Maria Dąbrowska (; born Maria Szumska; 6 October 1889 – 19 May 1965) was a Polish writer, novelist, essayist, journalist and playwright, author of the popular Polish historical novel ''Noce i dnie'' (''Nights and Days'') written between 1932 and 1934 in four separate volumes. The novel was made into a film by the same title in 1975 by Jerzy Antczak. Besides her own work, she was also known for translating

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...

Diary A diary is a written or audiovisual memorable record, with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digita ...

into Polish. In addition, Dąbrowska was awarded the prestigious Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature in 1935, and she was nominated for the

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

eleven times between 1939 and 1965.

Biography

Dąbrowska was born Maria Szumska in Russów near

Kalisz Kalisz () is a city in central Poland, and the second-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, with 97,905 residents (December 2021). It is the capital city of the Kalisz Region. Situated on the Prosna river in the southeastern part of Gr ...

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

, under Tsarist military control. Her parents belonged to the impoverished

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the gentry (sometimes collectively known as the squirearchy), is a largely historical Irish and British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. It is t ...

( ziemiaństwo). Maria suffered from

esotropia Esotropia () is a form of strabismus in which one or both eyes turn inward. The condition can be constantly present, or occur intermittently, and can give the affected individual a "cross-eyed" appearance. It is the opposite of exotropia and us ...

, giving her a "cross-eyed" appearance. She studied sociology, philosophy, and natural sciences in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

and

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, and settled in

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 1917. Interested in both literature and politics, she devoted herself to help those born into poverty. In the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

, Dąbrowska worked temporarily in the Polish Ministry of Agriculture while venturing more and more into newspaper reporting and public life. In 1927 she became more involved in writing about human rights. In her novels, plays and newspaper articles she analyzed the psychological consequences of hardship and life's traumas in the world of ordinary people. Maria married Marian Dąbrowski, who died suddenly when she was 36. Her second long-term partner was the 19-years-older Stanisław Stempowski, with whom she lived in a common-law marriage until the outbreak of

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 ...

. After these relationships, she started becoming more and more independent, and even once said that Dąbrowski and Stempowski were more like her universities, and less like romantic relationships. During the

occupation of Poland Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

, she stayed in Warsaw and supported the cultural life of the Polish underground. At about that time, she met Anna Kowalska and Jerzy Kowalski, a literary couple. They formed a

ménage à trois A () is a domestic arrangement or committed relationship consisting of three people in polyamorous romantic or sexual relations with each other, and often dwelling together. The phrase is a loan from French meaning "household of three". ...

, and Maria had a child by Jerzy in 1946, but he died suddenly in 1948. The two women stayed together in a relationship for the next 20 years, although Maria tried to get Anna married off again. Dąbrowska was awarded the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

during the Stalinist period. In 1964 she was one of the signatories of the so-called '' Letter of 34'' to Prime Minister

Józef Cyrankiewicz Józef Adam Zygmunt Cyrankiewicz (; 23 April 1911 – 20 January 1989) was a Polish Socialist (PPS) and after 1948 Communist politician. He served as premier of the Polish People's Republic between 1947 and 1952, and again for 16 years between 1 ...

, regarding freedom of culture. She died on 19 May 1965, at the age of 75, at a clinic in

Education

Dąbrowska's parents, Josef Szumski and Ludomira (née Galczynska) wanted her to receive a thorough education, and sent her to private schools for much of her early life. In 1901, she was sent to a boarding school at the private school of Mrs. Sedemani in Kalisz, which she attended in 1904. Then, in 1905, she attended the private boarding school of Miss Havelke in Warsaw. Here is where she received a lot of her education in literature from Ignacy Chrzanowski. She attended Miss Havelke's school until 1908. Then, from 1908 to 1909, she began studying natural science at a university in Lausanne, Switzerland. She later completed her studies at the University of Brussels in 1912, earning a degree of

natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

, or ''candidat ès sciences naturelles''.

Politics

When Dąbrowska first met her husband Marian Dąbrowski, he was a political refugee and an active member of the

Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party (, PPS) is a democratic socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most significant parties in Poland from its founding in 1892 until its forced merger with the communist Polish Workers' Party to form ...

. This, along with rising tensions in Poland during her formative years, launched her into activism herself. One example of this is through two protest articles she wrote for '' Wiadomosci Literackie'' Nos. 3 & 4 in 1931: "Rozmova z przyjaciolmi" ("A Talk with Friends") & "Na ciezkiej drodze" ("On a Difficult Road"). These articles spoke out against the holding of the leaders of an initiative that opposed Polish government. These leaders were being held in the fortress of Brzesc under

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...

's rule. Dąbrowska thought that this was unjust, and she aimed to contribute to the opposition through her articles. Another example of her activism was in another protest article she wrote in 1936 in '' Dziennik Popularny'' No. 43. This article was titled "Doroczny wstyd" ("The Yearly Disgrace"), and it spoke out against

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

in Polish universities and against the overpowered government. Despite her activism, Dąbrowska did not explicitly identify with a political party. She once wrote in her diary, "I have no ideology. The only thing directing me is my love of people and life, and compassion."

