Kazimiera Szczuka (Polish pronunciation: ; born 22 June 1966 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 ...

) is a Polish historian of literature,

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

, known from the Polish edition of ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

''.

Life and career

She was born on 22 June 1966 to father Stanisław Szczuka, a lawyer and a political dissident in the times of PRL, and mother Janina (''née'' Winawer), a doctor from an assimilated Polish-Jewish family. She is a great-great-granddaughter of chess player

Szymon Winawer Szymon Abramowicz Winawer (March 6, 1838 – November 29, 1919) was a Polish-Jewish chess player who won the German Chess Championship in 1883. Tournament and match results At the Paris 1867 tournament held at the Café de la Régence, his first ...

. She is a graduate of the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

where she obtained her

MA degree A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

under supervision of

Maria Janion Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

. She published articles in such newspapers and magazines as ''

Gazeta Wyborcza ''Gazeta Wyborcza'' (; ''The Electoral Gazette'' in English) is a Polish daily newspaper based in Warsaw, Poland. It is the first Polish daily newspaper after the era of "real socialism" and one of Poland's newspapers of record, covering the g ...

'', ''Res Publica Nova'', ''Teksty Drugie'' and ''Zadra''. She also taught

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field ...

at the Institute of Literary Research of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of ...

(PAN). She has collaborated with the ''

Krytyka Polityczna ''Krytyka Polityczna'' (; "The Political Critique") is a circle of Polish left-wing intellectuals gathered around a journal of the same title founded by Sławomir Sierakowski in 2002 but is open to voices from across the political spectrum. The ...

'' circle of intellectuals and Feminoteka

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

organization. In 2003, she was one of the host of the ''Pegaz'' culture programme aired on the Polish state-run television

Telewizja Polska Telewizja Polska S.A. (; "Polish Television"; TVP), also known in English as the public Polish Television is a Polish state media corporation. It is the largest Polish television network, although viewership has been declining in the 2010s. Sinc ...

(TVP). She was dismissed by TVP after she publicly used swear words in a live interview with

Manuela Gretkowska Manuela Gretkowska (6 October 1964) is a Polish writer, screenwriter, feminist and politician. She is the foundress of the Feminist Initiative. Biography Manuela Gretkowska was born in Łódź and studied philosophy at Jagiellonian Universit ...

. In 2004, she published her book ''Milczenie owieczek'' (The Silence of Little Lambs) in which discussed such topics as the right to

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

and

sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual acti ...

. Szczuka is a member of the

Greens 2004 The Greens ( pl, Partia Zieloni, PZ) is a political party in Poland. It was formed in 2003 under the name "Greens 2004" and formally registered itself in February 2004. It supports principles of green politics, and it is positioned on the ce ...

party, advocate of

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...

and supporter of pro-choice rights for women. She is a member of the Programme Council of the green political foundation the Green Institute. She works for

TVN24 TVN24 is a Polish 24-hour commercial news channel, launched on 9 August 2001. Being a part of the TVN Network, TVN24 has been owned since July 2017 by US-based media company Warner Bros. Discovery. It gained broader popularity after the Septe ...

in ''Wydanie drugie poprawione''. She has worked since 2003 for

TVN TVN may refer to: * TVN (Australian TV channel), a former horse racing channel * Televisión Nacional de Chile, a public broadcaster * TVN (Indonesia), a former television station; predecessor of Rajawali Televisi * TVN (Norway), or TVNorge, a comm ...

in '' Najsłabsze Ogniwo'' (the Polish version of ''

'') and in ''Dwururka''. She has also appeared as a juror on ''

Top Model ''Top Model,'' also called ''Next Top Model,'' is a fashion-themed reality television show format produced in many countries throughout the world and seen in over 120 countries producing over 200 seasons, which are referred to as "cycles". T ...

'' TV show and as an expert on ''

Milionerzy ''Milionerzy'' (''Millionaires'') is a Polish game show based on the original British format of ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' The show is hosted by Hubert Urbański. The main goal of the game is to win 1 million Polish zloty by answering ...

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

. In September 2022, she became a host of the popular ''RMF FM Afternoon Talk Show'' (''Popołudniowa rozmowa RMF FM'') broadcast on the

RMF FM RMF FM (abriviation to ''Radio Muzyka Fakty FM'', translation: ''Radio Music Facts FM''; previously: ''Radio Małopolska Fun FM''; translation: ''Radio Lesser Poland Fun FM'') is the first commercial radio station in Poland, currently broadcas ...

radio station.

Controversy

In March 2006, Szczuka satirized on a TV programme Magdalena Buczek, a young woman who frequently recites prayers on

Radio Maryja Radio Maryja is a religious and political socially conservative Polish radio station. It was founded in Toruń, Poland, on 9 December 1991, by the Redemptorist Tadeusz Rydzyk. The name "Maryja" is a traditional Polish form of the name "Mary", ...

, claiming to not know that the woman "suffered from a crippling disease and used a wheelchair." Despite Szczuka's public apology, she was found guilty of "insulting a

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

person and mocking her religion" by the Polish National Broadcasting Council, and the station on which she had appeared was fined 500,000 PLN. Szczuka complained later, "They hate me because I'm a feminist, I'm Jewish – mostly because I'm a feminist" in an interview for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and ''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...

''.

Selected publications

*''Kopciuszek, Frankenstein i inne'' ("Cinderella, Frankenstein and Others"), Kraków, 2001 *''Milczenie owieczek. Rzecz o aborcji'', Warsaw, 2004 *''Duża książka o aborcji'' (co-written with Katarzyna Bratkowska); Warsaw 2011 *''Janion. Transe – traumy – transgresje. 1: Niedobre dziecię'' (co-written with

; Warsaw 2012 *''Janion. Transe – traumy – transgresje. 2: Profesor Misia'' (co-written with Maria Janion); Warsaw 2012

References

External links

Szczuka's profile on the website of the Polish version of ''The Weakest Link''

Green Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Szczuka, Kazimiera 1966 births The Greens (Poland) politicians Living people Jewish feminists Polish literary critics Polish women literary critics Jewish Polish politicians Writers from Warsaw Polish feminists Polish television personalities Polish LGBT rights activists

Life and career

Controversy

Selected publications

See also

References

External links