Kazimiera Szczuka (Polish pronunciation: ; born 22 June 1966 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 ...

) is a Polish historian of literature,

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

, known from the Polish edition of ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

''.

Life and career

She was born on 22 June 1966 to father Stanisław Szczuka, a lawyer and a political dissident in the times of PRL, and mother Janina (''née'' Winawer), a doctor from an assimilated Polish-Jewish family. She is a great-great-granddaughter of chess player

Szymon Winawer Szymon Abramowicz Winawer (March 6, 1838 – November 29, 1919) was a Polish chess player who won the German Chess Championship in 1883. Tournament and match results At the Paris 1867 tournament held at the Café de la Régence, his first inte ...

. She is a graduate of 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 ...

where she obtained her

MA degree A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

under supervision of

Maria Janion Maria Janion (24 December 1926 – 23 August 2020) was a Polish scholar, literary theorist and critic, as well as a feminist. She was a professor at the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences, specialising in literary Ro ...

. She published articles in such newspapers and magazines as ''

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 ...

'', ''Res Publica Nova'', ''Teksty Drugie'' and ''Zadra''. She also taught

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...

at the Institute of Literary Research of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...

(PAN). She has collaborated with the ''

Krytyka Polityczna ''Krytyka Polityczna'' (; "The Political Critique") is a network of Polish left-wing intellectuals. The network is based around a journal of the same name founded by Sławomir Sierakowski in 2002, but is open to voices from across the political s ...

'' circle of intellectuals and Feminoteka

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

organization. In 2003, she was one of the host of the ''Pegaz'' culture programme aired on the Polish state-run television

Telewizja Polska Telewizja Polska S.A. (; TVP), also known in English as Polish Television, is a Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster in Poland, founded in 1952. It is the oldest and largest Polish television network. After 2015, when the right-wing po ...

(TVP). She was dismissed by TVP after she publicly used swear words in a live interview with

Manuela Gretkowska Manuela Gretkowska (6 October 1964) is a Polish writer, screenwriter, feminist and politician. She is the foundress of the Feminist Initiative. Biography Manuela Gretkowska was born in Łódź and studied philosophy at Jagiellonian University ...

. In 2004, she published her book ''Milczenie owieczek'' (The Silence of Little Lambs) in which she discussed such topics as the right to

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

and

sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, safe sex, birth ...

. Szczuka is a member of the

Greens 2004 The Greens ( ) is a political party in Poland. It was formed in 2003 under the name "Greens 2004" and formally registered itself in February 2004. It supports principles of green politics, and it is positioned on the centre-left and leans to ...

party, advocate of

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

and supporter of pro-choice rights for women. She is a member of the Programme Council of the green political foundation the Green Institute. She works for

TVN24 TVN24 is a Polish 24-hour commercial news channel, launched on 9 August 2001. Being a part of the TVN Network, TVN24 has been owned since 2018 by US-based media company Warner Bros. Discovery ( Discovery, Inc. before 2022). It gained broade ...

in ''Wydanie drugie poprawione''. She has worked since 2003 for TVN in '' Najsłabsze Ogniwo'' (the Polish version of ''

'') and in ''Dwururka''. She has also appeared as a juror on ''

Top Model ''Top Model'', also called ''Next Top Model'', is a fashion-themed reality television show format produced in many countries throughout the world and seen in over 120 countries producing over 200 seasons (referred to as "cycles"). The show t ...

'' TV show and as an expert on the ''

Milionerzy ''Milionerzy'' (''Millionaires'') is a Polish game show based on the original British format of ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' The show is hosted by Hubert Urbański. The main goal of the game is to win 1 million Polish złoty by answering ...

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

. In September 2022, she became a host of the popular ''RMF FM Afternoon Talk Show'' (''Popołudniowa rozmowa RMF FM'') broadcast on the

RMF FM RMF FM (abbreviation to ''Radio Muzyka Fakty FM'', translation: ''Radio Music Facts FM''; previously: ''Radio Małopolska Fun FM''; translation: ''Radio Lesser Poland Fun FM'') is the first commercial radio station in Poland, currently broadca ...

radio station.

Controversy

In March 2006, Szczuka satirized on a TV programme Magdalena Buczek, a young woman who frequently recites prayers on

Radio Maryja Radio Maryja is a religious and political socially conservative Polish radio station. It was founded in Toruń, Poland, on 9 December 1991, by the Redemptorist Tadeusz Rydzyk. The name "Maryja" is a traditional Polish form of the name "Mary ...

, claiming to not know that the woman "suffered from a crippling disease and used a wheelchair." Despite Szczuka's public apology, she was found guilty of "insulting a

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physica ...

person and mocking her religion" by the Polish National Broadcasting Council, and the station on which she had appeared was fined 500,000 PLN. Szczuka complained later, "They hate me because I'm a feminist, I'm Jewish – mostly because I'm a feminist" in an interview for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and ''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France, for international English-speaking readers. It published under the name ''International Herald Tribune'' starting in 1967, but its ...

''.

Selected publications

*''Kopciuszek, Frankenstein i inne'' ("Cinderella, Frankenstein and Others"), Kraków, 2001 *''Milczenie owieczek. Rzecz o aborcji'', Warsaw, 2004 *''Duża książka o aborcji'' (co-written with Katarzyna Bratkowska); Warsaw 2011 *''Janion. Transe – traumy – transgresje. 1: Niedobre dziecię'' (co-written with

; Warsaw 2012 *''Janion. Transe – traumy – transgresje. 2: Profesor Misia'' (co-written with Maria Janion); Warsaw 2012

References

External links

Szczuka's profile on the website of the Polish version of ''The Weakest Link''

Green Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Szczuka, Kazimiera 1966 births The Greens (Poland) politicians Living people Jewish feminists Polish women literary critics Jewish Polish politicians Writers from Warsaw Polish feminists Polish women television presenters Polish game show hosts Polish LGBTQ rights activists University of Warsaw alumni

Life and career

Controversy

Selected publications

See also

References

External links