Zofia Szymanowska-Lenartowicz

Zofia Szymanowska–Lenartowicz
Self-portrait (1855), oil on canvas (from the Warsaw National Museum)
Born	Zofia Szymanowska 21 December 1825 Otwock, Congress Kingdom of Poland (now Poland)
Died	8 July 1870(1870-07-08) (aged 44) Miłosław, Second Polish Republic (now Poland)
Burial place	Miłosław, Poland
Occupation(s)	Painter, poet, musician
Spouse	Teofil Lenartowicz (m. 1861–1870; her death)
Children	1

Zofia Szymanowska–Lenartowicz (21 December 1825 – 8 July 1870) was a Polish painter, musician, and poet.[1][2] She painted many portraits of the Mickiewicz family, particularly Adam Mickiewicz.

Biography

Zofia Szymanowska was born on 21 December 1825, in Otwock, Congress Kingdom of Poland (now Poland).[3][4] She was the daughter of Józef Szymanowski (1785–1832) and his second wife, Elżbieta (née Młodzianowska, 1791–1847), her family was ennobled Jewish Frankists.[5]

She was a half-sister of Celina Szymanowska, who was married to poet Adam Mickiewicz.[6] Szymanowska–Lenartowicz had lived with the Mickiewicz family in Paris from 1850 until 1855, and helped with their childcare.[6] She was educated in Dresden and in Paris, and in the studio of Ary Scheffer, and Aleksander Lesser.[4]

In 1861, she married poet Teofil Lenartowicz in Florence, Italy, with whom she had a son Jan (John) who died shortly after his birth in 1864.[4]

She died after struggling with pneumonia on 8 July 1870, in Miłosław, Poland.[3] Her artwork can be found in the collections at the Warsaw National Museum,[7] and the National Museum in Kraków.[8]

References

1. Saur, K. G. (2021). "Lenartowiczowa, Zofia". Degruyter.com. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
2. Suchocka, Dorota (2005). Malarstwo Polskie 1766–1945 [Polish Painting 1766–1945] (in Polish). Muzeum Narodowe w Poznaniu (National Museum in Poznań). p. 77. ISBN 978-83-89053-47-3 – via Google Books.
3. Białostocka, Jolanta Maurin (1971). Słownik artystów polskich i obcych w Polsce działających: malarze, rzeźbiarze, graficy [Dictionary of Polish and Foreign Artists Working in Poland: painters, sculptors, graphic artists] (in Polish). Vol. 5. Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich. p. 33. ISBN 978-83-85938-25-5 – via Google Books.
4. Matuszewski, Ignacy (1904). Twórczość i twórcy: studya i szkice estetyczno-literackie [Creativity and Creators: aesthetic and literary studies and sketches] (in Polish). Gebethner i Wolff. p. 328 – via Google Books.
5. The Polish Review. Vol. 34. Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America. 1989. p. 339.
6. Polonsky, Antony (1986). Polin: A Journal of Polish-Jewish Studies. Basil Blackwell for the Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-631-17624-4 – via Google Books.
7. "Autoportret Szymanowska-Lenartowicz, Zofia (1825–1870) - malarz". Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie (MNW) (in Polish). Retrieved 2025-01-04.
8. "Portrait of Adam Mickiewicz's Sons, Aleksander and Jan Gwalbert". Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie (in Polish). Retrieved 2025-01-04.