WARSAW: The Polish-French writer and dramatist Slawomir Mrozek died on Thursday at his home in France, aged 83, his publishers announced.

Born on June 29, 1930 in the town of Borzecin, southern Poland, Mrozek began his working life in newspapers and the Polish theater, developing his darkly comic style and affection for the absurd.

In 1963, Mrozek left Poland for Italy and ultimately France, where in 1968 he published a letter of protest in French newspaper Le Monde against the Soviet bloc invasion of Czechoslovakia.

He then applied for political asylum in France, and obtained citizenship 10 years later.

In 1981, in protest against a coup led by General Wojciech Jaruzelski, Mrozek temporarily withdrew the authorization for his books to be published in Poland. And in 1989, he left France for Mexico, before returning to Poland in 1996. He lived in the French Rivieria city of Nice from 2008 until his death.

Borzecin’s writing was published largely in French but he wrote in his native Polish. His complete works ran to 13 volumes published by the French Noir sur Blanc publishing house, and included his autobiography “Balthazar” and “Dessins” (Drawings), a collection of his satirical newspaper cartoons.

His best-know works include 1957 short-story collection “Elephant” and “Tango,” a 1965 play.

Mrozec was decorated with the French Legion d’honneur for his contribution to French culture in 2003.