Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, pseudonym Witkacy, was a Polish painter, novelist, and playwright, well known as a dramatist in the period between the two world wars. After studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, Witkiewicz traveled in Germany, France, and Italy. In 1914 he left for Australia as the artist and photographer of an anthropological expedition led by Bronisław Malinowski. Three years later, as a reserve officer in the Russian Army, Witkiewicz witnessed the Russian…