Maria Kownacka
Maria Kownacka | |
---|---|
Born | Maria Kownacka 11 September 1894 Słup, Privislinsky Krai, Russian Empire |
Died | 27 February 1982 Warsaw, Polish People's Republic | (aged 87)
Occupation | Writer, teacher |
Genre | Fiction, children's literature |
Notable works | Plastusiowy pamiętnik |
Maria Kownacka (1894–1982) was a Polish writer, translator and editor, specializing in children's literature. She was a long-time writer of Płomyk. Her best-known work is the series of books about "Plastuś", that began with Plastusiowy pamiętnik (1936).[1]
Biography
Kownacka was born on 11 September 1894 in Słup, partitioned Poland. She became a village schoolteacher at the age of 18, teaching in Dębowa Góra in 1914.[2][1] From 1915 to 1918 she worked as a teacher in Minsk, where she also studied literature.[1] As she was teaching in Polish, her activities were considered part of the illegal underground activism.[3] It is around that time she also begun her career as a writer. Later she founded her own school in Krzywda on land owned by a relative. As she did not have sufficient funds to buy books, she wrote down her own stories for the children.[1]
In 1919 she debuted as a writer, with her first work published in magazines for children, Płomyk and Płomyczek.[1]
Due to a disease of the throat, she was forced to abandon her budding career as a teacher.
By 1939 she published eight books,[2] including collections of short stories for children Bajowe bajeczki i świerszczykowe skrzypeczki, czyli o straszliwym smoku i dzielnym szewczyku, prześlicznej królewnie i królu Gwoździku (1935), Kukuryku na ręczniku (1936) and a stage play Cztery mile za pięć (1937). She was also the chief dramaturgist of the doll theater Teatr Baj .[1]
In
She continued publishing children's literature after the war: Kajtkowe przygody (1948), Tajemnica uskrzydlonego serca (1948), Dzieci z Leszczynowej Górki (with Zofia Malicka, 1952), Rogaś z Doliny Roztoki (1957), Szkoła nad obłokami (1958), Za żywopłotem (1971), Na tropach węża Eskulapa (with Kazimierz Garstka, 1980).[1] In 1963 she also co-authored (with Maria Kowalewska a children's encyclopedia about nature, Głos przyrody.[1]
She died on 27 February 1982 in Warsaw. She was buried in the Powązki Cemetery.[1]
Awards
She received the:
- Silver Cross of Merit (1948)[1]
- Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1952)[1]
- Order of the Smile (1971)[1]
- Medal of the Commission of the National Education (1975)[1]
- Orle Pióro (1978)[1]
Remembrance
Her house in Warsaw became a small museum (Memorial Room of Maria Kownacka ) open to the public in 1990.[1][5]
Many kindergartens in Poland are named after characters from her books.[1]
In 2016 a biography of her, Kownacka. Ta od Plastusia, was published.[1][6]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "Maria Kownacka | Życie i twórczość | Artysta". Culture.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-08-06.
- ^ a b c Faron, Bolesław (1971). "Z dziejów prasy Powstania Warszawskiego ("Jawnutka" i "Dziennik Dziecięcy")". Rocznik Historii Czasopiśmiennictwa Polskiego (in Polish). 10 (2): 171–187.
- ^ a b c "Maria Kownacka". Encyklopedia teatru polskiego (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-08-29.
- ISBN 978-90-04-33537-0.
- ^ "Muzeum". Piąta Kolonia (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-08-29.
- ^ Nogaś, Michał (3 January 2017). "Kownacka. Ta od Plastusia". Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-08-29.