The Salt of the Earth

Jozef Wittlin (1896-1976), Polish novelist, essayist and poet, studied Philosophy, German, French and History of Art before he was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian army in 1914. Discharged from the army two years later on the grounds of poor health, he became a teacher and turned to writing, and published Polish translations of the Epic of Gilgamesh and Homer's Odyssey in the 1920s. His novel Salt of the Earth (1936), has been translated into several languages and its American publication in 1941 resulted in awards from the Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Institute of Arts and Letters. Wittlin left Poland shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, and eventually settled in New York City.