Maria Antonina Rodowicz, known professionally as Maryla Rodowicz, (Polish pronunciation: born 8 December 1945 in

Zielona Góra Zielona Góra (; ''Green Mountain''; ) is the largest city in Lubusz Voivodeship, located in western Poland, with 140,403 inhabitants (). The region is closely associated with vineyards and holds an annual Zielona Góra Wine Fest, Wine Fest. Zie ...

), is a Polish

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

and

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. Throughout over 60 years of her career, she released twenty Polish and four foreign-language studio albums including five with

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

and three with

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

certifications and selling over 15 million records. Known for her close collaboration with

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 ...

and

Seweryn Krajewski Seweryn Krajewski (born 3 January 1947, Nowa Sól, Poland) is a Polish singer and songwriter who rose to fame in the 1960s and 70s with the popular Polish band Czerwone Gitary. After leaving the group in 1997, he recorded several solo albums. ...

, her most popular songs include "Małgośka" (1974), "Futbol" (1974), "Remedium" (1978), "Niech żyje bal" (1984), "Łatwopalni" (1997) and "Wszyscy chcą kochać" (2005). She remains one of the most prominent and successful artists in the history of popular music in Poland. Among the numerous awards and decorations she received are Gold Cross of Merit, Commander's Cross of 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 ...

and Gold

Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis The Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture () or Gloria Artis Medal, is a departmental decoration of Poland in arts awarded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland to persons and organizations for distinguish ...

Early life

Originally the Rodowicz family came from

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 ...

. Her father worked at the

Stefan Batory University Vilnius University (Lithuanian language, Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a Public university, public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher e ...

in Vilnius before the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

and her grandparents were the owners of a pharmacy near the famous

Gate of Dawn The Gate of Dawn (), or Sharp Gate (, , , , ) is a city gate in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, and one of its most important religious, historical and cultural monuments. It is a major site of Catholic pilgrimage in Lithuania. History T ...

, the

city gate A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway. Uses City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...

of Vilnius. Rodowicz studied at ''Liceum Ziemi Kujawskiej'' (Cuiavian Land High School) in

Włocławek Włocławek (; or ''Alt Lesle'', Yiddish: וולאָצלאַוועק, romanized: ''Vlatzlavek'') is a city in the Kuyavian–Pomeranian Voivodeship in central Poland along the Vistula River, bordered by the Gostynin-Włocławek Landscape Park ...

and graduated from the ''Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego'' (Academy of Physical Education) in Rumpe. In her youth, she was a keen participant in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

among other things at Kujawiak Włocławek.

Career

Her career began in 1967, after winning first prize at the ''Festiwal Piosenki i Piosenkarzy Studenckich'' (Student Songs and Singers' Festival) 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 ...

. Two years later she recorded her first well-known song, "Mówiły mu" ("The girls told him", English version known as "Love Doesn't Grow On Trees"), and in 1970 - her first longplay. In 1973, she gained popularity with the song "Małgośka" with lyrics by

. A year later, during the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

Opening Ceremony in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, she performed a song "Futbol" ("Football"). The singer's body of work comprises over 600 recorded songs, with over 20

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

albums as well as albums in English,

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

. Apart from "Małgośka", the artist's most famous songs are "Niech żyje bal" ("Long live the ball"), "To już było" ("Done that"), "Wielka Woda" ("Great water"), "Rozmowa przez ocean" ("Talk over the ocean"), "Bossanova do poduszki" ("Bedside bossa nova"), "Łatwopalni" ("Inflammables") and her latest album's hits such as "Wszyscy chcą kochać" ("Everybody wants to love") and "Będzie co ma być" ("What is to be, will be"). In 2005 she recorded an album ''Kochać'' (''To love'') with lyrics by Katarzyna Nosowska. On the occasion of World Cup 2006, she recorded a song "Za Janasa" ("For Janas") with Nosowska's lyrics. Rodowicz has performed in concert worldwide: in Europe, America, Australia, and Asia. She has won awards for her singing. She has also participated in various festivals including outside the borders of Poland, for example in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

, and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, as well as in Poland including the ''Festiwal Piosenki i Piosenkarzy Studenckich'' (Student Songs and Singers' Festival) in Kraków and the National Festival of Polish Song in

Opole Opole (; ; ; ) is a city located in southern Poland on the Oder River and the historical capital of Upper Silesia. With a population of approximately 127,387 as of the 2021 census, it is the capital of Opole Voivodeship (province) and the seat of ...

