Jan Lenica
Jan Lenica (January 4, 1928 – October 5, 2001) was a Polish graphic designer and cartoonist.
Jan Lenica

Suomen Kuvalehti 29/1967 page 16 · Public domain
- Name
- Jan Lenica
- Born
- 4 January 1928
- Birthplace
- Poznań, Poland
- Died
- 5 October 2001
- Place of death
- Berlin, Germany
- Education
- Warsaw Polytechnic
- Known for
- Poster design
- Occupation
- Graphic designer Cartoonist
- Spouse
- Teresa Byszewska Merja Alanen
- Nationality
- Poland
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Jan Lenica (January 4, 1928 – October 5, 2001) was a Polish graphic designer and cartoonist.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q664300 · wikipedia · Jan Lenica
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Jan Lenica • Born — 4 January 1928 • Birthplace — Poznań, Poland • Died — 5 October 2001 • Place of death — Berlin, Germany • Education — Warsaw Polytechnic • Known for — Poster design • Occupation — Graphic designer Cartoonist • Spouse — Teresa Byszewska Merja Alanen • Children — Anneli Maia
Biography
Biography
A graduate of the Architecture Department of Warsaw Polytechnic, Lenica became a poster illustrator and a collaborator on the early animation films of Walerian Borowczyk. From 1963 to 1986, he lived and worked in France, while from 1987 he lived and worked in Berlin. He was a professor of graphic, poster, animated cartoon for many years at German high schools and the first professor of the animation class at the University of Kassel, Germany, in 1979. He used cut-out stop motion animation in his numerous films, which included two features: Adam 2 (1968) and Ubu et la grande gidouille (1976, but released in France only in 1979).
Directions
Directions
Jan Lenica was the director of: • 1957 - Nagrodzone uczucia (Love Requited) • 1957 - Był sobie raz... (Once Upon a Time...) • 1958 - Dom (House) • 1961 - Italia '61 • 1961 - Nowy Janko Muzykant • 1963 - Labirynt (film) • 1965 - La Femme Fleur • 1965 - A • 1965 - Rhinoceros • 1970 - Adam 2 • 1987 - Ubu et la Grande Gidouille • 2001 - Wyspa R.O.
Identity
Identity
Jan Lenica is recorded as poster artist, painter, graphic designer and animator. Career and activity. Lenica worked in visual arts, art criticism, animated film and comic. He was employed by Berlin University of the Arts. He worked at Poland.
Grób Jana Lenicy na Cmentarzu wojskowym na Powązkach
Lukasz2

Gedenkbriefmarke der Polnischen Post anlässlich der II. Internationalen Plakatbiennale in Warschau 1968;
Polnische Postverwaltung · Scan der Original-Briefmarke
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
Explore 1928–2001
The full dated record · 5 entries
1928
Jan Lenica was born in 1928.
1965
"A" A short animation by Jan Lenica, 1965 (1965) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
1979
Ubu Et La Grande Gidouille Jan Lenica (1979) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
1991
Jan Lenica & Piotr Dumala SMF Art Collection [WebRip] (1991) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2001
Jan Lenica died at Berlin.
Where the work is held
Recognition and collections
Jan Lenica received Gold Cross of Merit, Officer of the Order of Polonia Restituta and Medal of the 10th Anniversary of People's Poland.
Major awards
• 1960 - Nominated for a BAFTA Film Award for Dom. Shared with Polish Walerian Borowczyk • 1961 - Toulouse-Lautrec Grand Prix, Versailles (France) • 1961 - Golden Dragon for Nowy Janko Muzykant tied with Mały Western, Cracow (Poland) • 1962 - 1st and 3rd prizes, International Film Poster Exhibition, Karlove Vary (Czech Republic) • 1963 - Annecy International Animated Film Festival / FIPRESCI Prize for Labirynt • 1964 - Honorable Mention for Die Nashörner in Oberhausen International Short Film Festival (Germany) • 1966 - Gold Medal Prix Max Ernst, International Poster Biennale, Warsaw (Poland) • 1971 - Gold Medal, International Tourism Poster Exhibition, Catania (Italy) • 1985 - Prix Jules Chéret (France) • 1987 - Graphics award, Children Book Fair, Bologna (Italy) • 1999 - Dragon of Dragons Honorary Awards in Cracow Film Festival (Poland)
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q664300: Jan LenicaWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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