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Joanna ChmielewskaWriter of ironic detective stories
Date of Birth: 02.04.1932
Country:  Poland |
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Biography of Joanna Chmielewska
Joanna Chmielewska was a Polish writer, author of ironic detective stories, and the pioneer of this genre for Russian readers. She was born on April 2, 1932, in Warsaw, Poland, to Jan Becker (1906 – March 11, 1983), a bank director, and Janina Konopacka (died in 1993). Joanna was raised by women - her mother, grandmother, and two aunts, Teresa and Lucyna. Her aunt Lucyna, a journalist, had a particularly strong influence on Joanna. She passed on a wealth of useful knowledge to her, including teaching her French. Due to the occupation of Poland by the Third Reich, Joanna had to leave school. Initially, Lucyna continued to educate her, but in 1943, Joanna was sent to a boarding school at the Monastery of the Resurrection of the Lord in Warsaw. After completing gymnasium, in post-war Poland, Joanna entered the Faculty of Architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology, where she graduated as an engineer-architect. However, she never considered herself a great architect. Once, during a visit to France, she saw a small chapel in Orleans and realized that she could never create something like that. Joanna left her profession and began earning a living as a writer. In 1964, her novel "The Wedge Drives Out the Wedge" was published, and over the course of her life, she wrote about 60 books - detective novels and books of a journalistic nature, including a seven-part autobiography. Joanna Chmielewska was the recipient of numerous literary awards, including the Prime Minister's Award for creativity for children and youth (1989) and the double laureate of the EMPiK Award (the largest book retail chain in Poland) (2000, 2001).
Personal Life
Joanna Chmielewska was skillful in playing cards and gambling games, claiming that she learned to play cards before she could speak. Her hobbies included playing bridge, running, collecting amber and stamps, making shell necklaces, fortune-telling with cards, and creating compositions from dried herbs. She was also skilled in shooting, embroidery, and driving a car. She passed away on the morning of October 7, 2013, in Warsaw at the age of 82. She was buried at the Stare Powązki Cemetery.
Family Life
Joanna Chmielewska was officially married only once, at the age of 18, to a man named Stanisław, who was three years older than her. They had two sons together - Jędrzej (born in 1951) and Stanisław Robert (born in 1956).
Jędrzej studied at the Radio and Electronics University in Warsaw and later went to Algeria for work. Upon returning to Poland, he was involved in mushroom cultivation in greenhouses, with Joanna's enthusiastic support (from selecting a greenhouse builder to harvesting the mushrooms). After many years of marriage, he divorced and remarried a much younger woman. From his first marriage, he has a daughter named Karolina. Joanna's second son, Robert, also went to Algeria for work. He was married twice and then moved to Canada with his second wife and daughter, where they settled. His daughter Monika, born from his second marriage, has an IT education, recently married a classmate, and lives in Toronto. She often traveled to France with her grandmother (Joanna) or visited her home in Poland.
Joanna loved to relax in France, particularly in the coastal health resorts of Brittany. She openly admitted her adoration for cats. In many of her works, including her autobiography, she expressed sincere admiration for German Shepherds.
