Zofia Nałkowska (, 10 November 1884 – 17 December 1954) was a Polish prose writer, dramatist, and prolific essayist. She served as the executive member of the prestigious Polish Academy of Literature (1933–1939) during the interwar period.

Biography

Nałkowska was born into a family of intellectuals dedicated to issues of social justice, and studied at the clandestine Flying University under the

Russian partition The Russian Partition (), sometimes called Russian Poland, constituted the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that were annexed by the Russian Empire in the course of late-18th-century Partitions of Poland. The Russian ac ...

. Upon Poland's return to independence and the establishment of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

she became one of the country's most distinguished feminist writers of novels, novellas and stage-plays characterized by socio-realism and psychological depth. From 1928, she was vice-president of the Polish PEN Club. In the 1930s, she took an active part in speeches against the Sanation regime. She was one of the organizers of protests against political persecution in Poland. From 1933, she has been a member of the Polish Academy of Literature. During the German occupation, she was engaged in underground literary activities and after participated in the work of the International Commission for the Investigation of Hitler's Crimes in Poland. A supporter of the new communist authorities in Poland, Nałkowska became a deputy of the

State National Council Krajowa Rada Narodowa in Polish language, Polish (translated as State National Council or Homeland National Council, abbreviated to KRN) was a parliament-like political body created during the later stages of World War II in Nazi Germany, German- ...

and later a deputy of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

of the Polish People's Republic. Powazki Tuwim

Nałkowska died of a cerebral hemorrhage and was buried at the Powązki Military Cemetery with full state honours.

Literary output

Nałkowska's first literary success was the ''Romans Teresy Hennert'' (The Romance of Teresa Hennert, 1923) followed by a slew of popular novels. She is best known for her books ''Granica'' (Boundary, 1935), the ''Węzły życia'' (Bonds of Life, 1948) and ''Medaliony'' ('' Medallions'', 1947). In her writing, Nałkowska boldly tackled difficult and controversial subjects, professing in her 1932 article "Organizacja erotyzmu" (Structure of Eroticism) published in the '' Wiadomości Literackie'' magazine – the premier literary periodical in Poland at the time – that:

...a rational, nay, intellectual approach to eroticism must be encouraged and strengthened, to allow for a consideration of eroticism in conjunction with other aspects of the life of the human community. Eroticism is not a private matter of the individual. It has its ramifications within all domains of human life and it is not possible to separate it from them by way of contemptuous disparagement in the name of morality, discretion, or yet by a demotion on the hierarchy of subjects worthy of intellectual attention: it cannot be isolated by prudery or relegated to science for its purely biological dimension."

Tribute

On 10 November 2014

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celebrated her 130th birthday with a Google Doodle. From May 2024, a manuscript Nałkowska's ''Diary'' is presented at a permanent exhibition in the Palace of the Commonwealth in Warsaw.

Works

Novels

* Kobiety (''Women'', 1906), translated by Michael Henry Dziewicki, 1920 * Książę (''The Prince'', 1907) * Rówieśnice (''Contemporaries'', 1909) * Narcyza (1911) * Noc podniebna (''Heavenly night'', novella, 1911) * Węże i róże (''Snakes and roses'', 1914) * Hrabia Emil (''Count Emil'', 1920) * Na torfowiskach (''At the bogs'', 1922) * Romans Teresy Hennert (''The Romance of Teresa Hennert'', 1923), translated by Megan Thomas and Ewa Malachowska-Pasek, 2014 * Dom nad łąkami (''House upon the meadows'', autobiography, 1925) * Choucas (1927), translated by Ursula Phillips, 2014 (winner of the Found in Translation Award 2015) * Niedobra miłość (''Bad love'', 1928) * Granica (''Boundary'', 1935), translated by Ursula Phillips, 2016 * Niecierpliwi (''Anxious'',1938) * Węzły życia (''Living ties'', 1948) * Mój ojciec (''My father'', 1953)

Short stories

* '' Medaliony'' (Medallions, 1946), a collection of 8 short stories about German World War II atrocities in occupied Poland, translated by Diana Kuprel, 2000

Stage plays

* Dom kobiet (1930) * Dzień jego powrotu (1931) (''The Day of his Return'', translated by Marja Slomczanka, performed 1931) * Renata Słuczańska (1935)

References

* Mortkowicz-Olczakowa, Hanna (1961). ''Bunt wspomnień.'' Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nalkowska, Zofia 1884 births 1954 deaths Writers from Warsaw People from Warsaw Governorate Members of the State National Council Members of the Polish Sejm 1947–1952 Members of the Polish Sejm 1952–1956 Women members of the Sejm of the Polish People's Republic 20th-century Polish diarists Polish feminists Women diarists Polish women essayists Polish women writers Polish women novelists Polish women short story writers 20th-century Polish novelists 20th-century Polish dramatists and playwrights Members of the Polish Academy of Literature Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Order of the Banner of Work Burials at Powązki Cemetery 20th-century Polish essayists Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland) 20th-century Polish women 20th-century Polish women politicians Flying University alumni Recipients of the Medal of the 10th Anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland