LEWANDOWSKA Irena

Born on 11 July 1931 in Warsaw; daughter of the journalist Samuel Kletz and the nurse Julia Ita Mebel. She and her mother used the surname Lewandowska during the wartime German occupation, retaining it after 1945. Following the collapse of the Warsaw Uprising, she lived in Laski for several months. She subsequently lived in Lodz, where she completed her advanced secondary education at a grammar school. Between 1950 and 1955, she studied economics at the Central School of Planning and Statistics (Szkoła Główna Planowania i Statystyki; now the Warsaw School of Economics – SGH) in Warsaw, graduating with a master's degree. During her studies she was a member of the youth organization Union of Fighting Youth (Związek Walki Młodych; ZWM). She made her debut as a translator in 1948 with a version of a Leonid Pervomaysky prose piece published in Polish as W tym samym polu (In the Same Field) in the periodical "Przyjaźń" (no. 5). In subsequent years she worked as a journalist for the periodicals "Chłopska Droga" (1950), "Przegląd Kulturalny" (1955) and "Sztandar Młodych" (1955-57; where she also published using the by-line Lemur). She joined the Association of Polish Journalists (SDP) in 1956. She was a member of the ruling Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) until 1962. Her translations of Russian-language prose and journalism, including pieces from various Soviet Socialist Republics, like her own articles, columns, reviews and interviews with Russian writers appeared in many periodicals, including "Dialog" (1964, 1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2001), "Szpilki" (1964-75), "Filipinka" (1964-72), "Kobieta i Życie" (1964-70; including some pieces as Lemur), and "Polityka" (1964-79 and 1996). As a translator she often collaborated with Witold Dąbrowski. In January 1976, she was a signatory to Memoriał 101, a petition protesting proposed changes to the constitution of the People's Republic of Poland (PRL). She collaborated with the Workers' Defence Committee (KOR), with her roles including distribution of "Biuletyn Informacyjny KOR", a bulletin issued outside the reach of state censorship. In 1980/81, she worked for the daily newspaper "Niezależność", published by the Mazovian Region branch of the Independent Self-governing Trade Union Solidarity (NSZZ "Solidarność") . Owing to her involvement in Solidarity, she was interned on 13 December 1981, with the imposition of martial law. She was released on 27 December of the same year. She went on the publish articles and translations in periodicals that were not subject to state censorship, including "Wezwanie" (1984, 1986-88; using the pseudonyms: Anna Osa; Eka, Ocelot, SEM), "Unia" (1985), "Vacat" (1985; using the cryptonym I.L.), "Kultura Niezależna" (1987, 1988; including some pieces as I.L.), and "Solidarność" (1988). In June 1984 she was arrested by the security service and interrogated in connection with the case against Solidarity leader Zbigniew Bujak. In subsequent years she worked as a journalist and translator for the daily "Gazeta Wyborcza" (from 1995 to 2008, likewise using the pseudonym lai). She joined the Polish Writers' Union (ZLP) in 1971, while from January 1989 she was a member of the Polish Writers' Association (SPP) and of the Polish PEN Club, where she served on its review committee from 1991 and on its Board from 1999 to 2011. She was awarded the Literary Prize of the Polish Society of Authors and Composers (ZAiKS) in 1992 for her work as a translator and the 1993 Polish Association of Translators' Prize. She received the Silver Cross of Merit in 1976, the Bronze Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis in 2007 and the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 2011. Her daughter, the psychotherapist and journalist, Justyna Dąbrowska (b. 1960), was born of her relationship with the poet, translator and journalist Witold Dąbrowski, who died in 1978. She died on 5 December 2018 in Warsaw and is buried at the city's Powązki Military Cemetery.