Martyna Wojciechowska (Polish pronunciation: ; born 28 September 1974 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 ...

as Marta Eliza Wojciechowska) is a Polish TV presenter, mountaineer, traveller, journalist, sportswoman and writer. In 2010, she completed the

Seven Summits The Seven Summits are the highest mountains on each of the seven traditional continents. On 30 April 1985, Richard Bass became the first climber to reach the summit of all seven. In January 2023, ''Climbing (magazine), Climbing'' said "Today, t ...

. She presents the television series '' Kobieta na krańcu świata'' (''Woman at the Edge of the World''), and is the editor in chief of

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Media career

At the age of 19, Wojciechowska began her career as a presenter for the iconic automotive program “Automaniak” for Polish broadcaster TVN. She presented programs including ''Big Brother'', ''Mission Martyna'', and ''Kids with Class''. Since September 2009 she has presented the weekly series '' Woman at the edge of the world''. As a journalist, she worked for magazines including ''The world of motorbikes'' (''Swiat motocykli''), ''Auto moto,'' ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' and ''Voyage''. In February 2007 she became the editor in chief of ''

Poland'' and ''

National Geographic Traveler ''National Geographic Traveler'' is a magazine published by National Geographic Partners, NG Media in Armenia, Belgium, the Netherlands, China, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Latin America, Israel, Poland, Romania, Slov ...

.'' She is also a head editor of Polish-English monthly travel magazine ''Kaleidscope''.

''The woman at the edge of the world''

The series started in 2008 and is now in its 10th season. It is aired every Sunday at TVN. Each episode focuses on Martyna traveling to a different country where she meets a new woman. Along with introducing the story of the main character, the program reveals the bigger picture of the hosting country and women’s status. The series covers female points of view, but occasionally episodes will also feature male subjects. Every episode brings out social issues from within the host country, among them: sexism, violence, poverty, animal cruelty, human trafficking, work ethics, and human rights. Among many topics, it has featured: the smallest woman in the world Jyoti Amage, a

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

n female wrestler, a student of the Shaolin School, a

geisha {{Culture of Japan, Traditions, Geisha {{nihongo, Geisha{{efn, {{IPAc-en, lang, ˈ, ɡ, eɪ, ., ʃ, ə, {{IPA, ja, ɡei.ɕa, ɡeː-, lang{{cite book, script-title=ja:NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典, publisher=NHK Publishing, editor= ...

from

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, women of the Long Necks Tribe in

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

, a female

sapper A sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses ...

, a female pilot from

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

and fa’afafine people of

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

''The ghost people''

In 2015, one of the episodes of Woman at the edge of the world was made into a longer documentary film, directed by Wojciechowska and Marek Kłosowicz. ''The Ghost People'' (''Ludzie duchy'') won a Golden Nymph Award in the category Current Affairs Documentary. It tells the story of

albino Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and reddish pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albinos. Varied use and interpretation of ...

children in

who are being hunted for their limbs, which are believed to have magical healing powers. The main character, 17-year-old Kabula, lost her arm, which was cut off by anonymous attackers. Wojciechowska created the special charity ‘Between heaven and earth’ (‘Między niebem, a ziemią’) which collected around 100.000 złoty (USD 26,000) to help Kabula make her dream of becoming a lawyer come true.

Seven Summits

In August 2002 Wojciechowska began her expedition to climb the seven tallest mountains on Earth, starting with

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...

. On 22 January 2010, she summited her last mountain, Mount Carstensz, becoming the third Polish woman to achieve that and the second to do it in the

Reinhold Messner Reinhold Andreas Messner (; born 17 September 1944) is an Italian climber, explorer, and author from the German-speaking province of South Tyrol. He made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest and, along with Peter Habeler, the first ascent o ...

way. Her expedition was featured in the 55 minute long documentary ''Korona Ziemi'' (''The crown of Earth'') and two books ''Przesunąć horyzont (Move the Horizon)'' and ''Misja Everest (Mission Everest).'' In 2004, while filming one of her programmes ‘Mission Martyna’ in Iceland, she had a serious car accident in which her friend and cameraman Rafał Łukaszewicz died and Wojciechowska broke her spine. She promised herself she would get better and after long therapy in May 2006 she climbed

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

. The events were described in her book ''Przesunąć horyzont (Move the Horizon)''. In 2007, when she was three months pregnant, she summited

Mount Elbrus Mount Elbrus; ; is the highest mountain in Russia and Europe. It is a dormant stratovolcano rising above sea level, and is the highest volcano in Eurasia, as well as the tenth-most prominent peak in the world. It is situated in the south ...

. When her daughter was 8 months old she decided to go to

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

to summit

Vinson Massif Vinson Massif () is a large mountain massif in Antarctica that is long and wide and lies within the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains. It overlooks the Ronne Ice Shelf near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula. The massif is located ab ...

