Kapuscinski, Ryszard

▪ 2008

      Polish journalist and author

born March 4, 1932 , Pinsk, Pol. [now in Belarus]

died Jan. 23, 2007 , Warsaw, Pol.

was the Polish Press Agency's (PAP's) only correspondent in Africa during that continent's troubled emergence from colonialism. Between 1956 and 1981 (when his credentials were stripped because of his support for the Solidarity movement), Kapuscinski combined compassion with a clear-eyed perspective in his coverage of the less-developed world, where he claimed to have reported on 27 revolutions and coups. Kapuscinski also kept detailed personal journals, many of which he later adapted into books, including Cesarz (1978; The Emperor, 1983), about the downfall of Ethiopian ruler Haile Selassie; Wojna futbolowa (1978; The Soccer War, 1991), an analysis of the 1969 conflict between Honduras and El Salvador; and Heban (1998; The Shadow of the Sun, 2001), a reminiscence of his years in Africa.

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