During the Second World War the group hid in the forests of Volhynia, which the artist described in her work. Since she could not have children herself, she adopted a boy whom she named ‘Tarzan’. Probably at the age of 19, she married the brother of her stepfather, the harpist Dionizy Wajs. She learned to read and write autodidactically. Descended from the Polska Roma, she was the first Romani poet in Poland to publish under her own name.īefore the Second World War, she travelled with her group of Polska Roma through what is today Western Ukraine. She was born in Sitaniec, Poland on 17 August 1908. However, her work lives on, and though only thirty-one of her poems have been recorded, she is one of the most important figures in Romani literature.Bronisława Wajs (born Zielińska) is widely known under the pseudonym ‘Papusza’ (which means ‘doll’). She spent great periods of her life in silence and died disgraced. Because of this breach of trust, her community declared her marime and she was exiled.

He translated and published her poetry in a magazine that supported the force settlement of Poland’s Roma, and her work became associated with the political movement to ghettoize the Roma. Jerzy Ficowski discovered her in 1949 performing her songs with her husband, a violinist, and encouraged her to write them down. She survived the Holocaust by hiding in the forest and much of her poetry reflects on that time, most famously, “Tears of Blood.” Literate gadjé neighbors taught her to read, and though her family and community severely disapproved, she persevered. B (Bronislawa Wajs, 1908-1987) Papusza (doll) is a Romani poet from Poland and as Papusza one of the first women to publish her writing, she is considered the Mother of Romani poetry.

(Bronislawa Wajs, 1908-1987) Papusza (doll) is a Romani poet from Poland and as Papusza one of the first women to publish her writing, she is considered the Mother of Romani poetry.

Lesie, ojcze mój by Papusza