Joanna Chmielewska was the pen name of Irena Kühn née Becker (2 April 1932 – 7 October 2013), a

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, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. Her work is often described as "ironic detective stories". Her novels, which have been translated into at least nine languages, have sold more than 6 million copies in Poland and over 10 million copies in Russia.

Biography

Born 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 ...

in 1932, Chmielewska graduated as an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

in 1954 from

Warsaw University of Technology The Warsaw University of Technology ( pl, Politechnika Warszawska, lit=Varsovian Polytechnic) is one of the leading institutes of technology in Poland and one of the largest in Central Europe. It employs 2,453 teaching faculty, with 357 professor ...

, and worked as a

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

before devoting herself to writing. Her first

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

was published in the popular magazine '' Kultura i Życie'' (''Culture and Life'') in 1958 and her first novel, ''

Klin KLIN (1400 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station broadcasting a news talk information format. Licensed to Lincoln, Nebraska, United States, the station serves the Lincoln area. The station is currently owned by NRG Media and features programmin ...

'' (''The Wedge''), in 1964. She loved horse races and gambling: both hobbies are mentioned extensively in her books. She was also a connoisseur of

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...

, a passion which forms the basis for her 1998 novel '' Złota mucha'' (''The Golden Fly''). She wrote more than fifty novels. Most frequently, the protagonist is a woman called Joanna that inherits many characteristics from Chmielewska herself. She also often wrote about Joanna's friends like Alicja (''We Are All Suspects'', ''All in Red''), co-workers (''We Are All Suspects'', ''Wild Protein'') or family (''The Forefathers' Wells'', ''Bad Luck''). She died on 7 October 2013.Joanna Chmielewska Passes Away
/ref>

Books

As of September 2008, there are no published English language translations of Chmielewska's work, and so the exact translation of the Polish titles into English can vary from source to source.

Crime fiction

*1964 ''

'' (''The Wedge'') (In-context translation of the idiom: "Hair of the dog") **adapted into the feature film ''Lekarstwo na miłość'' (1966), directed by

Jan Batory Jan Batory (23 August 1921 - 1 August 1981) was a Polish film director and screenwriter.http://guide_to_cinema.enacademic.com/15/Batory,_Jan Selected filmography References External links * 1921 births 1981 deaths People from Kalisz ...

, starring

Andrzej Łapicki Andrzej Łapicki (11 November 1924 – 21 July 2012) was a Polish film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1947 and 1999. He was married twice. His first marriage to Zofia Chrząszczewska lasted from 1947 to her death in 2005. He then mar ...

and

Kalina Jędrusik Kalina Jędrusik (5 February 1930 in Częstochowa – 7 August 1991 in Warsaw) was a Polish singer and actress. She performed in more than thirty films from 1953 to 1991. Jędrusik was married to writer Stanisław Dygat. Biography Kalina ...

*1966 '' Wszyscy jesteśmy podejrzani'' (''We Are All Suspects'') *1969 ''Krokodyl z Kraju Karoliny'' (''The Crocodile from Caroline's Country'') *1972 '' Całe zdanie nieboszczyka'' (''Dead Man's Tale'') **adapted into the Russian television series ''Что сказал покойник'' (''Chto skazal pokojnik'', 2000) *1973 ''Lesio'' *1974 '' Wszystko czerwone'' (''All in Red'') **adapted into the Russian television series ''Пан или пропал'' (''Pan ili propal'', 1998) *1975 ''Romans wszechczasów'' (''The Romance of the Century'') *1976 ''Boczne Drogi'' (''Country Roads'') *1977 '' Upiorny legat'' (''A Ghastly Legacy'') **adapted into the feature film ''Skradziona kolekcja'' (1979), directed by

*1979 ''

Studnie przodków Studnie is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Głowaczów, within Kozienice County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately south-west of Głowaczów, west of Kozienice, and south of Warsaw Wa ...

'' (''The Forefathers' Wells'') *1983 ''Duch'' (''Ghost'') *1990 ''Szajka bez końca'' (''The Endless Gang'') *1990 ''Ślepe szczęście'' (''Blind Fortune'') *1990 ''

Dzikie białko Dzikie is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Choroszcz __NOTOC__ Gmina Choroszcz is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Białystok County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. Its seat is the town of Choro ...

