophical writings. He committed suicide on 18 September 1939 when he learned that the Soviet army had entered Poland the day before.

Witkacy was a versatile artist who experimented with different forms and styles in painting and writing. As a painter, he created portraits and landscapes, often exploring the effects of psychoactive substances on the creative process. His literary works range from dramas to novels, including 'Insatiability' and 'Farewell to Autumn', which explore cultural and personal crises, alienation and the search for identity.

Witkacy was also deeply interested in philosophy and art theory. His theoretical works, such as 'New Forms in Painting and the Resulting Misunderstandings', explored the impact of industrialisation and mass culture on art and the need to search for new, authentic forms of expression. His theories on 'pure form' in theatre influenced the development of the theatrical avant-garde in Poland and abroad.

Witkiewicz was a well-known eccentric, which was often reflected in his experiments with drugs and exploration of states of consciousness. His personal life was turbulent and full of drama, which was also reflected in his work. He ended his life with suicide in 1939, on hearing of the Soviet invasion of Poland, which for him was a symbol of the end of the world he knew and lived in.

Witkacy remains one of the most fascinating figures in Polish culture, and his works continue to be the subject of analysis and interpretation. His unique approach to art and life, combined with philosophical depth, make his work a lasting contribution to world culture. Witkacy is considered a forerunner of many trends in contemporary art, including surrealism, expressionism and theatre of the absurd.