Konrad Ksawery Swinarski (

4 July Events Pre-1600 *362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans. * 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaime ...

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

Warszawa 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 officiall ...

19 August Events Pre-1600 *295 BC – The first temple to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, is dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges during the Third Samnite War. * 43 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, later know ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

near

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

) – Polish theatrical, television, film and opera director and stage designer. He has created his own style, thanks to which he is considered one of the most original and outstanding artists in the history of Polish theatre. He influenced many polish directors, such as ,

Krystian Lupa Krystian Lupa (Polish pronunciation: ; born 7 November 1943) is a Polish theatre director, set designer, playwright, translator and pedagogue. He has been called "the greatest living European theatre director". He is the recipient of many nati ...

Jerzy Jarocki Jerzy Jarocki (11 May 1929 – 10 October 2012) was a Polish theatre director, translator, playwright and academic, member of the Polish Academy of Learning. Biography He graduated in acting from the Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Arts ...

, , and

Krzysztof Warlikowski Krzysztof Warlikowski (Polish pronunciation: ; born 26 May 1962) is a Polish theatre director. He is the creator and artistic director of Nowy Teatr (New Theatre) in Warsaw. Biography He studied history, philosophy and Romance languages at t ...

Life

His father was lieutnant colonel , and his mother was Irmgarda Liczbińska, who came from Polish-German Silesian family. He studied at and

Sopot Sopot is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, and has the status of the county, being the smallest city ...

, faculty of scenic visuals of

Academy of Fine Arts In Łódź The Academy of Fine Art in Łódź is a public university in Łódź for artists. Created in 1945, it was one of seven academies of Fine Arts in Poland. The academy was renamed in honor of one of its founders, Władysław Strzemiński, in 1988. T ...

and Drama Direction Faculty of National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw. During Warsaw studies he was an assistant to directors and

Erwin Axer Erwin Axer (1 January 1917 – 5 August 2012) was a Polish theatre director, writer and university professor. A long-time head of Teatr Współczesny (Contemporary Theatre) in Warsaw, he also staged numerous plays abroad, notably in German-speakin ...

. He finished studying in 1955, but graduated in 1972 based on ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' production in

National Stary Theatre The Helena Modrzejewska National Stary Theater in Kraków (Polish: ''Narodowy Stary Teatr im. Heleny Modrzejewskiej'') is one of the oldest public stages in Poland and a national institution of culture, first opened in 1781. It was named after re ...

. In 1973–1975 he was a lecturer of National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków. During studies he became fascinated with

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

work. In 1954, together with Przemysław Zieliński he realized ''

Señora Carrar's Rifles ''Señora Carrar's Rifles'' (german: Die Gewehre der Frau Carrar) is a one-act play by the twentieth-century German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, written in collaboration with Margarete Steffin. It is a modern version of the Irish dramatist John Mil ...

'' for New Warsaw's theatre. He debuted solo by directing ''Żeglarz'' (''The Sailor'') by

Jerzy Szaniawski Jerzy Szaniawski (Zegrzynek, 10 February 1886 – 16 March 1970, Warsaw) was a Polish writer, playwright, and essayist; an elected member of the prestigious Polish Academy of Literature in the interwar period. He is best remembered for his series ...

, premiering 14 May 1955 in Wojciech Bogusławski Theatre in

Kalisz (The oldest city of Poland) , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town , image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...

. In 1955–1957 he interned for

Berliner Ensemble The Berliner Ensemble () is a German theatre company established by actress Helene Weigel and her husband, playwright Bertolt Brecht, in January 1949 in East Berlin. In the time after Brecht's exile, the company first worked at Wolfgang Langhoff ...

as Brecht's assistant. Together with other assistants he took part in finishing inscenization of ''

Fear and Misery of the Third Reich ''Fear and Misery of the Third Reich'' (german: Furcht und Elend des Dritten Reiches), also known as ''The Private Life of the Master Race'', is one of Bertolt Brecht's most famous plays and the first of his openly anti-Nazi works. It premiered ...

'', started by Brecht before his death on 14 August 1956. Returning to Poland, Swinarski directed plays in Warsaw theatres: Dramatyczny, Współczesny,

Ateneum Ateneum is an art museum in Helsinki, Finland and one of the three museums forming the Finnish National Gallery. It is located in the centre of Helsinki on the south side of Rautatientori square close to Helsinki Central railway station. It has t ...

and National Theatre and Gdańsk . He also directed plays abroad, eg in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. In 1960 he got Leon Schiller award, granted to young theatrical directors. In 1966 he was a laureate of for an inscenization of ''

The Undivine Comedy ''The Undivine Comedy'' or ''The Un-divine Comedy'' ( pl, Nie Boska komedia or ''Nie-boska komedia''), is a play written by Polish Romantic poet Zygmunt Krasiński in 1833, published anonymously in 1835. Its main theme is sociopolitical conf ...