'' (''Wild Protein'') *1992 ''Wyścigi'' (''The Horse Racing'') *1993 '' Tajemnica'' (''The Secret'') *1993 ''Drugi wątek'' (''Second Thread'') *1993 ''Florencja, córka Diabła'' (''Florence, Devil's daughter'') *1993 ''Zbieg okoliczności'' (''Coincidence'') *1994 ''Jeden kierunek ruchu'' (''One-Way Traffic'') *1994 ''Pafnucy'' *1995 ''Lądowanie w Garwolinie'' (''Landing in Garwolin'') *1996 ''Duża polka'' (''The Big Polka'') *1996 ''Dwie głowy i jedna noga'' (''Two heads and one leg'') *1996 ''Wielki diament'' (''The Diamond Story'') *1996 ''Jak wytrzymać z mężczyzną'' (''How to Cope with a Man'') *1996 ''Jak wytrzymać ze współczesną kobietą'' (''How to Cope with a Modern Woman'') *1997 ''Krowa niebiańska'' (''Holy Cow'') *1997 ''Hazard'' (''Risk'') *1998 ''Harpie'' (''Harpies'') *1998 '' Złota mucha'' (''The Golden Fly'') *1999 '' Depozyt'' (''The Deposit'') *1999 ''Najstarsza prawnuczka'' (''The Oldest Great Granddaughter'') *2000 ''Przeklęta bariera'' (''The Accursed Barrier'') *2000 ''Książka poniekąd kucharska'' (''A Sort of Cookery Book'') *2001 ''Trudny trup'' (''The Difficult Corpse'') *2001 ''Jak wytrzymać ze sobą nawzajem'' (''How to Cope with Each Other'') *2002 ''(Nie)boszczyk mąż'' (''The (In)animate Husband'') *2002 '' Pech'' (''Bad Luck'') *2003 ''Babski motyw'' (''Women's theme'') *2003 ''Bułgarski bloczek'' *2004 '' Kocie worki'' (''A Pig in a Poke'') *2005 ''Mnie zabić'' (''To Kill Myself'') *2005 ''Zapalniczka'' (''The Zipper'') *2006 ''Krętka blada'' (''Pale Spirochete'') *2007 ''Rzeź bezkręgowców'' (''Slaughter of Invertebrates'')

Children's and young adult fiction

*1974 ''Zwyczajne życie'' (''An Ordinary Life'') *1976 ''Większy kawałek świata'' (''Bigger part of the World'') *1979 ''Nawiedzony dom'' (''Haunted House'') *1981 ''Wielkie zasługi'' (''Great merit'') *1988 ''Skarby'' (''Treasures'') *1991 ''2/3 sukcesu'' (''2/3 of Success'') *1992 ''Ślepe szczęście'' (''Blind Luck'') *1993 ''Wszelki wypadek'' (''Every Case'') *1994 ''Pafnucy'' (''Pafnucy'') *2003 ''Las Pafnucego'' (''Pafnucy's Forest'')

Non-fiction

*1994 ''Jeden kierunek ruchu'' (''One-Way Traffic'') *1994 ''Autobiografia'' (''Autobiography'') *1996 ''Jak wytrzymać z mężczyzną'' (''How to Cope with a Man'') *1996 ''Jak wytrzymać ze współczesną kobietą'' (''How to Cope with a Modern Woman'') *1997 ''Hazard'' (''Risk'') *2000 ''Książka poniekąd kucharska'' (''A Sort of Cookery Book'') *2001 ''Jak wytrzymać ze sobą nawzajem'' (''How to Cope with Each Other'') *2005 ''Przeciwko babom!'' (''Against Hags!'') *2006 ''Autobiografia, tom 6 — Stare próchno'' (''Autobiography - Old Rotten'') *2007 ''Traktat o odchudzaniu'' (''The Treaty on Weight Loss'') *2008 ''Autobiografia, tom 7 — Okropności'' (''Autobiography - Horrors'')

References

External links

Official siteCulture.pl: Joanna ChmielewskaChmielewska Joanna
at the Instytut Książki (''Book Institute'', Polish Ministry of Culture) *
Fan site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chmielewska, Joanna 1932 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Polish women writers 21st-century Polish women writers 20th-century Polish novelists 21st-century Polish novelists Polish mystery writers Polish crime fiction writers Polish designers Warsaw University of Technology alumni Polish women novelists Women crime writers