Writing style

Dąbrowska was known for having a very socially aware voice that seemed to be dependent on her surrounding world. This gave her a very mature and extroverted point of view. At the time she first started writing, there was a huge amount of historical events that were happening, since it was around the time of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Historical events shaped her writing to the point that, sometimes, her writing was less about creativity and more about conveying information in a concise way (especially in her diaries). Then, as she continued writing, she also experienced

first hand, which was especially dangerous in Poland. Her works reflected these experiences. She would write about the journeys of underprivileged, homeless, and landless protagonists; she would paint the picture of their lives authentically and with compassion. In addition, Dąbrowska wrote a novel – that was not published until after her death – that used a particular device. In ''Przygody człowieka myślącego'' (''Adventures of a Thinking Man''), she transposed her own life experiences onto two characters: Ewa Radgoska and Józef Tomyski. Notably, Józef was a male character. This is a technique that many queer female authors of the early twentieth century used; they would transpose their lives onto male characters in a way to make their lives more digestible to readers at the time.

Works

*"Janek" ("Little John"), 1914, short story **published in ''Prawda'', No. 23 (the Warsaw weekly) *''Dzieci ojczyzny'' (''Fatherland's Children''), 1918, short stories *''Gałąź czereśni'' (''The Cherry Branch''), 1922, short stories *''Uśmiech dzieciństwa'' (''The Smile of Childhood''), 1923, short stories *''Ludzie stamtąd'' (''People from Yonder''), 1926, short stories *''Marcin Kozera'', 1927, short stories *''Dzikie ziele'', 1925–1929, short stories *"Rozmova z przyjaciolmi" ("A Talk with Friends") & "Na ciezkiej drodze" ("On a Difficult Road"), 1931, protest articles **published in '' Wiadomosci Literackie'' Nos. 3 & 4 *''Noce i dnie'' (''Nights and Days''), 1932–1934,

tetralogy A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- ''tetra-'', "four" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedies ...

of novels �
English translation fragment
*"Doroczny wstyd" ("The Yearly Disgrace"), 1936, protest article **published in '' Dziennik Popularny'' No. 43 *''Znaki życia'' (''Signs of Life''), 1938, short stories *Geniusz sierocy (The Orphan Genius), 1939, drama *''Stanisław i Bogumił'' (''Stanislaw and Bogumil''), 1948, historical play *''Gwiazda zaranna'' (''The Morning Star''), 1955, short stories **included '' Pielgrzymka do Warszawy'' (''Pilgrimage to Warsaw'') *''Szkice o Conradzie'' (''Essays on Conrad''), 1959, essays * ''Dzienniki'' (''Journals''), 1914–1965, diaries * ''Przygody człowieka myślącego'' (''Adventures of a Thinking Man''), 1970, novel ** published after her death, written sometime throughout the span of her diaries

Awards and decorations

Order of the Banner of Labour, 1st Class (1959) * POL Polonia Restituta Komandorski ZG BAR

Commander's Cross with Star of

(15 July 1954) *

Cross of Independence Cross of Independence () was the second highest Polish military decoration between World Wars I and II. It was awarded to individuals who had fought actively for the independence of Poland, and was released in three classes. History The Cr ...

(16 March 1963) * POL Polonia Restituta Oficerski BAR

Officer's Cross of

(1 October 1952) * Golden Cross of Merit (three times, 11 listopada 1934, 15 czerwca 1946, 17 września 1946) * POL Wawrzyn Akademicki BAR

Golden Academic Laurel (5 November 1935) * POL Medal 10-lecia Polski Ludowej BAR

Medal of the 10th Anniversary of People's Poland (19 January 1955) M.P. z 1955 r. nr 101, poz. 1400 - Uchwała Rady Państwa z dnia 19 stycznia 1955 r. nr 0/196 - na wniosek Ministra Kultury i Sztuki.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dabrowska, Maria 1889 births 1965 deaths 20th-century Polish essayists 20th-century Polish dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Polish novelists 20th-century Polish women writers 20th-century short story writers 20th-century Polish translators Bisexual women writers Bisexual novelists Bisexual dramatists and playwrights Bisexual journalists Burials at Powązki Cemetery Commanders with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta Cooperative advocates English–Polish translators Existentialists Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature Polish LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights Polish LGBTQ journalists Polish LGBTQ novelists Polish bisexual women Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta People from Kalisz County People from Kalisz Governorate People from Pruszków County 20th-century Polish diarists Polish historical novelists Polish human rights activists Polish women human rights activists 20th-century Polish nobility Polish opinion journalists Polish women journalists Polish reporters and correspondents Polish sociologists Polish women dramatists and playwrights Polish women essayists Polish women novelists Polish women short story writers Psychological fiction writers Recipients of the Cross of Independence Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland) Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1944–1989) Recipients of the Order of the Banner of Work Russian–Polish translators Women diarists Women historical novelists Polish women sociologists Writers from Warsaw Writers of historical fiction set in the modern age Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland) Recipients of the Medal of the 10th Anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland