Ewa Chobot (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Farna, born 12 August 1993) is a Polish-Czech pop-rock singer. She released five Polish-language and four Czech-language studio albums, and received platinum and gold certifications for them, both in Poland and the Czech Republic. She was a judge on ''

Česko Slovenská SuperStar ''SuperStar'' (previously known as ''Česko Slovenská SuperStar'') is a joint Czech- Slovak version ''Česko hledá SuperStar'' and '' SuperStar Search Slovakia'' based on the ''Idol'' franchise. Three seasons of this competition were broadcas ...

'' in 2013, the Polish ''X Factor'' in 2014, and the Polish ''Idol'' in 2017.

Early life

Farna was born on 12 August 1993 into a Polish family residing in the

Vendryně Vendryně () is a municipality and village in Frýdek-Místek District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,500 inhabitants. It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia on the banks of the Olza River. The ...

village near

Třinec Třinec (; ; ) is a city in Frýdek-Místek District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants, making it the least populated Statutory city (Czech Republic), statutory city in the country. The city ...

, Czech Republic. She attended a Polish elementary school in Vendryně and the

Juliusz Słowacki Polish Grammar School Juliusz Słowacki Polish Grammar School (, ) is a Polish grammar school (Gymnasium (school), gymnasium) in Český Těšín in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It is the only Polish secondary school in the country, serving the ...

Český Těšín Český Těšín (; ; ) is a town in Karviná District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. Český Těšín lies on the west bank of the Olza (river), Olza river, in the heart of the historical ...

. She also attended art school for five years, as well as a dance school, and learned to play the piano in her childhood.

Career

Farna first attracted attention after winning local talent competitions in both the Czech Republic and Poland in 2004 and 2005. After being discovered by producer Lešek Wronka, she released her debut album ''Měls mě vůbec rád'' in 2006. This was followed by her winning the ''Discovery of the Year'' award in the annual Czech music award

Český slavík Český slavík () is an award meant to recognize outstanding achievement and annual popularity in the Czech music industry. It was established in 1996 as the successor to the Zlatý slavík awards, which were established in 1962 in Czechoslova ...

in 2006. Her sophomore album, ''Ticho'', which peaked at number two in the Czech Republic and the Polish version of her debut album, titled ''Sam na Sam'', were both released in 2007. Her concert DVD ''Blíž ke hvězdám'' became the best-selling music DVD of 2008 in the Czech Republic. In early 2009, the Polish version of ''Ticho'' was released, titled ''Cicho''. In 2010, she made an appearance in one episode of the Polish sitcom ''Hela w opałach''. Her next album, ''Virtuální'', was released on 26 October 2009. In 2010, Farna's debut Polish album ''EWAkuacja'' was released, which ended up gathering many awards, including ''Viva Comet 2011''. In 2011, on the occasion of Farna's eighteenth birthday, two birthday concerts were held: one in the Czech Republic (after which a DVD titled ''18 Live'' was released with live recordings from the concert), and one in Poland (with another DVD release, titled ''Live, niezapomniany koncert urodzinowy''). Also in 2011, she won the ''Album of the Year'' category in the Polish Opole Festival's Superjedynki awards for the album ''Cicho'', and the ''Polish Hit of the Summer'' category at the

Sopot Hit Festival Sopot Hit Festival is an international song contest, bringing contestants and guests who are stars with world recognition. It has been transmitted annually by the TVP2, Polish Television in the coastal resort of Sopot, Poland. Together with Nationa ...

for her single "Cicho". In October 2013, Farna's major comeback with her album ''(W)Inna?'' (''winna'' meaning guilty, ''inna'' meaning different) caused confusion, as many mistook the title to be a reference to her 2012 car accident. In 2014 Ewa's Czech single "Leporelo" along with a music video, and the song "Lešek" about her manager Lešek Wronka, were released. Her and Lešek later had a falling out in 2017, culminating in Farna firing him and not inviting him to her wedding. In 2021, 2023 and 2024, she won the ''Best Female Singer'' award in Český slavík.

Personal life

Ewa Farna hails from a patriotic Polish family from

in the

Trans-Olza Trans-Olza (, ; , ''Záolší''; ), also known as Trans-Olza Silesia (), is a territory in the Czech Republic which was disputed between Poland and Czechoslovakia during the Interwar Period. Its name comes from the Olza River. The history of ...

region. Her father Tadeusz is a musician in regional Polish folk groups. Farna holds dual Polish-Czech citizenship, although she has stated many times that she feels "as a proud Pole". She has campaigned for the visibility of the

Polish minority in the Czech Republic The Polish minority in the Czech Republic is a Polish national minority living mainly in the Trans-Olza region of western Cieszyn Silesia. The Polish community is the only national (or ethnic) minority in the Czech Republic that is linked to a sp ...

, often cooperating with the

Congress of Poles in the Czech Republic Kongres Polaków w Republice Czeskiej () (meaning "The Congress of Poles in the Czech Republic") is a Polish organization in the Czech Republic. It fulfills two main tasks. It coordinates activities of other Polish organizations in the country, a ...

. In 2008, she became a laureate of the ''Srebrne Spinki'' award, given by the General Consul of Poland in

Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...

for musical successes and promoting the Polish minority of the Trans-Olza region. Despite her patriotic stance, she only holds

Czech citizenship The citizenship law of the Czech Republic is based on the principles of jus sanguinis or "''right by blood''". In other words, descent from a Czech parent is the primary method of acquiring Czech citizenship (together with naturalisation). Bi ...

. On 22 May 2012, Farna crashed her car between the towns of

and

. She suffered only minor scratches. According to a

breath test A breath test is a type of test performed on air generated from the act of exhalation. Types include: *Breathalyzer – by far the most common usage of this term relates to the legal breath test to determine if a person is driving under the inf ...

she was

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (drug), alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether re ...

of alcohol, with a

blood alcohol content Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes. BAC is expressed as mass of alcohol per volume of blood. In US and many i ...

level less than 1‰. She had been celebrating the passing of her ''

matura or its translated terms (''mature'', ''matur'', , , , , ', ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

'' the day before and fell asleep behind the wheel; she blamed her exhaustion on a week-long cram session in the week preceding the exam. In 2017, Farna and her long-time partner Martin Chobot got married. Her and Chobot have two children and live together in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Discography and charts

Albums

Singles

Other songs

References

External links

*
Ewa Farna
official website
Ewa Farna
official website
Ewa Farna
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Farna, Ewa 1993 births Living people Musicians from Třinec 21st-century Polish women singers 21st-century Polish singers 21st-century Czech women singers Czech pop singers Czech women pop singers MTV Europe Music Award winners Polish Lutherans Polish people from Trans-Olza Polish pop singers Polish women pop singers Polish rock singers Polish women rock singers Czech rock singers Czech women rock singers Czech actresses Czech television actresses Polish television actresses Polish soap opera actresses Czech soap opera actresses Czech people of Polish descent Polish drummers Czech drummers Polish keyboardists Czech keyboardists Polish women keyboardists Czech women keyboardists Polish-language singers of the Czech Republic Czech-language singers