Born: October 9, 1936, Warsaw, Poland
Died: March 7, 1997, Warsaw, Poland
Early days. Agnieszka was the only child of Wiktor Osiecki, a pianist and composer, and Maria Sztechman-Osiecka, a scholar. She spent her early years in Zakopane in the Tatry mountains where Wiktor Osiecki used to play the piano at the Watra Restaurant. After World War II the Osiecki family moved to Warsaw and settled in the Saska Kepa borough. The small flat soon became Agnieszka Osiecka's favorite place to work. She lived there almost her entire life and a commemorative plaque has been placed on the building. Agnieszka was exceptionally gifted. She completed her coursework quicker than other students and graduated from Marie Curie-Slodowska High School in 1952. She trained as a swimmer at Legia Sports Club and studied journalism at the University of Warsaw (1957-1961) and film-directing at the prestigious Film, Television and Theater School in Lódz (1957-1961). Osiecka published essays and articles in the student press during her university years. She joined the famous Student Satirical Theater (STS) in 1954 and wrote 166 political and lyrical songs for this company.
Career. She quickly realized that she preferred the outcome of her work to depend mostly on her own efforts so she dropped film-directing and started writing. She served on the artistic board of the STS Theater until it closed in 1972. 1962 marked her debut on Polish National Radio. Kalina Jedrusik, the famous Polish actress, sang Agnieszka's lyrics "My First Ball". At the first National Festival of Polish Song in Opole in 1963 she achieved a major success winning the main prize and six other prizes for her songs: „Piosenka o Okularnikach,“ „Biale malzenstwo,“ „Czerwony kapturek,“ "Kochankowie z ulicy Kamiennej,“ „Solo na kontrabasie“ and „Ulice wielkich miast.“ She was now recognized as a prominent young poet and the Polish National Radio offered her a job to create and lead a team to broadcast "The Radio Song Studio." During the seven years of its existence the team managed to record and play 500 new songs and to introduce young upcoming singers who later became stars of the Polish music. In addition to her song writing Agnieszka also worked on theater and television productions. Together with composer Adam Slawinski she wrote a series called „Listy spiewajace“ ("Singing Letters“). Her first major theater show „Niech no tylko zakwitna jablonie“ ("Let the Apple-trees Bloom") was staged at the Ateneum Theatre and became an instant success. She liked to try different literary genres: mono dramas, collages, musicals, novels, short stories, children stories, plays for children (including one opera for children), radio shows, poems and even advertising. Agnieszka Osiecka's lyrics were set to music by a number of outstanding Polish composers. The best singers and actors wanted her to write for them. Agnieszka's incredibly complex and curious personality compelled her to travel, correspond with interesting people, and take photographs throughout her adult life. She was rather scared of stability never strove to achieve it. Agnieszka Osiecka and her partner, the famous journalist Daniel Passent, had their only child, a daughter, Agata Passent, in 1973. The Masurian Lake District, especially the tiny village of Krzyze and the forester’s lodge in Pranie were among Agnieszka Osiecka's favorite places in Poland. She liked to vacation there in the 1960s and 1970s with a group of upcoming Polish intellectuals and artists. The coast of the Baltic Sea was also an important place for her. As a student she worked there for one of the local newspapers and later in life she wrote for the Atelier Theater in Sopot. She was a frequent visitor to the Halama writers' retreat house in Zakopane, in the Tatry Mountains. Agnieszka Osiecka published numerous books and released many records (see the full list at www.okularnicy.org.pl). She is considered one of the most important, prolific and gifted persons in postwar Polish culture and history. Agnieszka Osiecka died after a few years of struggle with colon cancer and alcoholism. She is buried at the Powazki Cemetery in Warsaw. The Agnieszka Osiecka Okularnicy Foundation was founded by her daughter shortly after the poet's death. The Okularnicy Foundation promotes Agnieszka Osiecka's work, runs the Poet's Archive, organizes annual singing competition „Let us Remember Agnieszka Osiecka“, manages the Internet archive (www.archiwumagnieszkiosieckiej.pl), and publishes books.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Agnieszka Osiecka".Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply:
Wikipedia
See also:
The Agnieszka Osiecka Okularnicy Foundation (in Polish)
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