Bolesław Leśmian was born January 22, 1877 in Warsaw, Congress Poland, Russian Empire to a family of Polonized Jewish intelligentsia. He spent his childhood and youth in Kiev, where he graduated from the law faculty of Saint Vladimir University. In 1901, he returned to Warsaw. From there, he set off on a journey to various European cities, including Munich and Paris, where he married a painter, Zofia Chylińska. Heavily influenced by French modernists, Leśmian returned to Warsaw, where he became one of the founders of an experimental "Artistic Theatre". There he also met one of his closest friends, Zenon Przesmycki, with whom he became involved in the publication of "Chimera", an art newspaper.