Polish actress Irena Gawęcka (1901-1982) was a star of the silent cinema, who made 5 films between 1928 and 1930.
![Irena Gawecka]()
Polish postcard by Polonia, Kraków, no. 1337. Photo: Dorys, Warszawa.
![Irena Gawecka in Magdalena (1929)]()
Polish postcard by Polonia, Kraków, no. 1350. Photo: Enhafilm. Publicity still for Magdalena (Konstanty Meglicki, 1929).
Irena Gawęcka was born in 1901 in Buk, Germany (now Poland).
As a young girl, she participated in the Greater Poland Uprising in the supply department, for which she was awarded the Cross of the Civil Service Ceremony by the Supreme People's Council in 1919.
Then, after high school, Irena Gawęcka travelled around Europe, nothing is known about her acting work during this period.
After returning to Poland, she made her film debut as Countess Zofia opposite Boleslaw Szczurkiewicz as her father in Szaleńcy/Madmen (1928), which was also the directorial debut of Leonard Buczkowski.
Gawęcka contributed with her role to the success of the film. In 1929, the film was awarded the Grand Prix and the Gold Medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris.
In 1934, the film returned to the screens already in the sound version with music developed by Tadeusz Górzyński.
![Irena Gawecka and Mieczyslaw Cybulski in Magdalena (1929)]()
Polish postcard by Polonia, Kraków, no. 1352. Photo: Enhafilm. Publicity still for Magdalena (Konstanty Meglicki, 1929).
In 1929, Irena Gawęcka appeared in three more Polish silent films.
The first was the drama Ponad snieg/Above the snow (Konstanty Meglicki, 1929) in which she had a supporting part.
The second was Magdalena (Konstanty Meglicki, 1929) and the third was the war drama Z dnia na dzien/One Day to the Day After Next (Joseph Lejtes, 1929), in which she played the leading role.
When the sound entered the Polish cinemas, Gawęcka retired. She only appeared in the small role of a fisher woman in the film Wiatr od morza/Wind from the Sea (Kazimierz Czynski, 1930), but it was not a success. Her promising acting career was broken.
After the war, Irena Gawęcka settled in France. There she died in 1982 in Le Chesnay at the age of 81.
![Irena Gawecka]()
Polish postcard by Polonia, Kraków, no. 1335. Photo: Dorys, Warszawa.
![Irena Gawecka in Magdalena (1929)]()
Polish postcard by Polonia, Kraków, no. 1351. Photo: Enhafilm. Publicity still for Magdalena (Konstanty Meglicki, 1929).
Sources: Filmpolski.pl (Polish), Wikipedia (Polish) and IMDb.
Polish postcard by Polonia, Kraków, no. 1337. Photo: Dorys, Warszawa.
Polish postcard by Polonia, Kraków, no. 1350. Photo: Enhafilm. Publicity still for Magdalena (Konstanty Meglicki, 1929).
Cross of the Civil Service Ceremony
Irena Gawęcka was born in 1901 in Buk, Germany (now Poland).
As a young girl, she participated in the Greater Poland Uprising in the supply department, for which she was awarded the Cross of the Civil Service Ceremony by the Supreme People's Council in 1919.
Then, after high school, Irena Gawęcka travelled around Europe, nothing is known about her acting work during this period.
After returning to Poland, she made her film debut as Countess Zofia opposite Boleslaw Szczurkiewicz as her father in Szaleńcy/Madmen (1928), which was also the directorial debut of Leonard Buczkowski.
Gawęcka contributed with her role to the success of the film. In 1929, the film was awarded the Grand Prix and the Gold Medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris.
In 1934, the film returned to the screens already in the sound version with music developed by Tadeusz Górzyński.
Polish postcard by Polonia, Kraków, no. 1352. Photo: Enhafilm. Publicity still for Magdalena (Konstanty Meglicki, 1929).
A promising acting career broken
In 1929, Irena Gawęcka appeared in three more Polish silent films.
The first was the drama Ponad snieg/Above the snow (Konstanty Meglicki, 1929) in which she had a supporting part.
The second was Magdalena (Konstanty Meglicki, 1929) and the third was the war drama Z dnia na dzien/One Day to the Day After Next (Joseph Lejtes, 1929), in which she played the leading role.
When the sound entered the Polish cinemas, Gawęcka retired. She only appeared in the small role of a fisher woman in the film Wiatr od morza/Wind from the Sea (Kazimierz Czynski, 1930), but it was not a success. Her promising acting career was broken.
After the war, Irena Gawęcka settled in France. There she died in 1982 in Le Chesnay at the age of 81.
Polish postcard by Polonia, Kraków, no. 1335. Photo: Dorys, Warszawa.
Polish postcard by Polonia, Kraków, no. 1351. Photo: Enhafilm. Publicity still for Magdalena (Konstanty Meglicki, 1929).
Sources: Filmpolski.pl (Polish), Wikipedia (Polish) and IMDb.