, the highest mountain of the continent. At 4000 meters the expedition was surprised by a strong snowstorm which completely destroyed Wojciechowska’s tent. For dozens of hours, the group was trapped in their tents with the temperature at -30 °C and without food. Subsequently, many tabloids criticized Wojciechowska for risking her life and being an irresponsible mother. Mountains summited *

(28 August 2002) *

Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, at above sea level and above its plateau base. It is also the highest volcano i ...

(26 February 2003) *

Aconcagua Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in both the Western Hemisphere and the ...

(11 February 2006) * Island Peak (11 April 2006) *

(18 May 2006) *

Denali Denali (), federally designated as Mount McKinley, is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. It is the tallest mountain in the world from base to peak on land, measuring . On p. 20 of Helm ...

(11 June 2007) *

Elbrus Mount Elbrus; ; is the highest mountain in Russia and Europe. It is a dormant volcano, dormant stratovolcano rising above sea level, and is the highest volcano in Eurasia, as well as the List of mountain peaks by prominence, tenth-most promi ...

(29 August 2007) *

(2 January 2009) * Mount Carstensz (22 January 2010) * K2 (31 July 2012)

Personal life

Wojciechowska has a daughter, Maria (born 17 April 2008). Maria’s father, Polish scuba diver Jerzy Blaszczyk, who was separated from Martyna at the time, died in 2016. In 2015, rumors grew around Wojciechowska’s possible health problems. She lost around 20 kg and the media speculated that she had a tropical disease. Wojciechowska wrote an official public statement in which she asked the media to respect her privacy. She did not name the illness, but denied the rumors claiming that it was

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

. In September 2016, she mentioned on her official Facebook page that she had had a serious motorcycle accident in which she ended up with a broken collarbone. A week later she was back at the set of ‘Woman at the edge of the world’ which caused her further health complications and she had to have another operation. The new season had to be postponed. In October 2016 Wojciechowska announced that TVN was going to run half of the season, using all the episodes she managed to record before the accident.

Sports career

Wojciechowska has been a licensed

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

since the age of 17. In 2002, she took part in Paris – Dakar Rally and finished it as the first Polish woman and the first woman from Middle-Eastern Europe.

Recognition as a role model

In 2018,

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

announced the creation of a Shero Barbie doll with Wojciechowska's image for her contributions to "breaking stereotypes and inspiring women and girls around the world" to pursue their dreams. She is the third Polish woman to have one alongside Anita Włodarczyk and Iwona Blecharczyk.

Awards

*2009: Róże Gali Plebiscyt (The Beautiful Web-Roses (''Gala'' Magazine) *2010: Woman of the Year 2009 Award from the magazine ''Twój Styl (Your Style)'' *2010: MediaTory – University Students' Journalism Awards in the ''AkumulaTOR'' category *2011: Nagroda Bursztynowego Motyla im. Arkadego Fiedlera for her book ''Kobieta na krańcu świata 2'' *2011: Personality of the Year Media 2011: ''Złota Kropa Onetu'' in the Greatest Female Personality of Pop Culture category *2013: ''Bestseller Empiku'' in the Multibrand Concept category for her book series "Zwierzaki świata" *2014: National Geographic Internetional Media Conference 2014, Best Book Project Award for her book series ''Dzieciaki świata'' and ''Zwierzaki świata'' *2015: Wiktor Award 2014 in the Exceptional Personality of the Year category *2015: Złota Nimfa Award at the Monte Carlo Film Festival for her documentary ''Ludzie Duchy'' (Ghost People) *2015: ReformaTOR Award in the MediaTory Plebiscite for her documentary ''Ludzie Duchy'' (Ghost People)

Bibliography

* ''Przesunąć horyzont (Move the Horizon)'' () * ''Misja Everest (Mission Everest)'' () * ''Etiopia. Ale czat! (Ethiopia. But the Chat!)'' () * ''Kobieta na krańcu świata (Woman at the Edge of the World)'' () * ''Kobieta na krańcu świata 2 (Woman at the Edge of the World 2)'' () * ''Kobieta na krańcu świata 3 (Woman at the Edge of the World 3)'' ) * ''Zapiski (pod)różne (Travel journals)'' () * ''Automaniaczka. Od rometa do Rajdu Dakar (Automaniac)'' () * ''Dzieciaki Świata (Children of the World)'', 2013 () * ''Zwierzaki Świata (Animals of the World)'' ()

Filmography

* 2002: ''Jak to się robi z dziewczynami (How To Do It With Girls)'': as journalist * 2005: ''Anioł Stróż (Guardian Angel)'' (TV series): as teacher * 2006: ''Auta (Cars)'' (voice role): as reporter Turbicka

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wojciechowska, Martyna 1974 births Living people People from Warsaw Writers from Warsaw Polish women writers Polish mountain climbers Polish summiters of Mount Everest Polish female climbers