Włada Majewska (19 March 1911 – 18 May 2011) was a Polish radio journalist, actress and singer.

Life

Włada Majewska was born on 19 March 1911 to Zygmunt and Katarzyna Majewska in Lwow (now

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

). She studied law at the

University of Lviv The University of Lviv ( uk, Львівський університет, Lvivskyi universytet; pl, Uniwersytet Lwowski; german: Universität Lemberg, briefly known as the ''Theresianum'' in the early 19th century), presently the Ivan Franko Na ...

and graduated from Faculty of Administrative Law at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. In 1930, she began working at

Polish Radio Lwów Polish Radio Lwów ( pl, Polskie Radio Lwów) was a station of the Polish Radio, located in the city of Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine), which in the interbellum period belonged to the Second Polish Republic. It was regarded as the second most popular sta ...

. From 1932, she performed as a singer and parodist, together with the band Szczepcia and Tońka in Wiktor Budzyński's "Wesoła Lwowska Fala". After the outbreak of World War II, she left Lviv and started performing Romania as part of an artistic ensemble. On 8 March 1940, the band "Lwowska Fali" left Romania and travelled to France via Yugoslavia and Italy to join the Polish Army in France. On 22 June 1940, after the

fall of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...

, "Lwowska Fali" was evacuated to Scotland on a small English freighter. The band performed there two days later. "Lwowska Fali" was a part of the 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade of General Maczek, where they performed for the Polish Army over 800 times, performing on truck platforms, soldier's barracks and bunkers. After the war ended, she stayed in the United Kingdom and in 1946 married Wiktor Budzyński in Edinburgh. Majewska became a producer of Marian Hemar's cabarets and was an actress in his theatre in London. In the 1940s, Majewska moved to London and renewed her performance career. In 1952, she became a presenter for Radio Free Europe. After the fall of communism, Radio Free Europe's London office closed, and Majewska ensured that its archives were preserved. In 1994, Majewska donated the London archives of Radio Free Europe and recordings of Marian Hemar's work to Polskie Radio. In 2005, for the 80th anniversary of Polskie Radio, she was presented with the Diamond Microphone for her contributions to Polish radio. For the last few years of her life, Majewska was cared for in a home run by Polish nuns in

Chislehurst Chislehurst () is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater L ...

. She died there on 18 May 2011 at the age of 100.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Majewska, Wlada 1911 births 2011 deaths 20th-century Polish actresses Actors from Lviv Journalists from Lviv Musicians from Lviv Polish centenarians Women centenarians University of Lviv alumni Alumni of the University of Edinburgh