He was born on 29 April 1865 in Siekierno near Bodzentyn. He was a school friend of Stefan Żeromski. He completed his secondary education in Kielce, and studied in Warsaw, Petrograd and Kiev. In the 1980s, he became involved with the national democrats – he joined the Zet organization (1887), and then the National League (1889). In the years 1892-94, together with Stefan Żeromski, who was to become a famous Polish writer, he was in charge of the library at the Polish Museum in Rapperswil. Between 1895 and 1899, he headed the Warsaw weekly “Głos”. In 1901, he moved to Lviv, where he became the editor-in-chief of “Słowo Polskie” (1902-1915). In 1915, he founded Sprawa Polska in Petrograd. After returning to Warsaw, he became the editor-in-chief of “Gazeta Warszawska” (1918-1925). In 1925, he became editor-in-chief of “Myśl Narodowa”, and remained in charge of it until 1939. In the years 1930-1935, he sat in the Senate of the Republic of Poland. Zygmunt Wasilewski was not only a highly-esteemed publicist – one of the leading writers of the national democratic camp – but also a recognised literary critic. His literary studies earned him an award from the Academy of Learning (1935, for his book about Cyprian Kamil Norwid), and in 1938, he received a lifetime achievement award from the editors of the “Prosto z Mostu” weekly. He spent the last years of his life in Wisła, living in the House under the Sycamore Tree. He died on 25 October 1948. His best known writings include: Mickiewicz i Słowacki (Mickiewicz and Słowacki), Jan Kasprowicz, Norwid, Na wschodnim posterunku (On the Eastern Outpost), O życiu i katastrofach cywilizacji narodowej (About the Life and Disasters of the National Civilisation), Demokracja narodowa (The National Democracy).