Irena Tuwim loved her brother more than her life, although she lived in his shadow. She was called “Winnie the Pooh’s mom”

– Leaving in the background was Irena’s from the beginning – Anna Augustyniak, the author of the book “Irena Tuwim, I did not die of love”, said in an interview with her. She noted that Julian was born with a birthmark on his face, which was why his mother paid him a lot of attention. Although both had great talent, Irena as a woman found it more difficult to break out of the shadow of her brother, who entered literary circles much earlier, but also wrote more.

Irena Tuwim was born in Łódź. Later, she remembered the city as a gray and gloomy place

Irena was born four years after Julian, in 1898. Their parents Adele and Izydor were assimilated Jews. The family lived in one of the tenement houses in Łódź. In the above-mentioned book by Augustyniak we can read that the mother was neurotic. She was very concerned about Julian’s birthmark, which she referred to as “this stain”. She was afraid that her son would become the object of ridicule and people’s eyes. She kept telling her daughter that she was an ugly child and would become an old maid in the future. The father was the complete opposite of his wife. Izydor, who was an accountant by profession, was passionate about books and Paris. He often thought back to the past, but he did not worry about the future.

Two other important people appeared in Irena’s life, namely the babysitters. One of them was Maria Bednarek, but she certainly did not leave Irena with good memories. She was ruthless with the girl. Not only did she yell at her or intimidate her, but she also beat her. There was also another nurse, Antosia Rokosik. It is about her that Irena will write the story “Antosia and we”, and Julian will describe her in his poems. She took care of the children, took care of the house and was just like a mother.

Tuwim’s first poems made a great impression. Thanks to them, she met her first husband

Irena’s literary debut was “Panienka”, which was published in 1916 in the Łódź newspaper “Godziny Polski”. In 1921, she published a book entitled 24 Poems, which captivated the poet and literary critic Marek Eiger, who used the pseudonym Stefan Napierski. He decided to come to Łódź and meet Irena. Their acquaintance developed rapidly, as three months later they were married. The man comes from a wealthy family, so they go to Berlin for their honeymoon, and from there to the Frisian Islands. Already after his return, there were rumors that Stefan was homosexual. However, they lived together for 8 years and even lived in Paris for a year. This lasts until Irena meets Julian Stawiński. A feeling quickly developed between them. The poet even asked her then-husband to go to Stawiński for a year, and she could always come back to him. Thus began her relationship with Julian.

At some point, Irena was seized by love dilemmas and ran away from her beloved to Paris. Stawiński followed her and after the woman wanted to break up with him, he shot himself with a revolver. He survived because he missed and hit not the heart, but the lung. This situation eventually led to Irena’s divorce from Napierski. The poet decided to return to Julian and married him in 1935.

Irena Tuwim began her adventure with children’s literature. Over time, she receives the name “mother Winnie the Pooh”

Tuwim’s husband began his career as a lawyer in the appellate court, and Irena began translating books. It was thanks to Julian Tuwim’s younger sister that Polish readers got to know “Mary Poppins” or “Fernando the Bull”. Over the years, she translated dozens of books and wrote many poems, but it was the translation of “” that brought her the greatest fame. However, she decided that “Winnie the Pooh” by the author cannot be translated literally, because for the Polish reader the book may turn out to be incomprehensible. In the original version, Pooh, or Winnie, was named after… the bear Winnipeg. She began to add her own sentences and plot elements, thanks to which a somewhat separate work was created. In Britain, she was given the nickname “The Pooh Lady”.

Irena and Julian Tuwim. How was the sibling relationship?

Irena was associated with her brother from an early age and although it was often said that she was in his shadow, she loved him very much. However, during the war they had to split up. In 1939, Irena left with her husband for England, and Julian left France for Brazil, and in 1942 for the USA. Throughout this time, the siblings corresponded with each other, but the separation was difficult for them. They managed to meet only in 1945. At that time, Julian was supposed to invite his sister and her husband to visit him and, moreover, arrange for Stawiński a job as an attaché in the press office of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington. Even then, Julian Stawiński was supposed to have problems with alcohol.

Julian Tuwim decided to return to Poland and eventually managed to persuade his sister to do so in 1947. In December 1953, the poet dies. For Irena, it is a huge blow, which she later said:

Just like the house then, now Warsaw, abandoned by Julek, suddenly seemed meaningless to me. And the thought that it would be unbearable forever.

It was a hard time for Irena, and unfortunately, she cannot count on the support of her husband, who is becoming more and more addicted and goes to rehab. In 1973 Stawiński dies. He spends the last years of his life alone, living in Warsaw. Irena Tuwim died on December 7, 1987.