Krystyna Meissner (19 June 1933 – 20 February 2022) was a Polish theatre director. She founded two festivals and her awards include the Goethe Medal. She was recognised for popularising German plays and for introducing theatrical work from Eastern Europe to Western Europe.

Life

Meissner was born 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 ...

in 1933, the daughter of Alfred Meissner, a dental surgeon, Home Army soldier and a doctor in the Warsaw Uprising. She studied

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

at 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 ...

before studying Direction at Warsaw's State Academy of Theatre. She rose to be the artistic director of the W. Horzyca Theatre in

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where she launched the international festival named Kontakt. In time this festival would see leading

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

directors debuting their work in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

including

Thomas Ostermeier Thomas Ostermeier (born 3 September 1968, Soltau, West Germany) is a German theatre director. He currently mainly works for the Schaubühne. Biography Ostermeier began his theatrical career in 1990 acting under director Einar Schleef, one of his ...

Christoph Marthaler Christoph Marthaler (born 17 October 1951, in Erlenbach, Switzerland) is a Swiss director and musician, working in the style of avant-garde theater, such as Expressionism and Dada, a theater of the absurd elements. In 1998, he was awarded the IV ...

and Sasha Waltz. In 1994, she was the laureate in the theatre category for the

Paszport Polityki Paszport Polityki (Polityka's Passport) is an annual Polish cultural award presented by the weekly magazine ''Polityka'' since 1993. It is presented in six major categories: literature, film, theatre, classical music, popular music, visual arts ...

award in its second year of operation. In 1997, her abilities were recognised when she became the director of Poland's most important theatre, the

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 ...

, which was founded in 1781. Her term there was difficult and within a year she left at the request of the actors. At the beginning of 1999, she was in

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

working in the "Teatr Współczesny" (contemporary theatre), and organising the "Dialog Theatre festival". In 2000, she directed "Family Situations" by

Biljana Srbljanović Biljana Srbljanović ( sr-cyr, Биљана Србљановић, ; born 15 October 1970) is a Serbian playwright and university professor. She has written eleven theater plays and screenplay for '' Otvorena vrata'' television series that aired ...

; the following year she directed "Bulwar Comedy" by Oliver Bukowski. Later plays she directed were by Tadeusz Miciński and

Juliusz Słowacki Juliusz Słowacki (; french: Jules Slowacki; 4 September 1809 – 3 April 1849) was a Polish Romantic poet. He is considered one of the "Three Bards" of Polish literature — a major figure in the Polish Romantic period, and the father of mode ...

. She was a member of the judging team to find the leading theatre director for the European Theatre Awards which are held annually in Taormina.

Awards

Meissner was awarded the Goethe Medal in 2014, for fostering a strong presence of German theatre in Poland as well as leading the discovery of Eastern European theatre in Western Europe. She received the

Zasłużony Działacz Kultury The honorary badge Meritorious Activist of Culture ( pl, Zasłużony Działacz Kultury) was a departmental decoration of Poland in Arts awarded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland to persons and organizations ...

award, the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Lithuania in 2016 and the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 2005. In 2016, she was given the gold medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis.

Death

She died on 20 February 2022, aged 88.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meissner, Krystyna 1933 births 2022 deaths Polish theatre directors Polish women theatre directors Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw alumni Recipients of the Silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis People from Warsaw Recipient of the Meritorious Activist of Culture badge