When Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets hit the market in the summer of 1997, readers were instantly enthralled. In the years that followed, British author J.K. Rowling’s story about the young wizard and his friends saw six more highly successful sequels, all of which were adapted into blockbuster films. Given the massive popularity of both the books and the movies, it’s surprising that no one noticed for over 25 years that a character named Harry Potter had appeared in literature much earlier.
J.K. Rowling Didn’t Create Harry Potter? A Polish Author Wrote About Him 25 Years Before Her Debut
It turns out that Harry Potter first appeared in 1972 in a short story by Jan Rostworowski, a poet and writer from Kraków. The story was published in the magazine "Życie Literackie" (Literary Life). Rostworowski’s character was a young man with delicate features, living in a British provincial town.
Unlike Rowling’s Harry Potter, this earlier character was not a wizard but ran a shop selling Kraków sausage and pickles.
His name is Harry Potter, or perhaps Heniek Garncarz in Polish
Rostworowski wrote in a story that mostly explored relationships between Poles and the English, as well as their views on immigrants. So, does this raise the question of plagiarism?
Is the Harry Potter Series a Plagiarism Case? What Connects Rowling’s Character to the Polish Writer’s Story
If you’re wondering whether there’s any real connection between Rostworowski’s Harry Potter and the one created by Rowling, the answer is yes - sort of. Apart from the same name, both characters are of a similar age, but that’s where the similarities end. Therefore, it’s not reasonable to accuse Rowling of plagiarism or even inspiration, as it’s highly unlikely that she ever came across the Polish author’s story. Rostworowski’s work was never translated into English.
It’s worth noting, however, that Rostworowski drew on his personal experiences in his writing, which means he may have known someone named Harry Potter. It’s possible that this person could also have been known to Rowling. However, this is something we will likely never know.
