Mieczysława Ćwiklińska was born on January 1, 1879 in Lublin as the daughter of an acting couple, Aleksandra Ficzkowska and Marceli Trapsza. – My friends said about me: she is the daughter of an actress – in “Conversations with Mrs. Miecia”. She made her debut in 1900 at the Warsaw People’s Theater in Michał Bałucki’s “Big Fish” under the watchful eye of her father, the director.
She was one of the biggest stars of pre-war theater and cinema. She was unlucky in love
Although she created many great roles on stage and the audience loved her, she resisted film for a long time. – The film camera is not a friend of women, it mercilessly exposes what they would like to hide from the viewer’s eyes – she said in an interview for “Ekran”. Despite this, in 1933 she starred in the comedy “His Excellency the Subiekt” by Michał Waszyński, becoming one of the biggest stars of the Second Polish Republic.
Mrs. Ćwiklińska’s wonderful talent is a state asset
– Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński wrote about her. Although she was constantly successful, her private life was not sparing her.
Her first relationship with Zygmunt Bartkiewicz, a journalist and painter 11 years her senior, broke up after only 14 months due to his morbid jealousy and weakness for alcohol. Later, Henryk Mader appeared in her life, who cheated on her long before they got married, which ultimately led to their separation. Next, she became involved with a colleague who was 21 years her junior, Stefan Hnydziński, but when she found out that he was stealing from her, she immediately ended the relationship. The love of her life was supposed to be a Warsaw bookseller of Jewish origin, Marian Steinsberg, but reality verified her ideas. While she was working, he wasted her wealth. She wanted to get a divorce and move out of the tenement house in Warsaw and into a villa built in Podkowa Leśna, but her plans were thwarted by her outburst.
During the war, Ćwiklińska was a spy. The secret was revealed only after her death
The actress spent the first days of the war in a small village between Minsk and Kalushno. After a few days, she returned to the ruined capital, but she did not intend to perform for the occupiers. First, she worked in Eugeniusz Bodo’s café, and then she founded her own place, “U Gwiazdek”. Only after her death did it come to light that she had been acting as a spy at that time. It all started with her trying to save her husband, who not only did not wear the armband with the Star of Zion, but also kept forbidden books. She turned for help to Stefan Witkowski, who was the head of the Polish underground intelligence agency “Muszkieterzy”. With his help, she obtained false documents for Steinsberg, but the plan fell apart on the border with Switzerland. The man was detained and taken to hospital, where he died a short time later.
A tragic fate also befell Witkowski, who was recognized by the Special Military Court of the Home Army as a traitor and sentenced to death based on an unlawful verdict. Then Ćwiklińska bought his body to give it a proper burial, but she never revealed where the grave was. It continued its activities until the end of the war. Not only did she pass on the information she heard in the café, but she also made her house available for a weapons warehouse and a radio station, enabling contacts with London. After liberation, she proudly returned to the stage, where she performed almost until the end of her life. – It’s my life. When I stop working, I will die, she said. Mieczysława Ćwiklińska died on July 28, 1972, at the age of 93.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
