Anna Świderkówna (5 December 1925 – 16 August 2008) was a Polish writer and educator.

Biography

She 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 ...

. During

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 ...

, she joined the

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

and was a nurse in an army hospital during the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

in 1944. She was captured, sent to a

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

in Germany and released in June 1945. She studied classical

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

. In 1957, she went to Paris on a scholarship to study at the Institut de Papyrologie de la Sorbonne. In 1958, Świderkówna spent nine months in Egypt working on papyri from the

Graeco-Roman Museum The Graeco-Roman Museum is an archaeological museum located in Alexandria, Egypt. Its collection of over 40,000 objects includes sculptures, mosaics, woodwork, and coins. History Erected in 1892, it was first built in a five-room apartment, in ...

for the

Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology The Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw (PCMA UW; ) operates as an independent research institute of the University of Warsaw under the present name since 1990. It is dedicated to organizing, implementing and coordina ...

. She was head of the Department of

Papyrology Papyrology is the study of manuscripts of ancient literature, correspondence, legal archives, etc., preserved on portable media from antiquity, the most common form of which is papyrus, the principal writing material in the ancient civilizations ...

at the University of Warsaw from 1961 to 1991. In 1964, with Mariangela Vandoni, she published ''Papyrus grecs du Musée Gréco-Romain d’ Alexandrie''. She published a number of books in Polish on historical topics for the general public, including ''Kiedy piaski egipskie przemówiły po grecku'' ("When the Egyptian Sands Spoke in Greek") (1959), ''Historie nieznane historii'' ("Histories Unknown to History") (1962), ''Hellenika. Wizerunek epoki od Aleksandra do Augusta'' ("Hellenica. The Age from Alexander to Augustus") (1974) and ''Siedem Kleopatr'' ("Seven Cleopatras") (1978). Some of her writing was translated into Czech and Hungarian. She was editor for ' ("Dictionary of ancient writers"). Świderkówna also published articles in various magazines, including ''

Tygodnik Powszechny ''Tygodnik Powszechny'' (, ''The Common Weekly'') is a Polish Roman Catholic weekly magazine, published in Kraków, which focuses on social, cultural and political issues. It was established in 1945 under the auspices of Cardinal Adam Stefan Sap ...

'' and ''

Gazeta Wyborcza (; ''The Electoral Gazette'' in English) is a Polish nationwide daily newspaper based in Warsaw, Poland. It was launched on 8 May 1989 on the basis of the Polish Round Table Agreement and as a press organ of the Solidarity (Polish trade union), t ...

''. In 1978, she joined the

Order of Saint Benedict The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

Żarnowiec Żarnowiec is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Krokowa, within Puck County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies close to Żarnowieckie Lake, approximately west of Krokowa, north-west of Puck, and north-west ...

. However, she was not accepted as a nun and left the convent. She went on to write a number of books about the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, including a series ''Rozmowy o Biblii'' ("Talks on the Bible") (1994-2006). Świderkówna died in Warsaw, 16 August 2008, at the age of 82.

Awards

In 2007, she received the literary prize awarded by the Polish

PEN PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

Club. She was posthumously awarded the Officer's Cross in the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swiderkowna, Anna 1925 births 2008 deaths Polish women historians Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta University of Warsaw alumni Academic staff of the University of Warsaw Papyrologists Home Army members 20th-century Polish historians 20th-century Polish women writers