Irena Górska-Damięcka

Irena Górska-Damięcka (20 October 1910 – 1 January 2008) was a Polish actress, mise-en-scène designer, and theater director.[1][2]

Irena Górska-Damięcka
black-and-white portrait of white female looking left of camera
Irena Górska-Damięcka
Born(1910-10-20)20 October 1910
Ashmyany, Russian Empire
Died1 January 2008(2008-01-01) (aged 97)
Skolimów, Poland
OccupationActress

Biography

Born in Ashmyany in the Russian Empire (now Belarus), her mother Alina Górska was forbidden to act after marrying, but used the money from her dowry to build a home with a cinema inside. After graduating from high school, Górska went to theatre school in Vilnius.[2] She made her stage debut in 1936, aged 26, in Juliusz Osterwa's experimental group Reduta. She met Czesław Miłosz in a cafe while reciting poetry, and they developed a relationship that lasted for two years; they continued to correspond throughout their lives after separating.[3]

Wanted poster for Irena and Dobieslaw following Igo Sym's assassination

In 1940, Górska married actor Dobieslaw Damięcki, who was married when they met to actress and dancer Jadwiga Hryniewiecka. The following year, the actor and Nazi collaborator Igo Sym was killed by members of the Polish resistance movement after he named Hanka Ordonówna to the Gestapo. Following Sym's assassination, over 100 actors were rounded up by the Gestapo, and the people of Warsaw were given three days to turn over the perpetrators. Górska-Damięcka and her husband, under suspicion though innocent, fled the city two hours before the Nazis searched their home; 21 of those arrested were executed.[4][5] A bounty of 3,000 Polish złoty had been issued for their arrest. The couple lived through the rest of World War II in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, changing hiding places and under false documents, using the name Bojanowski.[6]

In 1953, the People's Council of the Koszalin Voivodeship decided to establish a theater company and tapped Górska-Damięcka as its artistic director.[7] In January 1964, the premiere of Aleksander Fredro's Maiden Vows opened under her direction.

Personal life

Górska's sons Damian Damięcki and Maciej Damięcki, and her grandchildren, Grzegorz Damięcki, Mateusz Damięcki, and Matylda Damięcka, became actors as well.[8]

She died on New Year's Day, 2008, aged 98, in Skolimów, Poland.

Selected filmography

Bibliography
  • Irena Górska-Damięcka, Wygrałam życie, 1997 (autobiography) (ISBN 83-7180-778-3).

References
  1. "Irena Górska-Damięcka". FilmPolski (in Polish). Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  2. "Irena Górska-Damięcka przeżyła wojnę i stratę ciąży. Przez rok nie powiedziała synom, że ojciec umarł". Ofeminin (in Polish). 2 February 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  3. "Czesław Miłosz miał romans z mamą Daniela Olbrychskiego. Sekretne życie pisarza". plejadapl (in Polish). 29 June 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  4. Tribunal, Supreme National (7 March 1941). "Fischer's trial, Volumes III-IV". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. "Tajemnice klanu Damięckich. Czego o nich nie wiemy?". www.pomponik.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  6. ""Teatrowi oddałam synów. Wierzę, że oddam i wnuków". Aż trzy pokolenia aktorów w rodzinie Damięckich. Wiecie, kto jest kim?". plotek.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  7. Polish Western Affairs. Instytut Zachodni. 1962. p. 488.
  8. Słownik biograficzny teatru polskiego (in Polish). Stanisław Dąbrowski, Zbigniew Raszewski, Zbigniew Wilski, Instytut Sztuki. Warszawa. 1973. p. 115. ISBN 83-01-11260-3. OCLC 1049683.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
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