# Halina Mikołajska

Halina Mikołajska-Brandys (22 March 1925 – 22 June 1989) was a Polish actress, director, and pro-democracy activist.

## Biography

Halina Mikołajska was born on 22 March 1925 in Kraków, Poland.
During the Second World War, while under the German occupation, she performed in the Adam Mularczyk's underground theatre in Kraków. After the conflict, Mikołajska studied chemistry at the Jagiellonian University from 1945 to 1946, as well as acting at the National Academy of Theatre Arts, which she graduated in 1947. She performed in the National Dramatic Theatres in Kraków from 1946 to 1949, the Dramatic Theatres in Wrocław until 1950, as well as numerous theatres in Warsaw, including the Polish Theatre from 1950 to 1954 and 1982 to 1983, the Contemporary Theatre from 1955 to 1962 and 1967 to 1980, and the National Theatre from 1962 to 1966. Mikołajska also performed in numerous feature films, including Adventure in Marienstadt (1953), Nobody's Calling (1960), Another Shore (1962), Family Life (1971), Awards and Decorations (1973), A Woman's Decision (1975), Camouflage (1977), and Postcard from the Journey (1984), as well as in numerous radio shows.
From 1953 to 1962, Mikołajska was taught acting at the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw.
In the 1970s, she begun being active in the dissident movement opposing the communist authoritarian government of the Polish People's Republic. In 1975, Mikołajska was one of the signatories of the Letter of 59, protesting against the changes of the state constitution. In 1976 she joined the Workers' Defence Committee, and in 1977, the KOR Committee for Social Self-Defense. In January 1978, she was one of the signatories of the founding declaration of the Society for Academic Courses. Mikołajska was repeatedly harassed by the Security Service, and, beginning in 1976, she was blacklisted from performing in film, television, radio, and later, also in theatre. In 1976, she has survived a suicidal attempt.
During the period of the martial law in Poland, she was placed in the internment camps in Darłówko, Gołdap, and Jaworze between 1981 and 1982.
On 4 June 1989, shortly prior to her death, Mikołajska voted in the first partially free parliamentary election in the country. She died on 22 June 1989 in Warsaw, and was buried in the nearby village of Laski.

## Private life

She was married to architect Janusz Ballenstedt from 1944 to 1948, and to painter Aleksander Stefanowski, whom she also divorced. In 1955, she married writer Marian Brandys. She was an aunt of singer and songwriter Antonina Krzysztoń.

