Witold Conti (1908–1944) was a Polish film actor. He appeared in nine films between 1930 and 1937.

Career

Son of Stanisława and Maksymilian Kozikowski. His father was the head of the State Employment Agency. In 1920, he emigrated to Poland from Germany. He studied law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Poznań, and at the same time he studied singing with professor Zygmunt Zawrocki. After some time, he moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he was supposed to continue his law studies, but then he began studies in the violin and vocal classes of the local music conservatory instead. During this time, he met and befriended

Pola Negri Pola Negri (; born Barbara Apolonia Chałupiec ; 3 January 1897 – 1 August 1987) was a Polish stage and film actress and singer. She achieved worldwide fame during the silent and golden eras of Hollywood and European film for her tragedienn ...

. In the years 1930–1938, he performed in Warsaw revue theaters, cabarets, and in feature films (where he mainly played the leading roles of handsome lovers). He also occasionally performed at the Summer Theater and the Operetta on Karowa Street. He also performed in the programme '' Podwieczorek przy mikrofonie'' of

Polskie Radio The Polish Radio (PR; Polish: ''Polskie Radio'', PR) is a national public-service radio broadcasting organization of Poland, founded in 1925. It is owned by the State Treasury of Poland. On 27 December 2023, the Minister of Culture and Nationa ...

Private life

Conti had relationships with both men and women and could be considered

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

by modern definition. At the beginning of his artistic career, he was in a relationship with an openly gay composer

Karol Szymanowski Karol Maciej Szymanowski (; 3 October 188229 March 1937) was a Polish composer and pianist. He was a member of the modernism (music), modernist Young Poland movement that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th century. Szymanowski's early w ...

. Tomasik Krzysztof ''O Karolu Szymanowskim'', w: ''Homobiografie'', str. 49, Wydawnictwo Krytyki Politycznej, Kraków 2008, After this relationship ended, in 1938, he married Zofia Halina Margulies, daughter of Maurycy Margulies, general director of munition factory "Pocisk". Tomasik Krzysztof ''O Karolu Szymanowskim'', w: ''Homobiografie'', str. 50, Wydawnictwo Krytyki Politycznej, Kraków 2008, After the outbreak of

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 ...

, in September 1939, he left with his wife and son to

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 ...

, from where he moved to France. During World War II, he performed there in Polish community centers. He died in Nice during the bombing by the British of the hinterland of the German army occupying this part of France. Witold Conti's funeral took place on 29 May 1944 at the Caucade cemetery in Nice.W. J. Podgórski, ''„Poeci na tułaczce". W kręgu autorów Oficyny Nicejskiej Samuela Tyszkiewicza 1940—1947'', Warszawa 2002, s. 157. After the war, his wife remarried to an American soldier. Their family moved to

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

, where Witold's son Janusz Kozikowski grew up. Janusz became a renowned visual artist and married Nancy Kozikowski.

Nagrody

* 1938: award of the Minister of Industry and Trade at the Film Festival '' Targi Wschodnie'' in

Lwów Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

for a role of lieutenant Andrzeja Zadora in a film ''Ułan księcia Józefa''

Selected filmography

* '' Sound of the Desert'' (1932) * '' Każdemu wolno kochać'' (1933) * '' Ułan księcia Józefa'' (1937)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conti, Witold 1908 births 1944 deaths LGBTQ cabaret performers Polish male film actors Male actors from Berlin Polish male stage actors Polish male comedians Polish cabaret performers Polish bisexual men Polish LGBTQ comedians Polish LGBTQ actors Bisexual male actors Bisexual comedians Deaths by British airstrikes during World War II Polish civilians killed in World War II 20th-century Polish LGBTQ people 20th-century Polish comedians 20th-century Polish male actors