In 1929 he completed a secondary school in Warsaw, and then a music conservatory, supplementing his musical education with studies in Paris (1935-37). For two years he also studied Polish philology and philosophy at the University of Warsaw. He made his debut as a music critic in the columns of the “Zet” magazine; and as a political journalist – in the conservative “Bunt Młodych”. He fought in the September Campaign of 1939 and spent the period of German occupation in Warsaw, working as a piano player and music teacher and also collaborating with the Information and Culture Department of the Government Delegation for Poland. He took part in the Warsaw Uprising and was wounded. Since 1945 he lived in Kraków, where he launched and edited the “Ruch Muzyczny” magazine (1945-49); he lectured at the State Higher School of Music in 1945-49, but was fired for political beliefs. From March 1945 until 1989 he was the columnist of “Tygodnik Powszechny”. He also engaged in music criticism and published his reviews in the columns of other magazines and wrote novels (under the pen-name of Teodor Klon); he composed musical works, too. Since 1961 he lived in Warsaw and, after 1956, was involved in the activities of various Catholic groups. He even held a parliamentary seat for the “Znak”Catholic Parliamentary Members’ Circle (in 1957-61 and 1961-65), taking up, together with Stanisław Stomma, a programme for reconciliation with the USSR regarded as an heir of the Russian Empire, which stipulated for the recognition of its interests, and the recognition of the Polish People’s Republic as the legitimate Polish State in which the Poles should build up a sphere of cultural and political autonomy, renouncing the Marxist ideology. In 1964 he signed the so-called “Letter of the 34”, which was Polish intellectuals’ protest against the State’s cultural policy. For his criticism of the authorities expressed at the session of Polish Writers’ Union in February 1968 (when he used, among others, his famous expression –‘a dictatorship of dunces’) he was beaten by the functionaries of the Security Service (SB) and was strictly forbidden to publish for three years. In the meantime, he issued five novels under the pen-name of Tomasz Staliński through the Polish Literary Institute in Paris and he was a par writer for the “Kultura” magazine. He also became the regular publicist of the Semizdat magazines - that is, the underground press, since its creation towards the end of the 1970’s. Following some disagreements with the editing board of “Tygodnik Powszechny”, from 1990 he published his column in the “Wprost” weekly; he also began to grant his own awards for eminent politicians, publicists, and entrepreneurs. He is the author of the novels Sprzysiężenie (1947), Widziane z góry (1967), Cienie w pieczarze (1987), Wszystko inaczej (1986); of sellections of essays and articles: Polityka i sztuka (1949), Rzeczy małe (1956), Gwiazdozbiór muzyczny (1958), Grażyna Bacewicz i jej czasy (1964), 1000 razy głową w ściany (1972), Materii pomieszanie (1973), Na czym polega socjalizm? (1979), Bez cenzury (1983), Wołanie na puszczy (1987), Lata pozłacane, lata szare (1989), Abecadło Kisiela (1990), Dzienniki (1996). He also composed numerous musical works and theatrical plays.