Irena Jurgielewiczowa was born on 13 January 1903 in
Działoszyn, Poland. She studied
Polish philology at the
Warsaw University, obtaining a
doctoral degree in 1928, and
pedagogy at the
Wolna Wszechnica Polska (Free Polish University). She worked as a teacher in Warsaw beginning in 1928. She spend 1932 through 1934 in France. After her return she was a lecturer at Wolna Wszechnica Polska. During
World War II in
occupied Poland she was a teacher in the
underground education. She joined the
Armia Krajowa resistance, took part in the
Warsaw Uprising, and from 1944 until the end of the war she was a
prisoner of war in Germany. During the war she wrote her first book for children,
Historia o czterech pstroczkach. After the war, Jurgielewiczowa settled in Warsaw. She lectured at the
pedagogy department of the Warsaw University (1947–1950) and she was a literature director of the
National Theatre of New Warsaw (
Państwowy Teatr Nowej Warszawy). From 1954 she became a full-time writer. Her books were translated to numerous languages including
Bulgarian,
Czech,
German,
Italian,
Japanese,
Russian and
Ukrainian. Jurgielewiczowa was married to the painter
Mieczysław Jurgielewicz. She died on 25 May 2003, aged 100 years. == Recognition ==