Maryla Jonas (born Maryla Jonasówna; May 31, 1911July 3, 1959), was a Polish-born classical pianist, who escaped Nazism to settle in Brazil and later the United States. Jonas was born into a Jewish family 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 ...

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 ...

, debuting her pianistic talent at the age of 8 or 9. In spite of Jonas's father's misgivings about a career in piano performance, Jonas studied with the Polish pianist

Ignacy Jan Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (; – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist and composer who became a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the new nation's Prime Minister and foreign minister during which he signed the Treaty of Versaill ...

, as a fellow pupil of

Witold Małcużyński Witold Małcużyński (August 10, 1914July 17, 1977) was a distinguished Polish pianist who specialized in the works of Frédéric Chopin. His playing was marked by great passion and poetry. Biography Małcużyński was born in 1914. He was the o ...

and

Halina Czerny-Stefańska Halina Czerny-Stefańska ( �xaˈlina t͡ʂɛrnɨ stɛˈfaj᷉ska31 December 19221 July 2001) was a Polish pianist. Life She studied piano under her father, Stanisław Szwarcenberg-Czerny, as well as with Alfred Cortot at the École Normale de M ...

, and made her debut with the

Warsaw Philharmonic The Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra ( pl, Orkiestra Filharmonii Narodowej w Warszawie) is a Polish orchestra based in Warsaw. Founded in 1901, it is one of Poland's oldest musical institutions. History The orchestra was conceived on ...

in 1920. Jonas's adult career started in 1926 with a tour of various European capitals starting in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Her touring career proved successful and paved the way for a 13th-place finish in the second

II International Chopin Piano Competition The II International Chopin Piano Competition ( pl, II Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina) was held from 6 to 23 March 1932 in Warsaw. Popular with the public, it attracted correspondents from all over the world, not lea ...

in 1932.

Alexander Uninsky Alexander Uninsky ( ua, Олекса́ндр Юні́нський; russian: Александр Юнинский, translit=Aleksandr Yuninskij, pronounced You-nin-skee; Kiev, Dallas, 19 December 1972) was an American classical pianist of Ukrainia ...

took first prize in the same competition. In 1933 Jonas won the Beethoven prize of Vienna and following her victory established a successful European-based performance career. Jonas's success in establishing herself as a European touring pianist was overshadowed in 1939 by 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 afte ...

. She refused the invitation of a

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

agent to move to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and perform in a safer environment. As a result, Jonas was arrested and remained in custody for several weeks. A German officer who had once heard her perform in Germany took pity on her and had her released. The German officer advised Jonas to travel to Berlin and visit the Brazilian Embassy for aid. Jonas took the German officer's advice and traveled to Berlin on foot, walking several hundred miles short of food and without recourse to safe shelter. The long walk likely seriously damaged Jonas's health and may have resulted in her untimely death at the age of 48. The embassy supplied Jonas with false records that made her out to be the wife of the ambassador's son. Jonas traveled from Berlin to

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

and finally settled in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, the capital of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. In 1940, while residing in Brazil, Jonas suffered a nervous breakdown and lived several months in sanatoria. When it looked as though she was on the mend, she received the painful news that one of her brothers had been killed; this was followed by news that her husband and parents had also died. These painful losses made the prospects of her future as a pianist appear unlikely. Jonas's sister and

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein ( pl, Artur Rubinstein; 28 January 188720 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

, another famous Polish pianist, offered their support to Jonas and opened the possibility for her to return to performing and recording piano music. She resumed her career in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, making her debut at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

in February 1946.

References

External links

Index of Maryla Jonas material

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jonas, Maryla Polish classical pianists Polish women pianists 1911 births 1959 deaths Musicians from Warsaw Brazilian emigrants to the United States Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Brazil 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century classical musicians Jewish classical pianists Women classical pianists 20th-century women pianists