TRAVELS WITH HERODOTHUS BY: Ryszard Kapuściński

Biography Ryszard Kapuściński was a famous Polish journalist. He was born on March 4th 1932 in Pinsk. He worked for the Polish press since 1981.

He was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize for literature, but he also won other awards, including the “Principe de Asturias” in 2003

He died on 23rd January 2007 of a heart attack in Warsaw

Alex Duval Smith in Kapuscinski’s obituary says “he was the 20th century's most telling spokesman for the millions of ordinary people who didn’t agree with the authoritarian regimes.”

Alex Duval Smith said “Kapuscinski showed us another world, incredibly poor, which, for many, comes down to one shirt, one pan, a spoon and a mouthful of water. Nearly two-thirds of humanity lives in this empty and silent world. He reminded us - we who are always dissatisfied and insatiable - of what is superfluous and secondary”

EDITIONS Travels with Herodothus is one of the several books based on travels and journeys. The original title was “Podròze Z Herodotem”. The first edition was published in 2004.

Since then, Travels with Herodothus has been translated into more than thirty languages and sold about one million copies. It appeared in Italian in 2005.

Podròze z Herodotem Ryszard Kapuściński

Ryszard Kapuściński is studying history at Warsaw University. He begins to work as a reporter for a polish newspaper. In these years the censorship disappears, people become more independent and a lot of censored books are published.

India Delhi He doesn’t know anything about India, not even its language, so he starts to collect everything could be useful to learn English and the Indian culture. Benares

China Beijing Here he has got the same problem, so he combines his work with readings about Chinese traditions and the reading of Herodotus’s book. He approaches the theories of Mao Zedong and visits lots of famous places, but when he is in the middle of his studies, he has to return in Poland.

Africa Egypt Congo Then he moves to Africa, a continent tormented by wars, with his inseparable mate, Herodotus.

Africa Senegal Ethiopia He moves to Egypt, Congo, Ethipia and Senegal.

Kapuściński compares himself to Herodotus considering him the first real journalist in human history and travels feeling the greek reporter at his side as a travel companion.

“We do not really know what draws a human being out into the world. Is it curiosity? A hunger for experience? An addiction to wonderment? The man who ceases to be astonished is hollow, possessed of an extinguished heart. If he believes that everything has already happened, that he has seen it all, then something most precious has died within him—the delight in life.” Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodothus