Maciej Wojtyszko graduated from the
Liceum Technik Teatralnych in Warsaw in 1965. After having studied Philosophy at the
University of Warsaw, he went to the
National Film School in Łódź, where he graduated as a director in 1973. He was lecturer at the
Aleksander Zelwerowicz State Theatre Academy in Warsaw in 1990-93 and 1999–2002, and Dean of the
Halina and John Machulskich Theatre School. He is a member of the Association of Polish Writers. In 2002, Maciej Wojtyszko was awarded with the
Knight's Cross of the Order of the Rebirth of Polish for his “outstanding contribution to the Polish culture”. He is married to the writer
Henryka Królikowska and father of the writer
Maria Wojtyszko and the actor and screenwriter
Adam Wojtyszko.
Theatre Maciej Wojtyszko started his career in theatre with
Alexander Isaakovich Gelman’s play
Bench in 1986 at the
Teatr Powszechny in Warsaw, and became known with his stage adaptations of
Ilya Ehrenburg’s
The Stormy Life of Lasik Roitschwantz at the
Athenaeum Theatre in Warsaw and
Sławomir Mrożek’s
Love in the Crimea at the
Old Theatre in Krakow.
Film and television As a film director, he started his career in 1984 with a screen adaptation of his own novel
Synteza (Synthesis). Internationally, he got noticed with his four-parts mini-series
Mistrz i Malgorzata (based on Bulgakov's novel
The Master and Margarita) in 1990. After this, Wojtyszko would direct many successful TV-series and films in Poland, like
Miodowe lata (1998, based on the American sitcom
The Honeymooners) for which he got an award at the Polish Humor Festival in
Gdańsk and
Ogród Luizy (
Louise's Garden, 2007) for which he got the Special Prize of the Jury at the XXXII
Polish Film Festival in
Gdynia.
The author Maciej Wojtyszko As a novelist, Wojtyszko made his debut in 1969 with
Szpilki (Pins), a collection of satirical stories. He’s the author of several books for children and adolescents, some of which were adapted as animated television series, like
Bromba i inni (Bromba and others, 1975) and
Tajemnica szyfru Marabuta (The Secret Cipher of the Marabout, 1978). A typical element of his children's books are the bizarre main characters facing with existential problems. “I want to familiarize children with the amazing phenomenon of existence. All my books are about the fact that we live and enjoy life”, Wojtyszko said. == Theatre plays ==