--- title: "2 Jan Kott Quotes - Famous Literary historian (Shakespeare our contemporary)" description: "Jan Kott was a Polish political activist, critic and theoretician of the theatre. Browse 2 Jan Kott quotes." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b012/author-jan-kott-47012.jpg" --- ![Portrait of Jan Kott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b012/author-jan-kott-47012.jpg) # Jan Kott (1914–2001) Literary Historian United States **2** quotes in **9** categories Rate this collection: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet Jan Kott was a literary historian from the United States, best known for *Shakespeare our contemporary*. ## Quick Facts About Jan Kott Born October 27, 1914 Died December 23, 2001 Nationality United States Profession Literary Historian Notable works Shakespeare our contemporary ## About Jan Kott Jan Kott was a Polish political activist, critic and theoretician of the theatre. A leading proponent of Stalinism in Poland for nearly a decade after the Soviet takeover, Kott renounced his Communist Party membership in 1957 following the anti-Stalinist Polish October of 1956. He defected to the United States in 1965. He is regarded as having considerable influence upon Western productions of Shakespeare in the second half of the 20th century. ## Awards & Honors Herder Prize Guggenheim Fellowship Work Flag Order, 2nd class Cross of Valour (1944) George Jean Nathan Award ## Quotes by Jan Kott > [Fate is nonawareness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-kott/fate-is-nonawareness/) [Jan Kott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-kott/) [Destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destiny/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/664/jan-kott-94594_destiny_fate-is-nonawareness-2879815_2879815.jpg) > [It does not matter what has been made of us; what matters is what we ourselves make of what has been made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-kott/it-does-not-matter-what-has-been-made-of-us-what-matters-is-what-we/) [Jan Kott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-kott/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a51/jan-kott-94594_doe_it-does-not-matter-what-has-been-made-of_3025335.jpg) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-kott/#itemlist", "name": "Jan Kott Quotes", "numberOfItems": 2, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Fate is nonawareness.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jan Kott" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-kott/fate-is-nonawareness/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/664/jan-kott-94594_destiny_fate-is-nonawareness-2879815_2879815.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/664/jan-kott-94594_destiny_fate-is-nonawareness-2879815_2879815.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/664/jan-kott-94594_destiny_fate-is-nonawareness-2879815_2879815.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Fate is nonawareness.” — Jan Kott", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It does not matter what has been made of us; what matters is what we ourselves make of what has been made of us.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jan Kott" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-kott/it-does-not-matter-what-has-been-made-of-us-what-matters-is-what-we/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a51/jan-kott-94594_doe_it-does-not-matter-what-has-been-made-of_3025335.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a51/jan-kott-94594_doe_it-does-not-matter-what-has-been-made-of_3025335.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a51/jan-kott-94594_doe_it-does-not-matter-what-has-been-made-of_3025335.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It does not matter what has been made of us; what matters is what we ourselves make of what has been made of…” — Jan Kott", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-kott/#person", "name": "Jan Kott", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-kott/", "image": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b012/author-jan-kott-47012.jpg" }, { "@type": "ProfilePage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-kott/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-kott/", "name": "Jan Kott", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-kott/#person" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/664/jan-kott-94594_destiny_fate-is-nonawareness-2879815_2879815.jpg" }, "description": "Jan Kott was a Polish political activist, critic and theoretician of the theatre. 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