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Janina Dziarnowska

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Janina Dziarnowska
Яніна Дзярновська
Born13 November 1903
Juzovka, Ukraine
Died22 December 1992 (aged 89)
Warsaw, Poland
Alma materFree Polish University
Occupation(s)writer, translator and publicist
OrganizationUnion of Polish Writers
Notable workThe City of New People (1953)
Political partyCommunist Party of Poland
Polish United Workers' Party
MovementSocialist realism in Poland

Janina Dziarnowska (née Tołwiński, 13 November 1903 – 22 December 1992) was a Ukrainian born Polish writer and translator, publicist, and expert on Soviet literature. She wrote in the style of Socialist realism in Poland. She was a member of the Communist Party of Poland then the Polish United Workers' Party.

Biography

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Dziarnowska was born on 13 November 1903 at Juzovka (now known as Donetsk) in Ukraine. Her father was Kazimierz Tołwiński, an engineer, and her mother was Maria Tołwiński (née Markowska). The family moved to Poland when Dziarnowska was 11 years old.[1]

She was educated at the Pedagogical Department of the Free Polish University in Warsaw, and became a member of the leftist Students' Union. After graduating, Dziarnowska worked as a primary school teacher in Marki near Warsaw, and then as a clerk.[1]

Dziarnowski wrote her first novel Maritta in 1930 (the manuscript was destroyed during World War II), then began translating literature into Russian in 1934. In 1937 she became the editorial secretary of the magazine Życie WSM. She also published reviews for Nowe Książka.[1] In 1936, Dziarnowski joined the Communist Party of Poland.[1]

When Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany, Dziarnowski was living in Poland.[1] Her book The Story of Anne later described the life of a Warsaw apartment house during the occupation, stressing the class contradictions of the residents.[2] After the end of World War II, in 1945 she became a member of the Polish Workers' Party, known from 1948 as the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR).[1]

In 1948, Dziarnowski married Antoni Dziarnowski, a tram driver and trade union activist.[1]

In 1951, Dziarnowska became a member of the Union of Polish Writers (ZLP). She wrote the novel The City of New People (1953) which praised the USSR,[3] as well as We Are From Nowa Huta (1951) which depicted the major construction project of Nowa Huta in a socialist realism style.[4] Her novel for teenagers titled When Others Are Children was translated into German.[5]

From 1966 to 1971 Dziarnowska was a member of the Central Committee of Party Control of the Polish United Workers' Party. For this role she made trips across the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, including to the USSR (1963, 1965, 1970), Bulgaria (1965) and Algeria (1966, 1967).[1]

Dziarnowska died on 22 December 1992 in Warsaw. She was buried at the Powązki Military Cemetery in Warsaw,[1] and was known as the "grand old lady of the revolution."[6]

Awards

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Medal of the 10th Anniversary of People's Poland

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "DZIARNOWSKA Janina". Polscy pisarze i badacze literatury XX i XXI wieku (Polish Writers and Literature Researchers of the 20th and 21st Centuries) (in Polish). Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  2. ^ Poland. Mid-European Studies Center of the Free Europe Committee. 1957. p. 237.
  3. ^ Dadlez, Anna R. (1989). Political and Social Issues in Poland as Reflected in the Polish Novel, 1946-1985. East European Monographs. pp. 44, 91. ISBN 978-0-88033-166-1.
  4. ^ Soviet Literature. Foreign Languages Publishing House. 1971. p. 172.
  5. ^ Polish Perspectives. Vol. 89. Wydawnictwo Współczesne RSW Prasa-Książka-Ruch. 1966. p. 9.
  6. ^ Radio Free Europe Research: East Europe. Situation report. Poland. Radio Free Europe. 1972. pp. 5–6.
  7. ^ Radzieckie dyplomy dla polskich pisarzy, "Sztandar Młodych", No. 119, 19 May 1976, p. 1.
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