Maria Dąbrowska (; born Maria Szumska; 6 October 1889 – 19 May 1965) was a Polish writer,

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

ist, journalist and playwright, author of the popular Polish historical novel ''Noce i dnie'' (Nights and Days) written between 1932 and 1934 in four separate volumes. The novel was made into a film by the same title in 1975 by

Jerzy Antczak Jerzy Antczak (born 25 December 1929, in Włodzimierz Wołyński) is a Polish film director. His film ''Nights and Days'' was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was entered into the 26th Berlin International Film Fe ...

. Dąbrowska was awarded the prestigious Golden Laurel of the

Polish Academy of Literature The Polish Academy of Literature ( pl, Polska Akademia Literatury, PAL) was one of the most important state institutions of literary life in the Second Polish Republic, operating between 1933 and 1939 with the headquarters in Warsaw. It was foun ...

in 1935. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times. She translated Samuel Pepys'

Diary A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal ...

into Polish.

Biography

Dąbrowska was born Maria Szumska in Russów near

Kalisz (The oldest city of Poland) , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town , image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...

, Congress Poland, under Tsarist military control. Her parents belonged to the impoverished landed gentry ( ziemiaństwo). Maria suffered from

esotropia Esotropia is a form of strabismus in which one or both eyes turns inward. The condition can be constantly present, or occur intermittently, and can give the affected individual a "cross-eyed" appearance. It is the opposite of exotropia and usual ...

, giving her a "cross-eyed" appearance. She studied sociology, philosophy, and natural sciences in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

and

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, and settled in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

in 1917. Interested in both literature and politics, she devoted herself to help those born into poverty. In the interwar period, Dąbrowska worked temporarily in the Polish Ministry of Agriculture while venturing more and more into newspaper reporting and public life. In 1927 she became more involved in writing about

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

. In her novels,

plays Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

and newspaper articles she analyzed the psychological consequences of hardship and life's traumas in the world of ordinary people. Maria married Marian Dąbrowski, who died suddenly when she was 36. Her second long-term partner was the 19-years-older Stanisław Stempowski, with whom she lived in a common-law marriage until the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. During the

occupation of Poland Occupation commonly refers to: * Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, t ...

, she stayed in Warsaw and supported the cultural life of the Polish underground. At about that time, she met Anna Kowalska and Jerzy Kowalski, a literary couple. They formed a

ménage à trois A () is a domestic arrangement and committed relationship with three people in polyamorous romantic or sexual relations with each other, and often dwelling together; typically a traditional marriage between a man and woman along with anothe ...

, and Maria had a child by Jerzy in 1946, but he died suddenly in 1948. The two women stayed together in a relationship for the next 20 years, although Maria tried to get Anna married off again. Dąbrowska was awarded the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievement ...

during the Stalinist period. In 1964 she was one of the signatories of the so-called ''

Letter of 34 ''Letter of 34'' – two-sentence protest letter of Polish intellectuals against censorship in Communist Poland, addressed to the Prime Minister Józef Cyrankiewicz, delivered on 14 March 1964 to by Antoni Słonimski. The name refers to the numb ...

'' to Prime Minister

Józef Cyrankiewicz Józef Adam Zygmunt Cyrankiewicz (; 23 April 1911 – 20 January 1989) was a Polish Socialist (PPS) and after 1948 Communist politician. He served as premier of the Polish People's Republic between 1947 and 1952, and again for 16 years between ...

, regarding freedom of culture. She died in 1965 at the age of 75, at the clinic in Warsaw.

Works

*''Dzieci ojczyzny'' (''Fatherland's Children''), 1918 *''Gałąź czereśni'' (''The Cherry Branch''), 1922 *''Uśmiech dzieciństwa'', (''The Smile of Childhood'') 1923 *''Ludzie stamtąd'', 1926 *''Marcin Kozera'', 1927 *''Dzikie ziele'', 1925-1929 *''Noce i dnie'' (''Nights and Days''), 1932 - 1934
English translation fragment
*''Znaki życia'' (''The Signs of Life''), 1938 *''Gwiazda zaranna'', (''The Morning Star'') 1955 * ''Dzienniki'' (''Journals''), (1914-1965)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dabrowska, Maria 1889 births 1965 deaths 20th-century essayists 20th-century Polish dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Polish non-fiction writers 20th-century Polish novelists 20th-century Polish women writers 20th-century short story writers 20th-century translators Bisexual women Bisexual novelists Bisexual dramatists and playwrights Burials at Powązki Cemetery Commanders with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta Cooperative advocates English–Polish translators Existentialists Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature Polish LGBT dramatists and playwrights Polish LGBT journalists Polish LGBT novelists Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta People from Kalisz County People from Kalisz Governorate People from Pruszków County Polish diarists Polish historical novelists Polish human rights activists Women human rights activists 20th-century Polish nobility Polish opinion journalists Polish women journalists Polish reporters and correspondents Polish sociologists Polish translators Polish women activists Polish women dramatists and playwrights Polish women essayists Polish women novelists Psychological fiction writers Recipients of the Cross of Independence Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland) Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1944–1989) Recipients of the Order of the Banner of Work Russian–Polish translators Women diarists Women historical novelists Polish women sociologists Writers from Warsaw Writers of historical fiction set in the modern age Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland)

Biography

Works

See also

References