“Jonasz Kofta was like a rainbow, because everyone who met him remembered a different color.” Outstanding work of the artist

Jonasz Kofta, or rather Janusz Kaftal, was born on November 28, 1942 in Volhynia. A few months later, his parents were forced to flee the slaughter. Due to fear of persecution during the occupation, the Kaftal family changed their surname to Kofta. Jonasz’s father, Mieczysław, was of Jewish origin and was a journalist, and his mother, Maria, was a Germanist and taught at universities.

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Cabaret “Pod Egidą”. The beginnings of Kofta’s creative life

After leaving Volhynia, the Kofta family settled in Wrocław, where Mieczysław, together with others, founded the Polish Radio station. However, they did not stay there forever. In the early 1950s, they moved to Katowice, where the journalist took up the position of editor-in-chief of Radio Katowice. After four years, the family changed their place of residence again. This time it was Łódź, and shortly later Poznań. In the heart of Greater Poland, Maria taught German studies at the university, and Janusz started studying at an art high school. When he graduated from high school in 1961, the young artist decided to move to Warsaw. There he began studies at the Faculty of Painting of the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. But it turned out that his real canvas is a sheet of paper and his brush is a pen.

In the 1950s, the artist met Jan Pietrzak at a hitchhiking stop, with whom he later became friends. In later years, he worked with him professionally, creating material for the Central Club of Warsaw Students “Hybrydy”.

He was very funny, smoked a pipe and talked a lot. Since he was going to study in Warsaw, I invited him to the Hybrydy Club

– recalled Jan Pietrzak, quoted by

Kofta watched the performances presented by the club. Over time, he became its full member, creating songs from which programs were created. In 1964, he became the club’s literary director. In addition to creating materials, Jonasz also performed on stage and made his debut in “Smile with Errata”. Over time, “Hybrydy” changed into the “Pod Egidą” Cabaret. The group became one of the most popular, whose greatness is still talked about today. Over the years, other famous names have been associated with the cabaret, including: Ewa Błaszczyk, Jerzy Dobrowolski, Piotr Fronczewski, Edyta Geppert, Janusz Gajos and Danuta Rinn.

Kofta and Pietrzak created a great duo not only on stage, but also on the radio. In Trójka they had their program “Lyrical-prosaic duets”. On radio, Kofta also collaborated with Stefan Friedmann. They hosted the programs “Dialogues on Four Legs” and “Experts”

We loved having quite abstract dialogues […]. Our boss, Jacek Janczarski, said that he had never met anyone talking in such an abstract way. It looked like free improvisation, but it was a very precisely written text

– says Friedmann, quoted by .

Egocentric who knew how to share love

In 1966, Kofta’s epigrams were published in the weekly “Szpilki”: “Warsztat philosophic”, “About sad people” and “Hasło”. This event should be perceived as the artist’s literary debut. enumerates that in the following years his works were published in “Szpilki”, but also in “Radar”, “Płomyk” and “ITD”. Kofta’s extraordinary skills in presenting reality in a literary way caught the attention of the Security Services. In the Polish People’s Republic, his name was added to the list of authors subject to censorship by the Central Office of Press, Publications and Performances Control.

Kofta met his future wife in 1962 in Sandomierz. At that time, however, they were both there with their partners. The next meeting came a few years later, this time in Warsaw, on the steps of the famous SPATIF club (Association of Polish Theater and Film Artists). Jaga and Jonasz were in the company of their friends at the time, but they still spent a lot of time together, talking about many topics. They had a deep feeling for each other, so in the early 1970s they decided to live together at the back of Ujazdowski Park. They got married on May 3, 1973, and four months later their son Piotr was born. Kofta became involved in the role of a father, but over time, the care of his son fell almost entirely on Jaga, because Jonah devoted himself to work.

The artist could always count on his wife’s support in his creative work. She was his muse and inspiration, but also his critic. It is said that if it were not for Jaga, one of Kofta’s most popular texts might not have been written.

I tell him that if the title is ‘Her Portrait’, he probably knows what women are like. And he says he doesn’t know. So I tell him: ‘Write about the fact that you just don’t know.’ And with that, he finally sat down and wrote this song

– Jaga said in an interview quoted by the portal.

Agnieszka Osiecka remembered the artist as a person who had extraordinary skills in winning people over. reminds that she described him as an egocentric who knew how to share love. This feeling was given to him not only by his family and friends, but also by the audience, which was very devoted to him. Kofta was a very open and direct person who was loved for his honesty.

