Jan Walc

He was born in Warsaw to a family of doctors, the son of Maria Róża Nowotna-Walcowa and Jan Stanisław Walc.

In 1975-1976 he taught the history of literature at the Warsaw Theater Academy (Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Teatralna) and also gave lectures on postwar Polish literature at the underground Society of Scientific Courses (Towarzystwo Kursów Naukowych) - also called the Flying University.

In 1976 he collaborated with KOR (Workers Defense Committee), co-organizing help for Radom and Ursus protesters and was subsequently deprived of the right to publish officially.

As a member of the Intervention Bureau of Workers Defense Committee (KOR), Walc worked on registering cases of human rights violations in Poland.

In September 1981, Walc enrolled at the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Science Academy (IBL PAN).

In 1986–87, Walc was a visiting scholar at universities in Stockholm and Bonn giving a series of lectures on Polish literature.