Józefa Maria Hennelowa (1 April 1925 – 22 August 2020) was a Polish publicist, journalist, columnist, Catholic intellectual, and politician. As a journalist, she spent more than seven decades as a reporter and editor at ''

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 ...

'', a Catholic weekly newspaper headquartered in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. Hennelowa also served in the

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

, the lower house of the

Parliament of Poland The parliament of Poland is the bicameral legislature of Poland. It is composed of an upper house (the Senate) and a lower house (the Sejm). Both houses are accommodated in the Sejm and Senate Complex in Warsaw. The Constitution of Poland does ...

, from 1989 until 1993 during the country's transition from communism to democracy.

Biography

Józefa Hennelowa was born Józefa Maria Golmont on 1 April 1925 in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, Poland (modern-day

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

), to an ethnic Polish family. Her father was a

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

who created

cassock The cassock, or soutane, is a Christian clerical clothing, clerical coat used by the clergy and Consecrated life, male religious of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, in addition to some clergy in ...

s for Catholic clergy. She originally wanted to be a

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists * List of contemporary classical violinists * List of jazz violinists * List of popular music violinists * List of Indian violinists * List of Persian violinists * Li ...

, rather than a journalist, and became interested in

Juliusz Osterwa Juliusz Osterwa, born Julian Andrzej Maluszek (23 June 1885 – 10 May 1947), was a renowned Polish actor, theatre director and art theoretician active in the interwar period. He was the founder of Theatre Reduta, the first experimental stage in Wa ...

's life and career while studying in Kraków. 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 women's wing of the

Gray Ranks Grey Ranks () was a codename for the underground paramilitary Polish Scouting Association () during World War II. The wartime organisation was created on 27 September 1939, actively resisted and fought German occupation in Warsaw until 18 ...

, an underground resistance group opposed to the German occupation, and secretly taught in Vilnius. Following the war and the incorporation of Vilnius into the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, Hennelowa moved to the new post-war Poland. She was a graduate of

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

in Kraków. She worked as the Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences in Kraków from 1954 to 1956 and then the Kraków office of the

Ossolineum Ossoliński National Institute (, ZNiO), or the Ossolineum is a Polish cultural Foundation (non-profit), foundation, publishing house, archival institute and a research centre of national significance founded in 1817 in Lwów (now Lviv). Located ...

. Hennelowa joined the Klub Inteligencji Katolickiej, or Club of Catholic Intelligentsia, in 1956. She also became involved with the Association of Polish Journalists. Hennelowa first joined the staff of ''

'', a Catholic weekly published in Kraków, as a

proofreader Proofreading is a phase in the process of publishing where galley proofs are compared against the original manuscripts or graphic artworks, to identify transcription errors in the typesetting process. In the past, proofreaders would place co ...

in 1948. She rose over her career to become a reporter, then the newspaper's editor, and secretary of the editorial office. From 1982 until 2012, Hennelowa published a series of regular columns and opinion pieces, including "Widziane z Domu", "Z Domu i not Only", "Votum separatum", and "Na marginesie." She remained deputy editor-in-chief until 2008. In 1984, Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, a Catholic priest associated with

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

, was assassinated by agents from the

Ministry of Public Security Ministry of Public Security can refer to: * Ministry of Justice and Public Security (Brazil) * Ministry of Public Security of Burundi * Ministry of Public Security (Chile) * Ministry of Public Security (China) * Ministry of Public Security of Co ...

, the country's secret police. Hennelowa covered the murder trial for ''

'', though state censors made her work difficult. In 1989, as Communist rule began to wane, Hennelowa and her husband, , joined the

Citizens' Movement for Democratic Action The Citizens' Movement for Democratic Action (, ROAD) was a List of political parties in Poland, political faction in Poland coalescing several members of the Solidarity Citizens' Committee. History Background On 24 August 1989, Tadeusz Mazowi ...

(ROAD), a short-lived political party. Hennelowa was elected to the

Contract Sejm Contract Sejm () is a term commonly applied to the Sejm ("parliament") elected in the Polish parliamentary elections of 1989. The ''contract'' refers to an agreement reached by the Polish United Workers' Party and the Solidarność ("solidarity ...

, the transitional parliament, in 1989 as a ROAD candidate, serving her first term from 1989 to 1991. When ROAD split, she and her faction joined Tadeusz Mazowiecki's new Democratic Union (UD), where she became one the party's founding members in 1990. As a UD member, Hennelowa was re-elected to the Sejm in 1991, where she served until 1993. Hennelowa later became a member of the Freedom Union from 1994 to 1999. She ran afoul of some in the Polish political right-wing, who falsely accused her of being pro-abortion. Hennelowa, however, was

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...

, but she also strongly opposed punishments for women who chose to undergo an abortion. Hennelowa belonged to

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

from 1990 to 1996, the Association "Polish Community", also from 1990 until 1996, and the (SKOZK) until 2008. She was the author of numerous books and publications, many of which focused on

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. She also co-authored a biography of actor

, which she wrote with Jerzy Szaniawski. For her work, Hennelova was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta and the

Order of St. Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great (; ) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of the five Papal order of knighthood, orders of knighthood of th ...

, one of the Vatican's highest honors, which was presented to her by Cardinal

Stanisław Dziwisz Stanisław Jan Dziwisz (; born 27 April 1939) is a Polish Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Kraków from 2005 to 2016. He was created a cardinal in 2006. He was a long-time and influential aide to Pope John Paul II, a friend of Pope ...

. Józefa Hennelowa died on 22 August 2020 at the age of 95. Her husband, , a

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

professor, died in 2014. The couple had three children: Agnieszka (born 1955), Teresa (born 1956), and Franciszek (born 1962).

Orders and decorations

* Cross of Merit (1974) * Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2000) * (2001) * (June 2012) * (2014) *

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

(2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hennelowa, Jozefa 1925 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Polish journalists Polish columnists Polish women columnists Polish newspaper editors Polish women editors Members of the Polish Sejm 1991–1993 Members of the Contract Sejm Women members of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland Polish women writers Democratic Union (Poland) politicians Freedom Union (Poland) politicians Recipients of the Cross of Merit (Poland) Dames of St. Gregory the Great Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta Jagiellonian University alumni Politicians from Vilnius Journalists from Kraków Journalists from Vilnius Burials at Rakowicki Cemetery 21st-century Polish journalists 20th-century Polish women journalists 21st-century Polish women journalists

Biography

Orders and decorations

See also

References