Beata Obertyńska, (pen name "Marta Rudzka"), born July 18, 1898, near Skole (in present-day

Western Ukraine Western Ukraine or West Ukraine (, ) refers to the western territories of Ukraine. There is no universally accepted definition of the territory's boundaries, but the contemporary Ukrainian administrative regions ( oblasts) of Chernivtsi, I ...

), died May 21, 1980, in

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was a Polish writer and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

Life

Beata was one of the daughters of the ' Young Poland' poet Maryla Wolska and granddaughter of the sculptor :pl:Wanda Młodnicka (one-time fiancée of painter, Artur Grottger). Her father was an engineer and industrialist in the oil business, :pl:Wacław Wolski (inżynier). She was the wife of landowner, Józef Obertyński. She spent her childhood and adolescence with her siblings in the family villa in Lwów where they were home-tutored. She later passed her high school exams. In her youth she was associated with the

Skamander Skamander was a Polish group of experimental poetry, poets founded in 1918 by Julian Tuwim, Antoni Słonimski, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, Kazimierz Wierzyński and Jan Lechoń. Initially unnamed, in December 1919 it adopted the name ''Skamander'' ...

movement. Her first poems were published in 1924 in "Słowo Polskie". She studied in the National Institute of Theatre Arts. Between 1933 and 1937 she appeared on stage in several Lwów theatres. During the Soviet occupation of Lwów, in July 1940, she was arrested by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

. She was imprisoned in the infamous Brygidki prison and was later moved to prisons in

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, Starobielsk and finally to the

Vorkuta Vorkuta (; ; Nenets languages, Nenets for "the abundance of bears", "bear corner") is a coal-mining types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Komi Republic, Russia, situated just north of the Arctic Circle in the Pechora coal basin a ...

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

. In 1942, following the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement, she was released and joined Anders'army. She served through all of its campaigns in

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and

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. After the war she settled in London and published in Polish-language publications; " Dziennik Polski", "Dziennik Żołnierza", "Orzeł Biały", "Polska Walcząca", "Ochotniczka", "Wiadomości", "Życie", and "Przegląd Polski". She was a

laureate In English, the word laureate has come to signify eminence or association with literary awards or Military awards and decorations, military glory. It is also used for recipients of the Nobel Prize, the Gandhi Peace Award, the Student Peace Pri ...

of several literary awards, among them the award of the London-based "Przegląd Powszechny" (1967) and of the Lanckoroński Foundation (1972), the award of The Polish Ex-Combatants Association (1972) and the Jurzykowski Prize (1974). Her younger sister, 'Lela' (Aniela), married the diplomat and writer, Michał Pawlikowski. They too settled in London after the war. Lela was a sought-after portrait painter and produced a portrait of

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

, as a child. Beata collapsed on a bus in Putney High Street and died in 1980 in London.

Major works

Poems

* ''Pszczoły w słoneczniku'' (1927, "Bees in the sunflower") * ''Głóg przydrożny'' (1932, "Hawthorn by the roadside"), * ''Otawa. Wiersze dawne i nowe'' (Jerozolima 1945, "Ottawa. New and Old Poems"), * ''Miód i piołun'' (Londyn 1972, "Honey and Wormwood"), * ''Anioł w knajpie'' (Londyn 1977, "The Angel at the bar"), * ''Perły – wiersze'' (Brighton 1980, "Pearls - poems"), * ''Wiersze wybrane'' (1983, "Selected poems") * ''Grudki kadzidła'' (Londyn, Kraków 1987, "Crumbs of resin") * ''Skrząca libella'' (1991) * ''Liryki najpiękniejsze'' (1999, "Beautiful lyrics")

Novels and memories

* ''Gitara i tamci'' (1926, "They and the guitar") * ''Wspomnienia'' (''Quodlibet'', 1974, memoirs, together with her mother, Maryla Wolska) * ''W domu niewoli'' (Rzym 1946, "In the house of slavery") * ''Skarb Eulenburga'' (tom 1-2, Londyn 1987-1988, "Eulenburgh's treasure").

Life

Major works

Poems

Novels and memories

See also