Wiktoria Julia Jadwiga Goryńska (6 July 1902 – 29 March 1945) was a Polish painter and graphic artist.

Early life and education

Wiktoria Julia Jadwiga Goryńska was born on 6 July 1902 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to journalists Stanisława (née Markheim) and Maksymilian. She spent her childhood in Britain, and then returned with her parents to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where she studied at the

Kunstgewerbeschule A Kunstgewerbeschule (English: ''School of Arts and Crafts'' or S''chool of Applied Arts'') was a type of vocational arts school that existed in German-speaking countries from the mid-19th century. The term Werkkunstschule was also used for thes ...

(now the

University of Applied Arts Vienna The University of Applied Arts Vienna (german: Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, or informally just ''Die Angewandte'') is an arts university and institution of higher education in Vienna, the capital of Austria. It has had university sta ...

). In 1918 she moved to

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 ...

, where she continued her education at the School of Fine Arts under the supervision of

Konrad Krzyżanowski Konrad Krzyżanowski (15 February 1872 – 25 May 1922) was a Ukrainian-born Polish illustrator and painter, primarily of portraits, who was considered to be an early exponent of Expressionism. Biography He was born in Kremenchuk. He grew up in K ...

. Then she lived in

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 ...

for some time, returning to Warsaw, where she again studied at the Szkole Sztuk Pięknych (the School of Fine Arts), and in the studios of

Tadeusz Pruszkowski Tadeusz Pruszkowski (15 April 1888 – 30 June 1942) was a Polish painter and art teacher, known primarily for his portraits. Biography He began his artistic studies in 1904 at the , under Konrad Krzyżanowski.

and

Władysław Skoczylas Władysław Skoczylas (4 April 1883, Wieliczka – 8 April 1934, Warsaw) was a Polish watercolorist, woodcutter, sculptor and art teacher. Biography His father was a foreman in the salt mines. He graduated from the gymnasium in Bochnia, then a ...

. She worked in the medium of woodcuts.

Career

Goryńska belonged to Stowarzyszenia Artystów Grafików "RYT" the Association of Graphic Artists, an artistic group which ran between 1925 and 1939 in Warsaw with the aim of perfecting the art of woodcut. She was also a member of the Association of Polish Graphic Artists. In 1931, the first individual exhibition of Goryńska's work was held at Towarzystwie Zachęty Sztuk Pięknych (the Warsaw Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts). In 1932 she was awarded a gold medal at an exhibition in Florence for a Pieta woodcut and a silver medal for illustration in the book ''Sól polskiej ziemi'' (Salt on Polish soil) at the ''Art and Technology'' exhibition in Paris in 1937. She also wrote essays on art for both the Polish and foreign press, reviewed exhibitions and translated press texts. She gave lectures for

Polish Americans Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Poles, Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing abou ...

Polish Radio Polskie Radio Spółka Akcyjna (PR S.A.; English: Polish Radio) is Poland's national public-service radio broadcasting organization owned by the State Treasury of Poland. History Polskie Radio was founded on 18 August 1925 and began making ...

, the national public-service

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

broadcasting organisation. Goryńska created religious, fantasy and animalistic woodcuts, dealt with book graphics, and by September 1939 had created over a hundred works. The collection of the

National Museum in Warsaw The National Museum in Warsaw ( pl, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie), popularly abbreviated as MNW, is a national museum in Warsaw, one of the largest museums in Poland and the largest in the capital. It comprises a rich collection of ancient art (Egy ...

holds 44 of her woodcut blocks. The

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

holds 14 of her prints. Goryńska was one of the first women in Poland to practice

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

and wrote articles about it for the press.

World War Two

During the

Nazi occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

, she was active in the underground, using the pseudonym "Leti". From 1943, she was a liaison officer at the Main Headquarters of the

Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) esta ...

, where she was assigned to Oddziału VI BiP of the Biuro Informacji i Propagandy (Division VI of BiP, the Information and Propaganda Office). She was a member of the editorial board of the

Biuletyn Informacyjny ''Biuletyn Informacyjny'' ("Information Bulletin") was a Polish underground weekly published covertly in General Government territory of occupied Poland during World War II. The magazine was edited by Aleksander Kamiński and distributed as the ...

. After the failure of 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 ...

, she was sent to a transit camp, and from there to the

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

in Ravensbrück, where she died.

References

External links

Works by Wiktoria Goryńska in the collection of the National Library �
wersja cyfrowa na Polona.pl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorynska, Wiktoria 1945 deaths 1902 births Polish translators Polish art critics Polish women art critics Polish printmakers Polish columnists Polish women columnists Polish illustrators Polish women illustrators Polish people who died in Nazi concentration camps People who died in Ravensbrück concentration camp Polish female fencers Artists from Warsaw Polish women radio presenters Home Army officers Woodcut designers People from Vienna