Ziemiańska

Ziemiańska or Mała Ziemiańska (the name coined after the term ''ziemianin'', meaning member of

Polish landed gentry Polish landed gentry ( pl, ziemiaństwo, ziemianie, from ''ziemia'', "land") was a social group or class of hereditary landowners who held manorial estates. Historically, ''ziemianie'' consisted of hereditary nobles (''szlachta'') and landed comm ...

) was a

coffeehouse A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

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 ...

. It was notable as a meeting place of many of Poland's most prominent artists of the inter-war period. The venture was founded in 1918 at 12, Mazowiecka Street in Warsaw's city centre. It was officially opened on April 14 of that year and its original owners were Jan Skępski and Karol Albrecht, two prominent pâtissier masters. Initially the cafe consisted only of a small room with several tables, later a gallery above was added with additional tables. The cafe lay roughly halfways between the Warsaw University, the Filharmony,

Zachęta The Zachęta National Gallery of Art (Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, ...

Art Gallery and many notable cultural facilities. Because of that, it started to be frequented by artists of all sorts. Among the most prominent to be frequent guests there were the Skamandrites, including poets

Julian Tuwim Julian Tuwim (13 September 1894 – 27 December 1953), known also under the pseudonym "Oldlen" as a lyricist, was a Polish poet, born in Łódź, then part of the Russian Partition. He was educated in Łódź and in Warsaw where he studied la ...

Antoni Słonimski Antoni Słonimski (15 November 1895 – 4 July 1976) was a Polish poet, artist, journalist, playwright and prose writer, president of the Union of Polish Writers in 1956–1959 during the Polish October, known for his devotion to social justic ...

Jan Lechoń Leszek Józef Serafinowicz (pen name: Jan Lechoń; 13 March 1899 in Warsaw, Congress Poland, Russian Empire – 8 June 1956 in New York City) was a Polish poet, literary and theater critic, diplomat, and co-founder of the Skamander literary move ...

Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz Jarosław Leon Iwaszkiewicz, also known under his literary pseudonym Eleuter (20 February 1894 – 2 March 1980), was a Polish writer, poet, essayist, dramatist and translator.Bartłomiej Szleszyński, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. 2003 Culture.plJaros ...

and

Kazimierz Wierzyński Kazimierz Wierzyński (Drohobycz, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, 27 August 1894 – 13 February 1969, London) was a Polish poet and journalist; an elected member of the prestigious Polish Academy of Literature in the Second Polish Republic. ...

, as well as their frequent companion Franciszek Fiszer. The table of the poets occupied the gallery, while one of the tables at the ground floor was reserved for painters and sculptors. Among its owners were

Zofia Stryjeńska Zofia Stryjeńska (née Lubańska; 13 May 1891 – 28 February 1976) was a Polish painter, graphic designer, illustrator, stage designer, a representative of art deco. Along with Olga Boznańska and Tamara de Lempicka, she was one of the best-kno ...

Tadeusz Gronowski Tadeusz Lucjan Gronowski (5 October 1894 in Warsaw–20 February 1990 in Warsaw) was a Polish graphic artist, architect who worked as an interior designer, painter, and a book illustrator. He is considered to be one of the creators of the Pol ...

and

Henryk Kuna Henryk Kuna (c.1885 – 17 December 1945) was a Polish sculptor, active in the early twentieth century. His long career produced many famous works of arts including several renowned public monuments in his native country of Poland. Life Henryk K ...

, but also a poet

Bolesław Leśmian Bolesław Leśmian (born Bolesław Lesman; January 22, 1877The exact date of his birth is disputed: the act of birth mentions 1877, Leśmian himself used 1878, while the date mentioned on his tombstone is 1879. – November 5, 1937) was a Pol ...

. Among frequent guests were also Eugeniusz Bodo (dubbed ''the king of Polish actors''),

Adolf Dymsza Adolf Dymsza (born Adolf Bagiński; 7 April 1900 – 20 August 1975) was a Polish comedy actor of both the pre-World War II and post-war eras. He starred in both theatre and film productions, mainly before World War II. He and Kazimierz Krukowski ...

, Jadwiga Smosarska,

Leon Schiller Leon Schiller or Leon Schiller de Schildenfeld (14 March 1887 – 25 March 1954) was a Polish theatre and film director, as well as critic and theatre theoretician. He also wrote theatre and radio screenplays and composed music. He was born in Kra ...

Jerzy Zaruba Jerzy Zaruba (1891–1971) was a Polish graphic artist, stage scenographer and caricaturist; author of satirical drawings, political Nativity scene, crèches and illustrations for books and magazines. Pupil of Stanisław Lentz. His work was part ...

Ludwik Solski Ludwik Solski (20 January 1855 - 19 December 1954), born Ludwik Napoleon Karol Sosnowski, was a Polish stage actor and theatre director. From his stage debut in 1876 until his death (his last performance took place six months after his 99th birt ...

and

Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński (23 January 1905 – 6 December 1953), alias ''Karakuliambro'', was a Polish poet. He is well known for the "paradramatic" absurd humorous sketches of the ''Green Goose Theatre''. Biography Born to a lower-mid ...

, who met his future wife there. Another group of guests were politicians, including Poland's prime minister

Walery Sławek Walery Jan Sławek (; 2 November 1879 – 3 April 1939) was a Polish politician, freemason, military officer and activist, who in the early 1930s served three times as Prime Minister of Poland. He was one of the closest aides of Polish lead ...

, minister of foreign affairs Józef Beck and General

Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski Bolesław Ignacy Florian Wieniawa-Długoszowski (22 July 1881 – 1 July 1942) was a Polish general, adjutant to Chief of State Józef Piłsudski, politician, freemason, diplomat, poet, artist and formally for one day the President of the Republ ...

After the initial success, the owners of Ziemiańska opened up several other cafe houses in Warsaw. The most prominent of them (and the largest) was opened nearby, at the corner of Kredytowa and Jasna Street. From then on the original venue at Mazowiecka started to be called "Mała Ziemiańska" (''Small Ziemiańska''), as opposed to "Duża Ziemiańska", or ''Big Ziemiańska''. The success of the pastries served there allowed the owners to open a similar cafe in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

, which however was closed in the 1930s, following protests from French pastry makers. The Ziemiańska (and the building) ceased to exist 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 ...

. It was not rebuilt. Coffeehouses and cafés in Poland Former buildings and structures in Poland Demolished buildings and structures in Poland {{Warsaw-stub