Teresa Toranska
Encyclopedia
Teresa Torańska is a Polish journalist. She is perhaps best known for her award winning book, Oni (Them: Stalin's Polish Puppets).
, Belarus
, which was then part of the occupied Second Polish Republic
. She graduated from the Warsaw University's Department of Law. She worked as a journalist for the popular Polish weekly „Kultura” in the nineteen-seventies, and then throughout the following decade, for the leading Polish émigré literary journal Kultura paryska, banned in communist Poland and published in Paris
, France
. In the nineties Torańska hosted two television programs for Telewizja Polska
(TVP): socio-political „Teraz Wy” (Now You) and historical „Powtórka z PRL-u” (Rehash from the PRL). Torańska wrote the screenplay for a documentary film
Dworzec gdański (Gdańsk Main Station) directed
by Maria Zmarz-Kozanowicz. The movie, which premiered in 2007, told a story of the Polish Jews forced to leave Poland after the political crisis of March 1968.
At present she's a contributor to Poland's second-largest daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza
conducting interviews with the leading Polish political figures.
Torańska is perhaps best known for her award winning book Them: Stalin's Polish Puppets (Oni), published in the United States
by HarperCollins
.
Biography
Teresa Torańska was born on January 1, 1944 in WołkowyskVaukavysk
Vawkavysk or Vaŭkavysk or Volkovysk is a town in the Hrodna Province of Belarus. It is the center of Vaŭkavysk district and has a population of around 48,000....
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, which was then part of the occupied Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
. She graduated from the Warsaw University's Department of Law. She worked as a journalist for the popular Polish weekly „Kultura” in the nineteen-seventies, and then throughout the following decade, for the leading Polish émigré literary journal Kultura paryska, banned in communist Poland and published in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. In the nineties Torańska hosted two television programs for Telewizja Polska
Telewizja Polska
Telewizja Polska Spółka Akcyjna is Poland's public broadcasting corporation...
(TVP): socio-political „Teraz Wy” (Now You) and historical „Powtórka z PRL-u” (Rehash from the PRL). Torańska wrote the screenplay for a documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Dworzec gdański (Gdańsk Main Station) directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Maria Zmarz-Kozanowicz. The movie, which premiered in 2007, told a story of the Polish Jews forced to leave Poland after the political crisis of March 1968.
At present she's a contributor to Poland's second-largest daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Wyborcza is a leading Polish newspaper. It covers the gamut of political, international and general news. Like all the Polish newspapers, it is printed on compact-sized paper, and is published by the multimedia corporation Agora SA...
conducting interviews with the leading Polish political figures.
Torańska is perhaps best known for her award winning book Them: Stalin's Polish Puppets (Oni), published in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
.
Works
- Widok z dolu (The View from Below) (reportage), publisher: Iskry; 1 edition (1980), 162 pages, language: Polish, ISBN 978-8320702361
- Oni (Them: Stalin's Polish Puppets), HarperCollins Publishers (May 1988), 384 pages, translated by Agnieszka Kolakowska, ISBN 978-0060914936 (paperback, hardcover)
- My (We), publisher: Oficyna Wydawnicza MOST; 1st edition (1994), 295 pages, language: Polish, ISBN 978-8385611233
- Byli (Bygones), (reportage), publisher: Świat Książki, Warsaw 2006, 318 pages, language: Polish, ISBN 83-247-0246-6 (hardcover)
- Są - Rozmowa o dobrych uczuciach (They are - Conversation about Good Feelings), Świat Książki, Warsaw 2007, 288 pages, language: Polish ISBN 978-83-247-0791-1 (hardcover)
- Dworzec gdański (Gdańsk Main Station) documentary directed by Maria Zmarz-Kozanowicz, Poland, 2007
- Jesteśmy (We are), Świat Książki – Bertelsmann Media, Warsaw 2008, ISBN 978-8324710270
- Śmierć spóźnia się o minutę (Death is a minute too late) , Biblioteka Gazety Wyborczej, Warsaw 2010, ISBN 978-83-268-0049-8
Awards
- In 2000 Teresa Torańska received the Ksawery Pruszyński Award of the Polish PEN ClubInternational PENPEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
for the book Them: Stalin's Polish Puppets.
- Torańska was the first recipient of the annual Barbara Łopieńska Award for the best press interview, received in 2005 for her conversation with Wojciech JaruzelskiWojciech JaruzelskiWojciech Witold Jaruzelski is a retired Polish military officer and Communist politician. He was the last Communist leader of Poland from 1981 to 1989, Prime Minister from 1981 to 1985 and the country's head of state from 1985 to 1990. He was also the last commander-in-chief of the Polish People's...
.