Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna (6 August 1892 – 16 February 1983) was a Polish

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 wri ...

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the ...

writer, playwright and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

. She was one of the most acclaimed and celebrated poets during Poland's interwar period.

Life and work

She was born on 6 August 1892, in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

(now in Lithuania, but then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

). Her mother was Barbara Iłłakowiczówna and her father was Klemens Zan (son of Tomasz Zan - a close friend of

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...

). She was orphaned at an early age and was brought up in a family of her relatives. Zofia Buyno (''née'' Zyberk-Plater) became her

foster mother Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family me ...

. Between 1908-1909 she studied at

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. She co-founded and then was (with eg. Cezaria Jędrzejewiczowa and Zofia Sadowska) a member of the Association of Polish Women Students - Spójnia in Saint Petersburg, within which she led the literary and discussion clubs, based on the ones she witnessed at Oxford. In the years 1910-1914 she studied at the Jagiellonian University in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

. In 1915-1917, she worked as a nurse assistant in the Imperial Russian Army. Beginning in 1918, she worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Second Polish Republic. In 1924, Iłłakowiczówna published an anthology of poems in honor of Monsignor

Konstanty Budkiewicz Konstanty Romuald Budkiewicz (, lv, Konstantīns Romualds Budkēvičs, russian: Константин Ромуальд Будкевич; June 19, 1867, – March 31, 1923) was a Roman Catholic priest executed by the OGPU for organizing non ...

's life and martyrdom by the

Soviet secret police The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

inside

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

Lubyanka Prison The Lubyanka ( rus, Лубянка, p=lʊˈbʲankə) is the popular name for the building which contains the headquarters of the FSB, and its affiliated prison, on Lubyanka Square in the Meshchansky District of Moscow, Russia. It is a large Ne ...

upon

Easter Sunday Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the ''Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel P ...

, 1923. Modeled after the traditional oral poetry of the Polish peasantry, the collection was titled ''Opowieść o moskiewskim męczeństwie'' ("The Story of the Moscow Martyr"). Between 1926-1935, Iłłakowiczówna served as Marshal

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Naczelnik państwa, Chief of State (1918–1922) and Marshal of Poland, First Marshal of Second Polish Republic, Poland (from 1920). He was ...

's secretary. In the interwar period, her works were published in literary press, most notably in the literary magazine ''Tęcza'' ("Rainbow") in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

. In 1939, when the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

broke out, she was evacuated to

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

. She returned to Poland in 1947 and settled in Poznań. She was widely regarded as one of the most important literary figures of the interwar period in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. She became fascinated with the

feminist movement The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality between men and women. Such ...

and during her stay in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

she familiarized herself with the works of Emmeline Pankhurst, which encouraged her to take active part in the distribution of suffragette brochures. Nonetheless, she remained a deeply religious person throughout her life, strongly adhering to the Christian values and spirituality. Iłłakowiczówna had a wide circle of friends, many of which were well-known

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...

s, prominent poets and artists including

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (; 24 February 188518 September 1939), commonly known as Witkacy, was a Polish writer, painter, philosopher, theorist, playwright, novelist, and photographer active before World War I and during the interwar period. ...

, Julian Tuwim and Maria Dąbrowska. She also translated works of

European literature Western literature, also known as European literature, is the literature written in the context of Western culture in the languages of Europe, as well as several geographically or historically related languages such as Basque and Hungarian, an ...

by such writers as

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...

, Friedrich Schiller,

Heinrich Böll Heinrich Theodor Böll (; 21 December 1917 – 16 July 1985) was a German writer. Considered one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers, Böll is a recipient of the Georg Büchner Prize (1967) and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1972). ...

and

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

as well as the American poet

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massac ...

, she also worked as a teacher of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. In the last years of her life, she became blind as a result of unsuccessful

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for fluid within the eye rem ...

surgery. She died on 16 February 1983 and was buried at the

Powązki Cemetery Powązki Cemetery (; pl, Cmentarz Powązkowski), also known as Stare Powązki ( en, Old Powązki), is a historic necropolis located in Wola district, in the western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city and one of t ...

in Warsaw.

Awards and distinctions

* Literary Award of the City of Vilnius (1930) * Officer's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievement ...

(1934) * Golden Laurel of the

Polish Academy of Literature The Polish Academy of Literature ( pl, Polska Akademia Literatury, PAL) was one of the most important state institutions of literary life in the Second Polish Republic, operating between 1933 and 1939 with the headquarters in Warsaw. It was foun ...

(1935) * Commander's Cross of the Order of the Crown of Romania (1938) * Award of the City of Poznań (1968) *

Honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

of the

Adam Mickiewicz University Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

(1981)

Selected publications

* ''Ikarowe loty'' ("Flights of Icarus") (1912) * ''Trzy struny'' ("Three Strings") (1917) * ''Kolędy polskiej biedy. W Wigilię powrotu'' (1917) * ''Śmierć Feniksa'' ("The Death of Phoenix") (1922) * ''Rymy dziecięce'' ("Children's Rhymes") (1923) * ''Połów'' ("Halves") (1926) * ''Opowieść o moskiewskim męczeństwie. Złoty wianek'' ("A Tale of

Martydom. Golden Wreath") (1927) * ''Płaczący ptak'' ("The Crying Bird") (1927) * ''Z głębi serca'' (''From the Depth of My Heart'') (1928) * ''Popiół i perły'' ("Ashes and Pearls") (1930) * ''Ballady bohaterskie'' ("Heroic Ballads") (1934) * ''Słowik litewski. Poezja'' ("Lithuanian Nightingale. Poetry") (1936) * "Wiersze o Marszałku Piłsudskim. 1912-1935" ("Poems on Marshal

. 1912-1935") (1936) * ''Ścieżka obok drogi'' (1939) * ''Wiersze religijne. 1912-1954'' ("Religious Poems. 1912-1954") (1955) * ''Wiersze dziecięce'' ("Children's Poems") (1959) * ''Zwierzaki i zioła'' ("Animals and Herbs") (1960) * ''Ta jedna nić'' ("That One Thread") (1967) * ''Rzeczy sceniczne'' (1969)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Illakowiczowna, Kazimiera 1892 births 20th-century Polish poets Polish women poets 1983 deaths 20th-century Polish dramatists and playwrights Polish women dramatists and playwrights Polish feminists Writers from Vilnius Alumni of the University of Oxford Jagiellonian University alumni 20th-century women writers Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland) 20th-century Polish women Catholic poets