Konrad Ksawery Swinarski ( 4 July

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholi ...

Warszawa 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 official ...

19 August Events Pre-1600 *295 BC – The first temple to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, is dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges during the Third Samnite War. *43 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, later know ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

near Damascus) – Polish theatrical, television, film and opera director and stage designer. He has created his own style, thanks to which he is considered one of the most original and outstanding artists in the history of Polish theatre. He influenced many polish directors, such as , Krystian Lupa, Jerzy Jarocki, , and Krzysztof Warlikowski.

Life

His father was lieutnant colonel , and his mother was Irmgarda Liczbińska, who came from Polish-German Silesian family. He studied at and

Sopot Sopot is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, and has the status of the county, being the smallest c ...

, faculty of scenic visuals of Academy of Fine Arts In Łódź and Drama Direction Faculty of National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw. During Warsaw studies he was an assistant to directors and Erwin Axer. He finished studying in 1955, but graduated in 1972 based on ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict ...

'' production in National Stary Theatre. In 1973–1975 he was a lecturer of National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków. During studies he became fascinated with

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a ...

work. In 1954, together with Przemysław Zieliński he realized '' Señora Carrar's Rifles'' for New Warsaw's theatre. He debuted solo by directing ''Żeglarz'' (''The Sailor'') by Jerzy Szaniawski, premiering 14 May 1955 in Wojciech Bogusławski Theatre in

Kalisz (The oldest city of Poland) , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town , image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...

. In 1955–1957 he interned for

Berliner Ensemble The Berliner Ensemble () is a German theatre company established by actress Helene Weigel and her husband, playwright Bertolt Brecht, in January 1949 in East Berlin. In the time after Brecht's exile, the company first worked at Wolfgang Langho ...

as Brecht's assistant. Together with other assistants he took part in finishing inscenization of '' Fear and Misery of the Third Reich'', started by Brecht before his death on 14 August 1956. Returning to Poland, Swinarski directed plays in Warsaw theatres: Dramatyczny, Współczesny,

Ateneum Ateneum is an art museum in Helsinki, Finland and one of the three museums forming the Finnish National Gallery. It is located in the centre of Helsinki on the south side of Rautatientori square close to Helsinki Central railway station. It has ...

and National Theatre and Gdańsk . He also directed plays abroad, eg in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. In 1960 he got Leon Schiller award, granted to young theatrical directors. In 1966 he was a laureate of for an inscenization of '' The Undivine Comedy'' in Stary Theatre and for '' A Dangerous Game'' in Teatr Telewizji teleplay, and West German Theatre Critics Award in 1964 for ''Marat/Sade'' by

Peter Weiss Peter Ulrich Weiss (8 November 1916 – 10 May 1982) was a German writer, painter, graphic artist, and experimental filmmaker of adopted Swedish nationality. He is particularly known for his plays '' Marat/Sade'' and '' The Investigation'' and ...

and Mayakovsky's ''

The Bedbug ''The Bedbug'' (russian: Клоп, ') is a play by Vladimir Mayakovsky written in 1928-1929 and published originally by '' Molodaya Gvardiya'' magazine (Nos. 3 and 4, 1929), then, as a book, by Gosizdat in 1929. "The faerie comedy in nine picture ...

''. In 1965 he started his longtime cooperaion with Stary Theatre in Cracow, where some of his most famous works were produced. Those included his most famous work, novel and innovative inscenization of ''

Dziady Dziady (Belarusian: , Russian: , Ukrainian: , pl, Dziady; lit. "grandfathers, eldfathers", sometimes translated as Forefathers' Eve) is a term in Slavic folklore for the spirits of the ancestors and a collection of pre-Christian rites, rituals ...

'' (''Forefathers Eve'') by Adam Mickiewicz, premiering 18 February 1973. 30 May 1974 premiered his inscenization of ''Wyzwolenie'' (''Liberation'') by

Stanisław Wyspiański Stanisław Mateusz Ignacy Wyspiański (; 15 January 1869 – 28 November 1907) was a Polish playwright, painter and poet, as well as interior and furniture designer. A patriotic writer, he created a series of symbolic, national dramas withi ...

, his last work for Stary Theatre. 1975 Swinarski began preparations to direct ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

'', interrupted by his sudden death.

Death

19 August 1975 Swinarski died in

ČSA Flight 540 ČSA Flight 540 was a regular international service from Prague to Tehran via Damascus and Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the ...

accident of

Ilyushin Il-62 The Ilyushin Il-62 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-62; NATO reporting name: Classic) is a Soviet long-range narrow-body jetliner conceived in 1960 by Ilyushin. As successor to the popular turboprop Il-18 and with capacity for almost 200 ...

that crashed during attempted landing near Damascus. Swinarski was invited by empress of Iran

Farah Pahlavi Farah Pahlavi ( fa, فرح پهلوی, née Farah Diba ( fa, فرح دیبا, label=none); born 14 October 1938) is the widow of the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and was successively Queen and Empress ('' Shahbanu'') of Iran fro ...

to take part in

Shiraz Arts Festival The Shiraz Festival of Arts ( Persian: جشنواره هنر شیراز) was an annual international summer arts festival, held in Iran bringing about the encounter between the East and the West. It was held from 1967 to 1977 in the city of Shiraz ...

. There were plans for Swinarski to show his ''Dziady'' during next years festival. Swinarski was buried in

Powązki Military Cemetery Powązki Military Cemetery (; pl, Cmentarz Wojskowy na Powązkach) is an old military cemetery located in the Żoliborz district, western part of Warsaw, Poland. The cemetery is often confused with the older Powązki Cemetery, known colloquial ...

(quartier A37-4-4). After his death, ''Teatr'' magazine established yearly , awarded to theatrical directors for best work of the season. The laureates include Henryk Tomaszewski, Jerzy Jarocki, , , .

Private life

In 1955 Swinarski married Barbara Witek. His

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

was a well-known fact in artistic circles, but it wasn't publically mentioned (or in any biographical work) until 2003.

Awards and honors

* 1969 – Second Degree Award of the Minister of Culture and Art for creative research in the field of theatre staging; * 1973 – City of Kraków Award * 1974 – First Degree State Award for outstanding achievements in the field of theatre directing * 1974 – „Drożdże” (''Yeast''), award of ''

Polityka ''Polityka'' (, ''Politics'') is a centre-left weekly news magazine in Poland. With a circulation of 200,050 (as of April 2011), it was the country's biggest selling weekly, ahead of ''Newsweek''s Polish edition, '' Newsweek Polska'', and ''Wp ...

'' * 1974 – Knights Cross

Order of Polonia Restituta , image=Polonia Restituta - Commander's Cross pre-1939 w rib.jpg , image_size=200px , caption=Commander's Cross of Polonia Restituta , presenter = the President of Poland , country = , type=Five classes , eligibility=All , awar ...

* Golden Cross of Merit

References

External links

Konrad Swinarski as remembered by Tadeusz Łomnicki (pl)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swinarski, Konrad Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland) Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland) Victims of aviation accidents or incidents Burials at Powązki Military Cemetery Polish theatre directors Polish television directors Polish film directors Polish opera directors Scenographers Polish LGBT artists 1929 births 1975 deaths