Jonasz Kofta was like a rainbow, because everyone who met him remembered a different color

– recalls Jaga, the artist’s wife, quoted by .

“Anyone can sing. A little better or a little worse”

Kofta was an outstanding writer who wrote songs for the greatest Polish stars of the time, such as Czesław Niemen and Hanna Banaszak. He produced such hits as “Samba Before Parting”, “Four Walls of the World”, “Eurydice’s Calling”, the previously mentioned “Her Portrait”, “Remember the Gardens”, “To Love is to Live”, “A Flower of One Night” and satirical “Anyone can sing”. The last song was the artist’s mockery of careerists, written with great humor. The song has been performed many times, but it was Jerzy Stuhr’s interpretation that went down in music history.

Kofta appeared in Opole many times, he was very often winner of the local Song Festival. He won the first prize in the Opole competition several times, among others in 1973 for “Tango with a Rose in Your Teeth”, in 1978 for “Pogrążony w sen” and in 1987 for “Waiting for the verdict”. At the International Intervision Festival Sopot ’77 he received the Grand Prix for “One World” and “Loving Means Living”.

It was not only songs that brought him winnings in competitions. For his activities in the Third Program of Polish Radio, in 1968 he received the Radio and TV Committee Award for satirical and entertainment programs. In 1979, he received the Gold Cross of Merit, and four years later the Journalists’ Award at the 20th KFPP. The culmination of his many years of career and achievements was the Award of the Chairman of the WRN in Opole at the 25th KFPP for outstanding literary work and its presentation at festivals in Opole.

“There are no witnesses. There was a crowd of people there, but no one saw anything.”

Jonasz Kofta had great talent, but also a penchant for alcohol. He started drinking alcohol excessively when he was a teenager. He was an addict throughout his adult life, but the apogee occurred in the 1980s. The introduction of martial law in Poland made the artist look into his glass even more often.

One of the most difficult moments the Koft family had to face was the diagnosis of salivary gland cancer in the man. The artist underwent intensive treatment. writes that radiotherapy turned out to be effective, but it introduced irreversible changes that Jonah had to face. The exposure burned his face, making him reluctant to appear on stage. Side effects of the treatment also included a damaged esophagus, which made the artist have difficulty swallowing. For this reason, the man’s diet consisted mainly of soups, smoothies and mashed potatoes, which could be easily assimilated. Alcohol was still an integral part of his diet.

Kofta was fully cured, but he told his friends that his disease had relapsed. For the rest of his life, he was afraid that the cancer would return, even though it never did. The man felt the passage of time extremely strongly and was, as it were, waiting for death. After his illness, he wrote the song “We Wait for the Judgment”, in which he described his premonition related to death. The text is highly pessimistic, and the title verdict seems to be cancer. Addicted to alcohol and in a depressed state, the artist often disappeared from home for even several weeks, staying with friends. He later returned home, asking his wife to start over. Unfortunately, they have little time left.

On February 4, 1988, Kofta went to SPATIFto give an interview to journalist Marta Sztokfisz. That day he decided to break away from his liquid diet and eat something “normal”, so he ordered a decent dinner. No one expected that this would be his last meal. While eating, Kofta choked on one bite, which caused him to lose consciousness and fall from the chair. The journalist he was talking to didn’t know what to do, took her things and left. Although there were a lot of people in SPATIF at that time, no one paid particular attention to Kofta. They laughed, talked, perhaps thought it was an artist’s joke. The panic began only when one of the guests noticed that Kofta was turning blue. Someone tried to resuscitate the artist, but it was unsuccessful. Only the arrival of the doctors and their actions brought the man back to life. After taking him to the hospital, however, it turned out that the brain stem had been damaged by hypoxia.

The story of the accident at SPATiF is dark and strange. It turned into an anecdote, although its key elements were never actually confirmed. There are no witnesses. There was a crowd of people there, but no one saw anything

– says Jonasz Kofta’s son, Piotr, quoted by the portal

Jonasz Kofta died on April 19, 1988, when the family decided to disconnect the equipment artificially supporting his life. He was buried at Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw. The artist was 46 years old.

In 2013, a monument to Jonasz Kofta was erected in front of the University of Opole. This is another sculpture that appeared on the university hill. In addition to Kofta, you can see the likenesses of, among others, Agnieszka Osiecka, Czesław Niemen and Marek Grechuta.