 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska | |
|---|---|
 circa 1940 | |
| Born | 24 November 1891 |
| Died | 9 July 1945(1945-07-09) (aged 53) Manchester, England |
| Occupation | Poet, dramatist |
| Language | Polish |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Period | Poland's interwar period |
| Notable works | Baba-dziwo Gołąb ofiarny |
| Spouse | Władysław Bzowski(1915-1919) Jan Gwalbert Pawlikowski(1919-1929) Stefan Jasnorzewski(1931) |
| Website | |
| maria-pawlikowska-jasnorzewska | |
Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska,née Kossak (24 November 1891 – 9 July 1945), was aPolish poet. She was known as the "PolishSappho" and "queen of lyrical poetry" duringPoland's interwar period.[1] She was also a dramatist.
.jpg)
Born inKraków into a family of painters, Maria Kossak grew up in the manor house known as theKossakówka surrounded by artists, writers, and intellectuals. Her grandfather,Juliusz Kossak, and father,Wojciech Kossak, were both professional painters famous for their depictions of historical scenes and horses. Her younger sister,Magdalena Samozwaniec, was also a popular writer of satire.
Fluent in French, English, and German, in her youth, Kossak divided her time between painting and poetry. It was only during her marriage to Jan Pawlikowski—after the annulment of her first marriage to Władysław Bzowski—that her literary interests prevailed, inspired by the couple's discussions about her poetic output and the world of literature in general. Their passionate relationship based on shared interests and mutual love was an endless source of poetic inspiration for her. However, her second marriage also failed.
Following her divorce, Maria Pawlikowska became associated with theWarsaw-basedSkamander group of poets:Julian Tuwim,Jan Lechoń, Kazimierz Wierzyński, and other renowned writers such asJarosław Iwaszkiewicz, Irena Krzywicka, Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna andTadeusz Boy-Żeleński. In the inter-war period Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska published twelve volumes of poetry and established herself as one of the most innovative poets of the era.
She began her career as aplaywright in 1924, with her first farce,Archibald the Chauffeur, produced in Warsaw. By 1939 she had written fifteen plays whose treatment of taboo topics such asabortion, extramarital affairs, andincest provoked scandals. She was compared by critics toMolière,Marivaux,Oscar Wilde,George Bernard Shaw, andWitkacy.[2] Her plays depicted her unconventional approach to motherhood, which she understood as a painful obligation that ends mutual passion. She spoke in support of a woman's right to choose.
In 1939, at the onset ofWorld War II, she followed her third husband, Stefan Jasnorzewski, toEngland. She was diagnosed with bone cancer in 1944, soon becominghemiplegic, and on 9 July 1945 died inManchester, cared for to the last by her husband. She is buried with her husband inSouthern Cemetery, Manchester.
In 1937 Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska wrote an anti-Nazi play,Baba-dziwo, which was translated into English by Elwira M. Grossman and Paul J. Kelly asA Woman of Wonder.
A Woman of Wonder depicts the ruthless dictatorship of [Her Highness] Valida Vrana in a country called Ritonia. Under Valida, people are ranked according to the number of children they have, with boys being the preferred sex. In Ritonia motherhood is not only a compulsory duty but also a tribute to "Her Motherly Highness." Thus the lives of women are reduced to a basic procreative function. The plot centres on the way a childless couple, Petronika and Norman, cope with this regime. Petronika is a chemist and Norman is a former governmental minister who lost his job because of his wife's insubordination. Unlike Petronika, Norman maintains the illusion of being Valida's faithful follower, even though he despises her. This difference in attitude creates tension in the marriage and even though Petronika asks for a divorce, the couple eventually remains together. While Norman waits passively for better times, Petronika prepares a secret weapon in her laboratory. Knowing Valida's weakness for perfume, she creates an intoxicating substance that eventually renders the vicious ruler powerless.[1]
