Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska
Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, née Kossak (24 November 1891 – 9 July 1945), was a Polish poet. She was known as the "Polish Sappho" and "queen of lyrical poetry" during Poland's interwar period. She was also a dramatist.
Also recorded as Lilka · Jasnorzewska
Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska

Cyfroteka BN · Public domain
- Name
- Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska
- Born
- 24 November 1891
- Birthplace
- Kraków
- Died
- 9 July 1945
- Place of death
- Manchester, England
- Occupation
- Poet, dramatist
- Spouse
- Władysław Bzowski (1915-1919) Jan Gwalbert Pawlikowski (1919-1929) Stefan Jasnorzewski (1931)
- Nationality
- Cisleithania · Second Polish Republic
- Known for
- Baba-Dziwo
- Honours
- Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature · Gold Cross of Merit
- Languages
- Polish
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, née Kossak (24 November 1891 – 9 July 1945), was a Polish poet. She was known as the "Polish Sappho" and "queen of lyrical poetry" during Poland's interwar period. She was also a dramatist.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
not yet certified
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
wikidata · Q3649395 · wikipedia · Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska • Born — 24 November 1891 • Birthplace — Kraków • Died — 9 July 1945 • Place of death — Manchester, England • Occupation — Poet, dramatist • Language — Polish • Period — Poland's interwar period • Notable Works — Baba-dziwo Gołąb ofiarny • Spouse — Władysław Bzowski (1915-1919) Jan Gwalbert Pawlikowski (1919-1929) Stefan Jasnorzewski (1931) • Website — http: maria-pawlikowska-jasnorzewska.com
Life
Life
• Illustration — Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, 1920s • Illustration — Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, pastel by Witkacy, 1924 Born in Kraków into a family of painters, Maria Kossak grew up in the manor house known as the Kossakówka surrounded by artists, writers, and intellectuals. Her grandfather, Juliusz Kossak, and father, Wojciech Kossak, were both professional painters famous for their depictions of historical scenes and horses. Her younger sister, Magdalena Samozwaniec, was also a popular writer of satire. Fluent in French, English, and German, in her youth, Kossak divided her time between painting and poetry. It was only during her marriage to Jan Pawlikowski—after the annulment of her first marriage to Władysław Bzowski—that her literary interests prevailed, inspired by the couple's discussions about her poetic output and the world of literature in general. Their passionate relationship based on shared interests and mutual love was an endless source of poetic inspiration for her. However, her second marriage also failed. Following her divorce, Maria Pawlikowska became associated with the Warsaw-based Skamander group of poets: Julian Tuwim, Jan Lechoń, Kazimierz Wierzyński, and other renowned writers such as Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, Irena Krzywicka, Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna and Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński. In the inter-war period Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska published twelve volumes of poetry and established herself as one of the most innovative poets of the era. She began her career as a playwright in 1924, with her first farce, Archibald the Chauffeur, produced in Warsaw. By 1939 she had written fifteen plays whose treatment of taboo topics such as abortion, extramarital affairs, and incest provoked scandals. She was compared by critics to Molière, Marivaux, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, and Witkacy. Her plays depicted her unconventional approach to motherhood, which she understood as a painful obligation that ends mutual passion. She spoke in support of a woman's right to choose. In 1939, at the onset of World War II, she followed her third husband, Stefan Jasnorzewski, to England. She was diagnosed with bone cancer in 1944, soon becoming hemiplegic, and on 9 July 1945 died in Manchester, cared for to the last by her husband. She is buried with her husband in Southern Cemetery, Manchester.
A Woman of Wonder
A Woman of Wonder
• Illustration — Grave, Southern Cemetery, Manchester In 1937 Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska wrote an anti-Nazi play, Baba-dziwo, which was translated into English by Elwira M. Grossman and Paul J. Kelly as A Woman of Wonder.
Works
Works
• Niebieskie migdały, Kraków 1922 • Różowa magia, Kraków 1924 • Narcyz 1926 • Szofer Archibald. Comedy in 3 acts, premiere: Warsaw, The New Theatre 1924, publication: "Świat" 1924 (# 45–52) • Kochanek Sybilli Thompson. Futuristic fantasy in 3 acts, premiere: Kraków, J. Słowacki Theatre 1926 • Pocałunki, Warsaw 1926 • Dancing. Karnet balowy, Warsaw 1927 • Wachlarz, Warsaw 1927 • Cisza leśna, Warsaw 1928 • Paryż, Warsaw 1929 • Profil białej damy, Warsaw 1930 • Egipska pszenica. Play in 3 acts, premiere: Kraków, J. Słowacki Theatre 1932 • Mrówki (myrmeis). Play in 3 acts, premiere: Kraków, J. Słowacki Theatre 1936 • Referat. Farce in 3 acts, premiere: Polish TV 1968, publication: "Dialog" 1979 • Zalotnicy niebiescy. Play in 3 acts, premiere: Warsaw, The New Theatre 1933, publication Kraków 1936 • Surowy jedwab, Warsaw 1932 • Powrót mamy. Comedy in 3 acts, premiere: Warsaw, The New Theatre 1935 • Śpiąca załoga, Warsaw 1933 • Dowód osobisty. Comedy in 3 acts, premiere: Warsaw, The New Theatre 1936 • Nagroda literacka. Comedy in 4 acts, premiere: Warsaw, The New Theatre 1937 • Balet powojów, Warsaw 1935 • Biedna młodość, radio play, Polish radio 1936 • Pani zabija pana, radio play, Polish radio 1936 • Krystalizacje, Warsaw 1937 • Złowrogi portret, radio play, Polish radio 1937 • Baba-dziwo. TragiComedy in 3 acts, premiere: Kraków, J. Słowacki Theatre 1938, publication: "Dialog" 1966 • Dewaluacja Klary. Comedy in 3 acts, premiere: Poznań, Teatr Polski 1939 • Popielaty welon. Fantazja sceniczna w 9 obrazach, premiere: Warsaw, Teatr Narodowy 1939 • Szkicownik poetycki. Warsaw 1939 • Gołąb ofiarny, poems, Glasgow 1941 • Róża i lasy płonące. London, 1941 • Czterolistna koniczyna albo szachownica. London, 1980
Identity
Identity
Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska is recorded as having received Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature and Gold Cross of Merit.

Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska
NAC

Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, Wojciech Kossak - Portret córek w bryczce, 1911
Wojciech Kossak · muzeum.gliwice.pl
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1891
Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska born at Kraków.
1945
Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska died at Manchester.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Kraków.
Birth place
Manchester.
Death place
Awards
• Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature (1935) • Literary prize of the city of Kraków (1937)
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
The authorities additionally record the headings Lilka and Jasnorzewska. Her recorded language was Polish. She was the child of Wojciech Kossak. Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska received Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature and Gold Cross of Merit.
Identity and origins
Recognition and collections
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 15 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
38,960 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Maria of ClevesAuthor
- Maria Olga de Moraes Sarmento da SilveiraAuthor
- María Olimpia de ObaldíaAuthor
- María OntiverosAuthor
- Maria Peregrina de SouzaAuthor
- Maria Petronella WoesthovenAuthor
- Maria PetrovykhAuthor
- Maria PolydouriAuthor
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.