Izabella Jadwiga Zielińska (née Ostaszewska; 10 December 1910 – 20 November 2017) was a Polish pianist and pedagogue with one of the longest artistic biographies in Poland, starting back in 1935.

Life

Izabella Jadwiga Ostaszewska was born in

Klimkówka, Podkarpackie Voivodeship Klimkówka is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Rymanów, within Krosno County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Rymanów, south-east of Krosno, and south of the regional ...

and attended primary school in

Sanok Sanok (in full the Royal Free City of Sanok — pl, Królewskie Wolne Miasto Sanok, rue, Санок, ''Sanok'', ua, Cянік, ''Sianik'', la, Sanocum, yi, סאניק, ''Sonik'') is a town in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of south-eastern ...

and at the Lyceum of the Ursuline Convent in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukra ...

, graduating in 1929. She took piano lessons from Klaudia Rylska. In 1930 she went to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

to continue her education in the Ursulines Institute at Wavre-Notre-Dame, where she studied French and music. In 1931 she passed her music examination with a gold medal before the panel of the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp and the

Royal Conservatory of Brussels The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (french: Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles, nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel) is a historic conservatory in Brussels, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Provid ...

. She returned to

for further piano study with Professor Bronisław Poźniak, and followed him when he moved to the city of Breslau. From 1935 onwards she performed in public under the name Iza Ostoia. Her concerts included compositions of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

, Chopin, Szymanowski, Paderewski. Having completed her studies with Poźniak in Breslau in the summer of 1939, she had returned home to Klimklówka in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

just weeks before the

German invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

and the outbreak of the War in 1939. In 1942 she married Bogdan Zieliński and moved to Kościan, on the Polish territories incorporated directly to the

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, in 1939. There the Nazis enforced a clampdown on all Polish culture. Zielińska was forbidden from pursuing music and was forced into physical labour. Despite her ban, she had managed to teach some music in secret. After the War she resumed her concert career giving piano recitals and continued as a piano teacher. With five children to bring up, however, her concert career effectively had to take a back seat. She concentrated on her teaching, in which she became increasingly involved. She was a descendant of the Polish composer Michał Kleofas Ogiński and mother-in-law of the contemporary composer

Lidia Zielińska Lidia Zielińska (born 9 October 1953) is a Polish people, Polish composer and music educator. Biography Lidia Zielińska was born in Poznań, Poland. She graduated from the State Higher School of Music in Poznań in 1979 after studying compositi ...

. In 2016 she celebrated her 106th birthday. Zielińska died on 20 November 2017, three weeks before her 107th birthday. She was closely related to

Jerzy Pajączkowski-Dydyński Jerzy Kazimierz Pajączkowski-Dydyński (19 July 1894 – 6 December 2005) was a Polish veteran of World War I living in the United Kingdom. In 1915, he was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian army, and he later fought for Poland, reaching t ...

, a Polish officer, who died aged 111.http://www.sejm-wielki.pl
/ref>

Awards

* Gold Cross of Merit *

Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

References

Sources

* pp. 272, 297-304, 312-13, 327 * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zielinska, Izabella 1910 births 2017 deaths Polish classical pianists Polish women pianists Polish music educators 20th-century classical pianists Piano pedagogues Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland) Recipients of the Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis Polish centenarians Women music educators Women centenarians Women classical pianists People from Krosno County 20th-century women pianists