Agata Maria Passent (born 4 February 1973) is a Polish journalist and writer.

Biography

Passent was born in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

into a family with

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

roots, as a daughter of a journalist

Daniel Passent Daniel Passent (28 April 1938 – 14 February 2022) was a Polish journalist and writer. He was the author of the ''En passant'' blog, which was appearing as a column in a Polish weekly ''Polityka''. Biography Passent was born in Stanisławów, ...

and a poet

Agnieszka Osiecka Agnieszka Osiecka (Polish pronunciation: ; 9 October 1936 – 7 March 1997) was a Polish poet, writer, author of theatre and television screenplays, film director and journalist. She was a prominent Polish songwriter, having authored the lyrics to ...

. Her Christian maternal grandparents – Wiktor Osiecki, a pianist and Maria Sztechman – survived

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and lived in

Saska Kępa Saska Kępa (, ''Saxon Meadow'') is a neighbourhood in Warsaw, Poland, part of the Praga Południe (South Praga) district, with a population of over 40.000 inhabitants. It is also the home to one of Warsaw's largest urban parks, the Skaryszew Pa ...

. Her Jewish paternal grandparents were killed during the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

in the

Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (, officially , ; ) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the Nazi Germany, German authorities within the new General Government territory of Occupat ...

. Passent, who spent her childhood in

Falenica Falenica is a part of Wawer, one of districts of Warsaw, located on the right bank of the Vistula, in the far southeastern corner of the city. Until 1951 it was a separate village, then it became part of Warsaw. Before the Second World War Falen ...

, came back to Warsaw with her family at the age of five. In 1979 they moved to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, then back to Warsaw and then to

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: People * Newton (surname), including a list of people with the surname * ...

, where she graduated from the

Buckingham Browne & Nichols Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, often referred to as BB&N, is an independent co-educational day school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, educating students from pre-kindergarten (called Beginners) through twelfth grade. Graduates of the schoo ...

school.Agata Passent's Biography
(Polish) In 1995 Agata Passent graduated with a major in

German studies German studies is an academic field that researches, documents and disseminates German language, literature, and culture in its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies therefore often focus on German culture, German h ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and she returned to Poland. In 1996 Passent debuted as a journalist in the Polish magazine, ''Twój Styl'' (En. ''Your Style''). One year later, she founded The Okularnicy Foundation (En. The Nerds' Foundation), whose main purpose is to protect and popularise Agnieszka Osiecka's works. In the years 2005–2006 Passent was connected with Radio PiN and since 2006 she is writing

feuilleton A ''feuilleton'' (; a diminutive of , the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art criticism, a chronicle ...

s for the magazine ''Twoje Dziecko'' (En. ''Your Child''). Passent has been married twice: to Wojciech Borowski in 2001 and to Wojciech Kuczok, a writer, whom she married in 2013. She has a son, Jakub, with photographer Wojciech Wieteska. Passent describes herself as an atheist.''Kim są polskie ateistki? (Who are the Polish atheists?)''
TVN (Polish)

Books

*''Stacja Warszawa'' (''Station Warsaw''), 2007. *''Jest fantastycznie'' (''It's fantastic''), 2004. *''Miastówka'', 2002. *''Olbiński i opera'' (''Olbiński and the opera''), 2003. *''Pałac wiecznie żywy'' (''Long live the Palace''), 2004. *''Kto to Pani zrobił?'', 2014.

External links

Agata Passent's blog
(in Polish).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Passent Agata 1973 births 20th-century Polish Jews 21st-century Polish Jews 21st-century Polish journalists Living people Harvard University alumni Jewish atheists Polish atheists Polish women writers Polish women journalists Buckingham Browne & Nichols School alumni