Czeslaw Janczarski (2 September 1911 – 19 May 1971) was a Polish writer of children's books as well as a translator from the

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

. Janczarski was born in the village of Hruszwica,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. In 1932 he began studies at

Jan Kazimierz University The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (named after Ivan Franko, ) is a state-sponsored university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since 1940 the university is named after Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko. The university is the oldest institution of higher ...

Lwów Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

(now Lviv,

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

). Two years later he moved to the

Warsaw University The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well as 100 specializat ...

, where he studied Polish Philology. There, he got in touch with

Józef Czechowicz Józef Czechowicz (15 March 1903 – 9 September 1939) was an avant-garde Polish poet. Known as a nostalgic, catastrophic author, he was also the leader of the literary avant-garde and bohemians in Lublin.Pietrasiewicz, Tomasz and Aleksandra Ziń ...

and other poets. Janczarski spent

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in Lwów, between 1944 and 1946 he lived in

Kurów Kurów () is a town in eastern Poland, located in the historic province of Lesser Poland, between Puławy and Lublin, on the Kurówka River. It is capital of a separate gmina (municipality) called Gmina Kurów, within Lublin Voivodeship. The ...

and taught in a school in the area of

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

, then returned to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. In the late 1940s, he started working for illustrated magazines for kids, such as '' Iskierki'', '' Płomyczek'' and ''

Świerszczyk Świerszczyk (, Polish language, Polish for ''little cricket'') is an illustrated Polish children's biweekly magazine published since 1945. The publisher of the magazine is Nowa Era. Many popular Polish authors of children's magazines, such as Hann ...

'', also cooperated with the

Polish Radio The Polish Radio (PR; Polish: ''Polskie Radio'', PR) is a national public-service radio broadcasting organization of Poland, founded in 1925. It is owned by the State Treasury of Poland. On 27 December 2023, the Minister of Culture and Nationa ...

. Janczarski was the creator of kids' biweekly ''Mis'' (1957), and for many years he was editor in chief of the publication. Also, he is the creator of

Miś Uszatek Miś Uszatek(Polish language, Polish: ''Miś Uszatek''), in English rendered as Teddy Drop Ear, also spelled as Teddy Drop-Ear, and known as Teddy Floppy Ear is a Polish animated television series produced by Se-ma-for from 1975 to 1987, for a to ...

, one of the most popular characters among Polish children. Janczarski wrote several books and helped create several animated movies about Uszatek's adventures, they were illustrated by

Zbigniew Rychlicki Zbigniew Rychlicki (17 January 1922 – 10 September 1989) was a Polish graphic artist, and illustrator of children's books. He received the Hans Christian Andersen Awards Prize given by the Jury of the International Board on Books for Young Peopl ...

. He died unexpectedly, during a meeting with children in

Siedlce Siedlce () ( ) is a city in the Masovian Voivodeship in eastern Poland with 77,354 inhabitants (). The city is situated between two small rivers, the Muchawka and the Helenka, and lies along the European route E30, around east of Warsaw. It is ...

he had a heart attack, and died in a hospital in Warsaw a few days later. Janczarski, author of many books for children was awarded with several orders.Karol Estreicher jr, ''Dziennik wypadków'', t. I (''1939-1945''), Kraków 2001, s. 408; D. Matelski, ''Karol Estreicher jr 1906-1984 – biografia wielkiego Polaka'', t. II (''1939-1945''), Kraków 2017, (s. 513)

References

1911 births 1971 deaths Polish children's writers Burials at Powązki Cemetery {{Poland-writer-stub