'' in Stary Theatre and for '' A Dangerous Game'' in Teatr Telewizji teleplay, and West German Theatre Critics Award in 1964 for ''Marat/Sade'' by

Peter Weiss Peter Ulrich Weiss (8 November 1916 – 10 May 1982) was a German writer, painter, graphic artist, and experimental filmmaker of adopted Swedish nationality. He is particularly known for his plays ''Marat/Sade'' and ''The Investigation'' and hi ...

and Mayakovsky's ''

The Bedbug ''The Bedbug'' (russian: Клоп, ') is a play by Vladimir Mayakovsky written in 1928-1929 and published originally by '' Molodaya Gvardiya'' magazine (Nos. 3 and 4, 1929), then, as a book, by Gosizdat in 1929. "The faerie comedy in nine picture ...

''. In 1965 he started his longtime cooperaion with Stary Theatre in Cracow, where some of his most famous works were produced. Those included his most famous work, novel and innovative inscenization of ''

Dziady Dziady ( Belarusian: , Russian: , Ukrainian: , pl, Dziady; lit. "grandfathers, eldfathers", sometimes translated as Forefathers' Eve) is a term in Slavic folklore for the spirits of the ancestors and a collection of pre-Christian rites, rituals ...

'' (''Forefathers Eve'') by Adam Mickiewicz, premiering 18 February 1973. 30 May 1974 premiered his inscenization of ''Wyzwolenie'' (''Liberation'') by

Stanisław Wyspiański Stanisław Mateusz Ignacy Wyspiański (; 15 January 1869 – 28 November 1907) was a Polish playwright, painter and poet, as well as interior and furniture designer. A patriotic writer, he created a series of symbolic, national dramas within ...

, his last work for Stary Theatre. 1975 Swinarski began preparations to direct ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'', interrupted by his sudden death.

Death

19 August 1975 Swinarski died in ČSA Flight 540 accident of

Ilyushin Il-62 The Ilyushin Il-62 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-62; NATO reporting name: Classic) is a Soviet long-range narrow-body jetliner conceived in 1960 by Ilyushin. As successor to the popular turboprop Il-18 and with capacity for almost 200 pa ...

that crashed during attempted landing near Damascus. Swinarski was invited by empress of Iran

Farah Pahlavi Farah Pahlavi ( fa, فرح پهلوی, née Farah Diba ( fa, فرح دیبا, label=none); born 14 October 1938) is the widow of the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and was successively Queen and Empress (''Shahbanu'') of Iran from ...

to take part in

Shiraz Arts Festival The Shiraz Festival of Arts (Persian language, Persian: جشنواره هنر شیراز) was an annual international summer arts festival, held in Iran bringing about the encounter between the East and the West. It was held from 1967 to 1977 in t ...

. There were plans for Swinarski to show his ''Dziady'' during next years festival. Swinarski was buried in

Powązki Military Cemetery Powązki Military Cemetery (; pl, Cmentarz Wojskowy na Powązkach) is an old military cemetery located in the Żoliborz district, western part of Warsaw, Poland. The cemetery is often confused with the older Powązki Cemetery, known colloquial ...

(quartier A37-4-4). After his death, ''Teatr'' magazine established yearly , awarded to theatrical directors for best work of the season. The laureates include Henryk Tomaszewski,

, , , .

Private life

In 1955 Swinarski married Barbara Witek. His

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

was a well-known fact in artistic circles, but it wasn't publically mentioned (or in any biographical work) until 2003.

Awards and honors

* 1969 – Second Degree Award of the Minister of Culture and Art for creative research in the field of theatre staging; * 1973 –

City of Kraków Award The City of Kraków Award is an award bestowed annually by the President of Kraków, Poland, for contributions relating to the city, and the popularization of its culture at home and abroad. It is given to prominent artists in the field of theatre, ...

* 1974 – First Degree State Award for outstanding achievements in the field of theatre directing * 1974 – „Drożdże” (''Yeast''), award of ''

Polityka ''Polityka'' (, ''Politics'') is a centre-left weekly news magazine in Poland. With a circulation of 200,050 (as of April 2011), it was the country's biggest selling weekly, ahead of ''Newsweek''s Polish edition, ''Newsweek Polska'', and ''Wpr ...

'' * 1974 – Knights Cross

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

Golden Cross of Merit The Cross of Merit () is a Polish civil state decoration established on 23 June 1923, to recognize services to the state. History At the time of its establishment in 1923, the Cross of Merit was the highest civilian award in Poland. It was aw ...

References

External links

Konrad Swinarski as remembered by Tadeusz Łomnicki (pl)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swinarski, Konrad Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland) Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland) Victims of aviation accidents or incidents Burials at Powązki Military Cemetery Polish theatre directors Polish television directors Polish film directors Polish opera directors Scenographers Polish LGBT artists 1929 births 1975 deaths