Beata Obertyńska, (pen name "Marta Rudzka"), born July 18, 1898, near

Skole Skole ( uk, Ско́ле) is a town in Stryi Raion, Lviv Oblast (region) of Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Skole urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: . History The first official date recorded for Skole was in ...

(in present-day

Western Ukraine Western Ukraine or West Ukraine ( uk, Західна Україна, Zakhidna Ukraina or , ) is the territory of Ukraine linked to the former Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, which was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austria ...

), died May 21, 1980 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

was a Polish writer and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

Life

Beata was one of the daughters of the '

Young Poland Young Poland ( pl, Młoda Polska) was a modernist period in Polish visual arts, literature and music, covering roughly the years between 1890 and 1918. It was a result of strong aesthetic opposition to the earlier ideas of Positivism. Young Pola ...

' poet

Maryla Wolska Maryla Wolska (13 March 1873 – 25 June 1930) was a Polish poet of the Young Poland movement.:pl:Wanda Młodnicka (one-time fiancée of painter,

Artur Grottger Artur Grottger (11 November 1837 – 13 December 1867) was a Polish Romantic painter and graphic artist, one of the most prominent artists of the mid 19th century under the foreign partitions of Poland, despite a life cut short by incurable ill ...

). Her father was an engineer and industrialist in the oil business, :pl:Wacław Wolski (inżynier). She was the wife of landowner, Józef Obertyński. She spent her childhood and adolescence with her siblings in the family villa in Lwów where they were home-tutored. She later passed her high school exams. In her youth she was associated with the

Skamander Skamander was a Polish group of experimental poets founded in 1918 by Julian Tuwim, Antoni Słonimski, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, Kazimierz Wierzyński and Jan Lechoń. Initially unnamed, in December 1919 it adopted the name ''Skamander'', after ...

movement. Her first poems were published in 1924 in "Słowo Polskie". She studied in the National Institute of Theatre Arts. Between 1933 and 1937 she appeared on stage in several Lwów theatres. During the Soviet occupation of Lwów, in July 1940, she was arrested by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

. She was imprisoned in the infamous

Brygidki Brygidki ( uk, Бригідки) is a prison in the building of a former Bridgettine nunnery in Lviv, Ukraine. History The monastery was founded in 1614 at the behest of Anna Fastkowska and Anna Poradowska for girls from noble families. After th ...

prison and was later moved to prisons in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Starobielsk and finally to the

Vorkuta Vorkuta (russian: Воркута́; kv, Вӧркута, ''Vörkuta''; Nenets for "the abundance of bears", "bear corner") is a coal-mining town in the Komi Republic, Russia, situated just north of the Arctic Circle in the Pechora coal basin at ...

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

. In 1942, following the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement, she was released and joined Anders'army. She served through all of its campaigns in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. After the war she settled in London and published in Polish-language publications; "

Dziennik Polski ''Dziennik Polski'' is a Polish newspaper. It was established in 1945 as a regional newspaper for Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern ...

", "Dziennik Żołnierza", "Orzeł Biały", "Polska Walcząca", "Ochotniczka", "Wiadomości", "Życie", and "Przegląd Polski". She was a

laureate In English, the word laureate has come to signify eminence or association with literary awards or military glory. It is also used for recipients of the Nobel Prize, the Gandhi Peace Award, the Student Peace Prize, and for former music direc ...

of several literary awards, among them the award of the London-based "Przegląd Powszechny" (1967) and of the

Lanckoroński Foundation The Lanckoroński Foundation is a Switzerland-based charitable organisation with offices in Vienna and London providing assistance to Polish causes, mainly in the cultural sphere. The Foundation offers three scholarships to Polish students admitte ...

(1972), the award of The Polish Ex-Combatants Association (1972) and the

Jurzykowski Prize The Alfred Jurzykowski Prize is an annual prize awarded by the Alfred Jurzykowski Foundation in New York City for the translation of Polish language, Polish works into English language, English. Its recipients have included such writers as Witold L ...

(1974). Her younger sister, 'Lela' (Aniela), married the diplomat and writer, Michał Pawlikowski. They too settled in London after the war. Lela was a sought-after portrait painter and produced a portrait of

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

, as a child. Beata collapsed on a bus in

Putney High Street Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

and died in 1980 in London.

Major works

Poems

* ''Pszczoły w słoneczniku'' (1927, "Bees in the sunflower") * ''Głóg przydrożny'' (1932, "Hawthorn by the roadside"), * ''Otawa. Wiersze dawne i nowe'' (Jerozolima 1945, "Ottawa. New and Old Poems"), * ''Miód i piołun'' (Londyn 1972, "Honey and Wormwood"), * ''Anioł w knajpie'' (Londyn 1977, "The Angel at the bar"), * ''Perły – wiersze'' (Brighton 1980, "Pearls - poems"), * ''Wiersze wybrane'' (1983, "Selected poems") * ''Grudki kadzidła'' (Londyn, Kraków 1987, "Crumbs of resin") * ''Skrząca libella'' (1991) * ''Liryki najpiękniejsze'' (1999, "Beautiful lyrics")

Novels and memories

* ''Gitara i tamci'' (1926, "They and the guitar") * ''Wspomnienia'' (''Quodlibet'', 1974, memoirs, together with her mother, Maryla Wolska) * ''W domu niewoli'' (Rzym 1946, "In the house of slavery") * ''Skarb Eulenburga'' (tom 1-2, Londyn 1987-1988, "Eulenburgh's treasure").

Life

Major works

Poems

Novels and memories

See also