Manuscript Collection MS COLL 00176 2B Annex - Danuta Irena Bienkowska Papers

Identity area

Reference code

CA OTUTF MS COLL 00176 2B Annex

Title

Danuta Irena Bienkowska Papers

Date(s)

  • 1939-1945 (Creation)

Level of description

Manuscript Collection

Extent and medium

3 boxes

Context area

Name of creator

(1927-1974)

Biographical history

Danuta Irena Czech was born in Torun, Poland, into the family of a noncommissioned officer. With the outbreak of war, she was evacuated with the rest of her family to Eastern Poland, spending a few months under Soviet occupation in a small town near the Toumanian border. Later the family was deported, first to the Komi republic, in the north of European Russia, and then to Uzbekistan, ending up in a Polish refugee camp in India. After the war, the family emigrated to England. As a brilliant student, Danuta had no difficulty continuing her education at the University of London, from where she received an honours B.A. in Russian and English literature in 1952. She had married in 1951, but the marriage was not a success, and after spending two years as a Russian specialist with the National Central Library in London, she emigrated to Canada, and continued her studies at the University of Toronto. Here she simultaneously worked on an M.A., and on a B.A. in Polish literature from the University of London. After receiving her M.A. in 1958, she worked briefly with the Catholic Children's Aid Society, until she was granted a two year Ford Foundation fellowship to study for a Ph.D in Polish literature at the School of Slavonic Studies (University of London). She chose as her topic the early work of Stefan Zeromski, successfully defending her thesis in 1965.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

The collection begins with the diaries written during the war years and ends with correspondence relating to a conference she was to attend during the academic year after her death. All extant poetry and prose is here, in various forms. Some matters pertaining to the Slavic Dept. at the University of Toronto, as well as obituaries, memorial cards, etc. have been included.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Material may be requested in person at the Fisher Library Reference Desk, or in advance using our online stack retrieval request form: https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/stack-retrieval-request.

Conditions governing reproduction

Language of material

  • English
  • Polish

Script of material

Language and script notes

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

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Notes area

Alternative identifier(s)

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Description control area

Description identifier

CA OTUTF MS COLL00176

Institution identifier

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto

Rules and/or conventions used

Dates of creation revision deletion

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