## Commemorations

On 4 June 2012, in the Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły Park in Warsaw, near the senate building, was unvailed a monument dedicated to her, designed by Krystyna Fałdyga-Solska.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1954 | Adventure in Marienstadt | Bricklayer | Feature film; uncredited |
| 1955 | Wesele | Rachela | Television play |
| 1956 | Było 10 murzynów | | Television play |
| 1956 | Lato | | Television play |
| 1958 | Eroica | | Feature film; uncredited |
| 1959 | Freuda teoria snów | Her | Television play |
| 1959 | Powiem wam kto zabił | Sara Drummond | Television play |
| 1960 | Mizantrop | | Television play |
| 1960 | Nobody's Calling | Olga Stareńska | Feature film |
| 1960 | Podróż do zielonych cieni | | Television play |
| 1960 | Troja, miasto otwarte | Beata | Television play |
| 1961 | Arlekinada | Edna | Television play |
| 1961 | Lata nauki Wilhelma Meistra | Aurelia | Television play |
| 1961 | Makowskie bajki | | Television play |
| 1961 | Noc tysiączna druga | Lady Claudia | Television play |
| 1961 | Zapis | Countess | Television play |
| 1962 | Another Shore | Woman with a child | Feature film |
| 1962 | Dwa teatry | | Television play |
| 1962 | Homer I Orchidea | | Television play |
| 1962 | Jestem dorosły | | Television play |
| 1963 | By the Railway Track | Jewish woman | Short film |
| 1963 | Prometeusz w okowach | Io | Television play |
| 1963 | Aktorki. Parias | Mrs. X | Television play |
| 1964 | Tonio Kruger | Lizaweta | Television play |
| 1964 | Lubow Jarowaja | | Television play |
| 1964 | Zapiski majora Pycia | Hanna Drwęska | Television play |
| 1964 | Śmierć gubernatora | Anna Maria | Television play |
| 1964 | Księga Hioba | Mary Herup | Television play |
| 1964 | Drzwi muszą być albo otwarte albo zamknięte | Markiza | Television play |
| 1964 | Adwokat i róże | Dorota | Television play |
| 1966 | Oczekiwanie | Freda | Television play |
| 1966 | Żeglarz | Doktorowa | Television play |
| 1967 | O długim czekaniu | | Television play |
| 1967 | Listy panny de Lespinasse | | Television play |
| 1967 | Krzyk w próżni świata | Dr. Renata W. | Television play |
| 1967 | Fedra | Fedra | Television play |
| 1969 | Niemcy | Liesel | Television play |
| 1970 | W małym dworku | Anastazja Nibek | Television play |
| 1970 | Duża sala | | Television play |
| 1970 | Cudzoziemka | Róża | Television play |
| 1970 | Andromacha | Tetyda | Television play |
| 1971 | Bogumił I Barbara | Narrator | Television play |
| 1971 | Family Life | Jadwiga | Feature film |
| 1971 | Lalka z łóżka nr 21 | Wilma Jelinek | Television play |
| 1972 | Dama Pikowa | Anna Fiedotown | Television play |
| 1972 | Lato w Nohant | George Sand | Television play |
| 1973 | Awards and Decorations | National Armed Forces employee | Feature film |
| 1973 | Krystyna I Erland | Lady Aashild | Television play |
| 1974 | Niemcy | Berta | Television play |
| 1975 | A Woman's Decision | Róża | Feature film |
| 1975 | Żywa maska | Margravine | Television play |
| 1975 | Zagrożenie | Zofia | Television play |
| 1975 | Rok Polski | | Television play |
| 1976 | Camouflage | Actress reading poems | Feature film |
| 1981 | Molier, czyli perfidna zmowa świętoszków | Magdalena Bejart | Television play |
| 1983 | Postcard from the Journey | Grandmother Grossmanowa | Feature film |
| 2009 | Revisited | Jadwiga | Feature film; archival footage |

## Decorations

* Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1954)
* Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1963)
* Badge of the 1000th Anniversary of the Polish State (1967)
* Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2006; posthumously)

## Awards

* 1951: 2nd-degree State Award for the role of Anna in Stefan Żeromski's play Grzech, directed by Bohdan Korzeniewski in Polish Theatre in Warsaw;
* 1955: 2nd-degree State Award for the role of Ethel in Leon Kruczkowski's play Juliusz i Ethel, directed by Aleksander Bardini in Polish Theatre in Warsaw;
* 1958: Polish Radio and Television Committee Award for the role of Warwara in audioplay Biedni ludzie, based on Fyodor Dostoevsky script;
* 1970: distinction by magazine Kobieta i życie;
* 1971: Golden Screen (Złoty Ekran) for the best women's performance for the role of Tetyda in the television play Andromacha, directed by Jan Maciejowski;
* 1971: Golden Screen (Złoty Ekran) for the best women's performance for the role of Róża in Cudzoziemce, directed by Jan Kulczyński;
* 1971: Golden Screen (Złoty Ekran) for the best women's performance in Duża sala, directed by Aleksander Bardini;
* 1971: Golden Screen (Złoty Ekran) for the best women's performance for the role of Anastazja in W małym dworku directed by Zygmunt Hübner;
* 1971: Polish Radio and Television Committee Award for the overall performance of the year 1970 in the Polish Television plays;