Polish Pope’s close theatre friend dies
PR dla Zagranicy
John Beauchamp
13.01.2015 09:22
The eminent actress who shared a close relationship with Pope John Paul II, Danuta Michalowska, has died in Krakow at the age of 92.
Danuta Michalowska Photo: PAP/Jacek Bednarczyk
Michalowska performed with Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope, in an underground drama company, the Rhapsodic Theatre, during the Nazi occupation.
They exchanged more than 100 letters, including a final note which she received from the Pope two weeks before he died in April 2005.
She was a member of the Stary Theatre company for several years, but it was in her own solo performances in which she gained spectacular acclaim, presenting selections of religious poetry – including verse by Karol Wojtyla – and her adaptations of such works as Mickiewicz’s ‘Pan Tadeusz’ and Pushkin’s ‘Eugene Onegin’.
Michalowska also taught at the Drama Academy in Krakow for over four decades, serving as its Chancellor in 1981-84. Her students included such famous Polish actors as Wojciech Pszoniak, Olgierd Lukaszewicz, Jan Frycz and Krzysztof Globisz.
In 2008, Danuta Michalowska was granted the honorary citizenship of Krakow. (mk/jb)