When he saw her, he said that “she will be the mother of his child”. Three years later, they welcomed a son into the world

They met by accident, and although there was an immediate spark between them, they had no serious intentions towards this relationship. Jan Nowicki and Barbara Sobotta welcomed their son into the world after three years of acquaintance, but this did not change the nature of their relationship, quite the opposite. The actor left a sportswoman and a child.

How did Barbara Sobotta and Jan Nowicki meet? She swam, he drank vodka with a friend

After the first 60 m run in the school Olympics, Sobotta already knew that she wanted to tie her future with sport. For 10 years (1956-66) she belonged to the Polish athletics team and had numerous titles to her credit. She became the Polish champion 17 times, the European champion twice, and also took part in the Olympic Games three times. In addition to numerous successes, fans were also delighted with her beauty. She was called “Marilyn Monroe of Polish sport”. She was even Miss Olympics in Rome and Miss Sport at the European Championships in Stockholm. Privately, she married twice. First, she was married to pole vaulter Zbigniew Janiszewski, and then to high jumper Piotr Sobotta, but none of the relationships lasted.

Jan Nowicki worked as a miner for a year and then studied at the PWST in Kraków, graduating in 1964. It was then that he landed his first theater and film roles. He appeared in “Invitation to the Castle” at the Stary Theater in Krakow and as an Englishman in “The First Day of Freedom”. A year later, he could be seen in “Popioły”. His career slowly began to gain momentum.

In 1970, at one of the swimming pools in Kraków, he was drinking vodka with Jerzy Cnota, when suddenly “a shapely, large woman came out of the water”. – This honey of the setting sun on her beautiful body, no longer young … It was Barbara – this is how he recalled the first meeting with Sobotta in an interview with “Rzeczpospolita”. That’s when he told a friend that “this will be the mother of his child.” Another woman was waiting for him in the room, but by his own admission he forgot about her then. He was charmed by the sportswoman, although at that time he did not yet know what successes she had on her account.

Their relationship was tumultuous. Everyone was talking about her

The couple quickly began to meet each other, but they were supposed to immediately indicate that this is a relationship without obligations. They had no plans of living together or getting married. However, this changed in 1973, when their son Łukasz was born. They decided to live together, but it didn’t last long, as Łukasz Nowicki said years later in an interview for the magazine “Bieganie”.

– My parents lived together for four or five years, probably turbulently. I don’t know the details because I didn’t want to. I remember my father at home, I remember when I stole money from his wallet that was on the table, then I got spanked. Yes, I remember my father because of the spanking. I don’t remember my father in front of the TV, in socks, with a cigarette. I remember that my mother and I were always alone, so they had to part when I was very small – said Łukasz Nowicki.

In the 1970s, Jan Nowicki began to receive more and more film offers, and soon he was hailed as “the first lover of Polish cinema”. At some point, he left Sobotta and did not devote time to his son, which he returned to in memory in one of “Your Style”. “I had no remorse at the time for neglecting my son. I didn’t know my father, he died when I was one year old. And the stepfather could disappear for several years. And that didn’t stop me from loving him. In Kowal around, I did not see fathers taking care of children. Just like in a highlander song: “You rock him alone, because you are his mother, I will not rock.” The men in my town were simple craftsmen. They worked hard all day to support their family. I remembered that a guy has to work hard and then he can drink. After the separation, I still supported both children and ex-wives – he stated.

Barbara Sobotta practically raised her son alone, but she never spoke badly about Nowicki in public. After that relationship ended, she did not date anyone else until her death in 2000. When Sobotta died, Jan decided to write a letter:

I am sad to say after the time I have neglected you. (…) Don’t be angry with me there. Rather pity. (…) I loved you once. See you soon girl.

Łukasz Nowicki also became involved with television. How does he remember his parents?

He said about his mother that “she was the Sharapova of those times”. When he was little, Sobotta’s medals were fun for him. Mostly they set up a shop. Łukasz’s bond with his mother has always been close. He admitted that “the most important thing he got from his mother was tenderness, sensitivity and empathy.” Her death was a blow to him. He found out about her over the phone. – This phone call, which is waiting for each of us, is the final end of childhood. (…) I really enjoyed spending time with her. Common cinema, conversations, interests. Cool Lukas, cool mom. Because earlier there was a period of rebellion, when she bravely endured my puberty. She got kicked by me, and just as I started to give her back, she left, died gently, suddenly, so as not to cause trouble –

I don’t have many memories with my father. He rarely played with him, but sometimes he could count on gifts from trips and travels. Jan used to take his son to film sets. – I liked it a lot. (…) I was glad that I could be a part of his reality – recalled Łukasz. As a teenager, young Nowicki was proud of who his father was. Moreover, he admitted that it was “thanks to him that he had such an amazing growing up in a large part.” – It is to my father that I largely owe the ease with which I found myself as an actor, my sophistication. He took care of me, albeit rarely. An extraordinary man, he confessed.

Łukasz followed in his father’s footsteps and became an actor. Just after defending his diploma, Jan reportedly told him that “he was afraid that he would see talentless people and that he would have to be ashamed of it all his life, but he saw an actor”. Jan Nowicki died on December 7, 2022. Łukasz experienced it very much, which he confessed in an Instagram post.