Maria Kownacka (1894–1982) was a Polish writer, translator and editor, specializing in

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

. She was a long-time writer of '' Płomyk''. Her best-known work is the series of books about "Plastuś", that began with ' (1936).

Biography

Kownacka was born on 11 September 1894 in Słup,

partitioned Poland Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

. She became a village schoolteacher at the age of 18, teaching in Dębowa Góra in 1914. From 1915 to 1918 she worked as a teacher in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

, where she also studied literature. As she was teaching in Polish, her activities were considered part of the illegal underground activism. It is around that time she also begun her career as a writer. Later she founded her own school in Krzywda on land owned by a relative. As she did not have sufficient funds to buy books, she wrote down her own stories for the children. In 1919 she debuted as a writer, with her first work published in magazines for children, '' Płomyk'' and '' Płomyczek''. Due to a disease of the throat, she was forced to abandon her budding career as a teacher. She moved to Warsaw where she worked as a librarian in the Ministry of Agricultural Reforms and was an educational activist for children, active in the . In 1931 she moved to a house in Żolibórz, which would later become a museum dedicated to her. Also that year she published the first part of her best known work, ', in ''Płomyk'' (lit. the Diary of a Plasteline Man, about the adventures of a small red character made out of plastelne). It would be published in the book form in 1936 and would become one of the classics of Polish

, and part of the Polish elementary school curriculum. By 1939 she published eight books, including collections of short stories for children ''Bajowe bajeczki i świerszczykowe skrzypeczki, czyli o straszliwym smoku i dzielnym szewczyku, prześlicznej królewnie i królu Gwoździku'' (1935), ''Kukuryku na ręczniku'' (1936) and a stage play ''Cztery mile za pięć'' (1937). She was also the chief dramaturgist of the doll theater . In

occupied Poland ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...

, she engaged in underground education for children and continued to write children's stories for the underground press, even during the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...

. During this time she contributed to the resistance-published children's magazine "Jawnutka". She continued publishing children's literature after the war: ''Kajtkowe przygody'' (1948), ''Tajemnica uskrzydlonego serca'' (1948), ''Dzieci z Leszczynowej Górki'' (with Zofia Malicka, 1952), ''Rogaś z Doliny Roztoki'' (1957), ''Szkoła nad obłokami'' (1958), ''Za żywopłotem'' (1971), ''Na tropach węża Eskulapa'' (with Kazimierz Garstka, 1980). In 1963 she also co-authored (with a children's encyclopedia about nature, ''Głos przyrody''. She died on 27 February 1982 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 was buried in 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 ...

Awards

She received the: * Silver Cross of Merit (1948) * 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 decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...

(1952) *

Order of the Smile The Order of the Smile (Polish: ''Order Uśmiechu'') is an international award given by children to adults distinguished in their love, care and aid for children. History The idea of the Order of the Smile was established in 1968 by the Polis ...

(1971) * (1975) * (1978)

Remembrance

Her house in Warsaw became a small museum () open to the public in 1990. Many kindergartens in Poland are named after characters from her books. In 2016 a biography of her, ''Kownacka. Ta od Plastusia'', was published.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kownacka, Maria 1894 births 1982 deaths Polish children's writers 20th-century Polish women writers Polish translators Polish editors Polish women editors Polish women children's writers Recipients of the Silver Cross of Merit (Poland) Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta 20th-century translators