Prominent Poles
Hanka Ordonówna (Maria Anna Tyszkiewiczowa born Maria Anna Pietruszyńska; aka 'Ordonka', literary pseudo Weronika Hort, a singer, dancer and actress. She began her career singing hits still popular today: O mój rozmarynie, Rozkwitały pęki białych róż, and Ułani, ułani.
Born: September 25, 1902 Warsaw (then Russian partition of Poland presently Poland)
Died: September 8, 1950, Beirut, Lebanon.
Early days. Father, Wladyslaw Pietruszynski, a railroad worker, mother, Helena nee Bienkowski. As a child she frequented the ballet school run by Grand Theater in Warsaw. As a 16year old she debuted in the small theater „Sfinks”.
Career. In 1919 she started working in the cabaret Miraz and during1923-1931 she sang in the famous cabaret Qui Pro Quo. In 1924 she appeared also on the scenes of Germany and France. She also continued her vocal education in Italy and in Vienna and Paris. As of 1931 she performed in the theaters Banda, Wielka Rewia and Cyrulik Warszawski. While in Miraż, she was noticed by Fryderyk Jarosy, director of Qui Pro Quo; it was under his guidance that she became a star, recording the famous Miłość ci wszystko wybaczy (song by Henryk Wars and Julian Tuwim) in the 1933 movie Szpieg w masce (Spy with a mask). Another hit was Marian Hemar's Jakieś małe nic, 1934. She gave numerous concerts in many Polish citoes. She was also enthusiastically received abroad: in Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Athens, Beirut, Damascus, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Cairo, Riga and in the USA. In 1931, she married Count Michał Tyszkiewicz, who wrote many of her songs. Though a countess, she continued to perform in cabaret and even ride a horse in a circus revue. Intensive work caused the recurrence of her tuberculosis which was cured thanks for her husband’s and the doctors’ intensive care. After that she performed in the USA and returned to Poland in August,1939.
After the outbreak of WWII she stayed initially in Warsaw, where she was imprisoned in Nazi Pawiak prison in November 1939. Her husband got her out from there and transported her to Wilno then occupied by Lithuania (presently Vilnius, Lithuania). She performed there in in the Teatr na Pohulance, Lutnia and in Polish Dramatic Theater (Polski Teatr Dramatyczny). After refusing to accept Soviet citizenship (Lithuania was annexed then by Soviet Union) she was deported to a farm near Kujbyshev, Russia. Because of harsh living conditions her TBC returned. Her husband was deported to the interior of the Soviet Union. Being freed as the result of Sikorski-Majski agreement she initially organized a theater in a Polish center in Tock, later however she organized help for orphaned children of Polish exiles. Because of her health condition she was evacuated to Tashkent where she met her husband. After the break of relations between the Soviet Union and Polish Government in exile which occured after the disclosure in 1943 of the Katyn massacre she was evacuated together with the orphanage to Beirut, Lebanon
Her deteriorating health forced her the live wih her husband in Lebanon. Despite of the intensive care she died in Beirut because of tuberculosis. She was buried in Beirut. In 1990 her ashes were transported to Warsaw were she was buried on the Avenue of Notables (Aleja Zasluzonych) of the Powazki cemetery.
Awards. 1990: the Grammar School nr.209 in Warsaw was called Hanka Ordonowna Grammar School.
Book. Tułacze dzieci (undr pseudo Weronika Hort; first edition: Bejrut 1948, Polish editions: 1990 - PIW, 2005 – Publishing House LTW)
Sources:
This article uses mainly information from the Wikipedia article (see there for an extensive information about her performances):
Wikipedia (in Polish) Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.
Other sources:
CULTURE.PL (in Polish)
Ordonowna sings: Na pierwszy znak
Ordonowna sings: Szczescie raz sie usmiecha
Ordonowna sings: Milosc Ci wszystko wybaczy
Ordonowna sings: Uliczka w Barcelonie
Published on 2/22/2015
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Prominent Poles