. Rodowicz is also an actress who has performed in several movies and in musical entertainment. She regularly performs in a

Polsat Polsat is a Polish free-to-air television channel that was launched on 5 December 1992 by Zygmunt Solorz-Żak. , it is the most watched television channel in Poland with a market share of 11.30% Polsat belongs to Grupa Polsat Plus ( WSE: CP ...

TV channel series '' Rodzina zastępcza'' (''Foster Family''). In 1992 she released her

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

under the title of ''Niech żyje bal''. She was featured in a 2012 episode of the Polish ''

Name That Tune ''Name That Tune'' is an American television music game show. Originally created and produced by orchestra conductor Harry Salter and his wife Roberta Semple Salter, the series features contestants competing to correctly identify songs being p ...

'', known as '' Jaka to Melodia'', in which she sang her rendition of the popular Chór Czejanda number '' Czerwony Autobus'' ("The Red Bus") after a celebrity contestant guessed the song. On August 18, 2021, it was announced that she will appear in the third season of '' The Voice Senior'' as a coach, replacing Izabela Trojanowska. Her life and music career was the subject of a

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

entitled ''Maryla. Tak kochałam'' aired by

TVP1 TVP1 (TVP Jeden, ''Telewizja Polska 1'', ''Program Pierwszy Telewizji Polskiej'', ''"Jedynka"'') is the main public television channel of Telewizja Polska, TVP (Telewizja Polska S.A.), Poland's national television broadcaster. It was the first Po ...

channel in December the same year.

Songs

The notable ''Polish Madonna'' written by

(an emotional portrait of an average Polish woman trying to make ends meet) contains clear

Catholic 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 ...

symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

and references to the social circumstances characteristic to Poland in the late eighties that marked the last years of the

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

era in

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 ...

. In this song, the author questions whether the "Polish Madonna" (or, in other words, the Catholic Holy Mary, usually portrayed as holding baby Jesus in her arms) has enough money to pay for rent, promising her that the child will get a welcome allowance to the public kindergarten. The old communist promises are never fulfilled for her, and her dreams of having a

lipstick Lipstick is a cosmetics, cosmetic product used to apply coloration and texture to lips, often made of wax and oil. Different pigments are used to produce color, and minerals such as silica may be used to provide texture. The use of lipstick ...

"made in France" can only come true in her dreams. The song won the journalists' prize at the Opole festival in 1987.

Personal life

In mid-1970s, she was in a highly publicized relationship with actor

Daniel Olbrychski Daniel Marcel Olbrychski (; born 27 February 1945) is a Polish people, Polish film actor, film and theatre actor who is widely considered one of the greatest Polish actors of his generation. He appeared in 180 films and TV productions and is bes ...

. She has three children, Jan Jasiński (born in 1979) and Katarzyna Jasińska (born in 1982) with her partner Krzysztof Jasiński. She also has a son Jędrzej (born in 1987) with her (now divorced) husband Andrzej Dużyński.

Discography

Polish-language albums

German-language albums

Russian-language albums

Multilingual albums

Tribute albums

Christmas albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Notes

:a. Re-released as 2 CD set on October 23, 2012 under title ''Buty 2 1/2''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodowicz, Maryla 1945 births Living people People from Zielona Góra Actresses from Lubusz Voivodeship Polish actresses Polish people of Lithuanian descent Polish people of Russian descent Polish women country singers Polish country singers Polish folk singers Polish women folk singers Polish pop singers Polish women pop singers Polish rock singers Polish women rock singers Polish guitarists Polish women guitarists English-language singers from Poland