Wyspianski, Stanislaw

Wyspiański, Stanisław (stänēs`läf vĭspyä`nyəskē), 1869–1907, Polish poet, dramatist, and painter. As a painter Wyspiański created numerous murals, stained-glass windows, and theatrical costumes. He is considered the founder of modern Polish drama; his plays, which are richly imaginative and often allegorical, generally treat the history or contemporary life of Poland, as in The Legion (1900), The Wedding (1901), Liberation (1903), and November Night (1904). Other plays are drawn from Greek themes, e.g., Return of Odysseus (tr. 1966). Wyspiański's dominant concern was Polish independence and individual freedom.