He was born on 10 August 1905 in Przemyśl, and died on 6 November 2000 in Oxford. He was the doyen of Polish émigré literature, a renowned literary and theatre critic, essayist and animator of academic and literary life in England and the United States. After the outbreak of World War II, he joined the Polish Army in France. He founded the Polska Walcząca weekly and edited it in Paris, then in London. After the war, he remained an émigré. He lived in London, and collaborated with the Parisian Kultura. In the years 1954-1959, he was the chairman of the Union of Polish Writers Abroad. He collaborated with the Polish Radio Free Europe. From 1964, he lived in the United States, lecturing theory of literature and theatre at the University of Chicago. He was a member of the Polish Society of Arts and Sciences Abroad and its president in the years 1980-1981. He edited the monumental book Literatura polska na obczyźnie w latach 1940-1960 (Polish Literature Abroad in the Years 1940-1960) (1963), and published Krytyka personalistyczna (Personalist Criticism) (1957), Książki, ludzie i kulisy (Books, People, and the Backstage) (1961), Pani Helena (Lady Helena) (1962).