Bronisława Wajs
Bronisława Wajs (born August 17, 1910 in Lublin , † February 8, 1987 in Inowrocław ) was a Polish Roma poet and singer.
Life
Bronisława Wajs, known as Papusza (“doll” in Romani ), is one of the most famous Roma poets. She comes from the group of the Polish lowland Roma. According to the official record, her birthday is May 30, 1910, but she may have been born in 1908 or 1909. Her father belonged to a clan from Ermland (Polish: Warmia ), her mother was a Galician Romni. When Papusza was 5, her father died in Siberia. Eight years later her mother married Jan Wajs, who belonged to a clan of wandering harp players. Papusza learned to read and write when she was around 12 from the children of the farmers she met. “I always stole something and brought it to them to show me, and so I learned a, b, c, d and so on.” A Jewish bookseller also gave her lessons in return for a stolen chicken. Papusza read a lot and asked her family to send her to school, but they refused. When she was 15 or 16, she was married to the much older harpist Dionizy Wajs, a relative of her stepfather. The Wajs clan kept a document in the family's possession showing that ancestors had appeared at the court of Queen Marysieńka Sobieska . The marriage wasn't happy.
During the Second World War , the clan hid in the woods. They left wagons and horses behind, but the heavy harps were carried on their backs. Papusza tells about it in her longest poem: Ratfale jasfa - so pal sasendyr pšegijam upre Volyň 43 a 44 berša ( tears of blood - what we had to endure from the German soldiers in Volyň '43 and '44 ).
Between 1948 and 1950, the budding Polish scientist and man of letters Jerzy Ficowski immigrated with the Roma clan, learning their language and customs as well as Papusza. He recognized her great talent and encouraged her to write. He translated the poems he received into Polish and presented them to the poet Julian Tuwim , who was enthusiastic about them. Thanks to his support (Ficowski had no name at this point), the first Papusza poems were published in the literary magazine "Nowa Kultura" in 1951 (later in more). As they were received with praise by Polish writers, Ficowski prepared a larger collection of poems, which was published in 1956 as the book Pieśni Papuszy (Papusza's Songs), which contained their Romani originals and its Polish translation. Ficowski, who dealt intensively with Gypsy customs even after his time among the Romas, became an advisor to the Polish government on "Gypsy issues". He supported the government's settlement policy, which initially operated with material incentives (providing apartments, etc.) and later with coercion. Papusza, who had been promoted by Ficowski and whom he repeatedly cited as an alleged witness for his views, appeared to the Roma as a traitor.
She was declared mahrime (ritually unclean) by the Baro Šero (“great head”, elder) and excluded from the Roma community. After this shock, she had to spend 8 months in a mental institution and did not write a few more poems until the late 1960s / early 1970s before she finally fell silent. After living in isolation for many years in the western Polish town of Gorzów Wielkopolski (where a plaque on her house in Kosynierów Gdyńskich Street reminds her), she spent the last few years with her family in Inowrocław until her death .
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Movies
- 1974 Papusza , documentary by Maja Wójcik and Ryszard Wójcik, 32 min., In color; consists mainly of conversations with Bronisława Wajs and Jerzy Ficowski
- 1991 Historia cyganki , documentary by Greg Kowalski, 42 min., Black and white, contains memories of some people who knew Papusza as well as their own
- 2013 Papusza , feature film by Krzysztof Krauze and Joanna Kos-Krauze, 126 min, black and white, Jowita Budnik played the role of Bronisława Wajs ; a realistic-poetic biography
Literary reception
The Irish writer Colum McCann was inspired by the biography of Bronisława Wajs for the character of the Slovak Roma poet and singer Zoli Novotna , the protagonist of his novel Zoli (2006). Similarities, even in individual personal relationships, can be found v. a. At the beginning of the plot: The persecution of the Roma during World War II; Zoli learns to read and write despite violating the customs; her old husband (she is married at 14) is the violin player Petr (→ Dionizy Wajs), her patron is the poet Martin Stránský (→ Jerzy Ficowski); because of idiosyncratic, inappropriate songs, Zoli is cast out of her clan.
Works
- Papusha. Poems / Papusza. Wiersze . Independent publishing house bookstore Ackerstrasse, Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-86172-032-9 .
- Papusza's spoken songs . Kleistmuseum, Frankfurt (Oder) 2011, ISBN 978-3-938008-30-0 .
literature
- Jerzy Ficowski (Ed.): Pieśni Papuszy. Papušakere gila . Wrocław 1956 (Polish).
- Ficowski, Jerzy (1985) The Gypsies in Poland. History and Customs , Warszawa [translation of the 1953 Polish original Cyganie polscy ]
- Isabel Fonseca: Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey . Vintage Departures, New York City 1995, ISBN 978-1-4464-1942-7 , pp. 3–9 (English).
Web links
- Bronisława Wajs. In: FemBio. Women's biography research (with references and citations).
- Adam Bartosz, Ethnological Museum Tarnow, about Papusza (Polish, with many photos)
Notes and individual references
- ↑ According to official information.
- ↑ Milena Hübschmannová: Papusza (Bronislawa Wajs). In: rombase.uni-graz.at. January 2003, accessed August 12, 2018 .
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↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from February 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. :
FOREST MY FATHER
Forest, my father,
black father!
You raised me,
you rejected me.
Your leaves tremble,
I tremble with them,
you sing and I sing,
you laugh and I laugh.
You have not forgotten,
I also remember you.
God where to go
What to do, where do
the fairy tales and songs come from?
I don't go into the thicket, don't meet
any of the rivers.
Forest, my father,
black father! - ↑ The former participant in the Warsaw uprising hid from the communist authorities in this way.
- ^ Waclaw Stawny: Papusza. The mother of Roma poetry in Poland. In: deutschlandfunkkultur.de. May 13, 2014, accessed August 12, 2018 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wajs, Bronisława |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Papusza |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Polish Roma poet and singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 17th August 1910 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lublin |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 8, 1987 |
| Place of death | Inowrocław |