Marian Walentynowicz


Marian Walentynowicz was a Polish graphic artist, architect, teacher, writer and a precursor of the Comic book in Poland.
He is preobably best known for his collaboration, as illustrator, with Kornel Makuszyński in their creation of the Koziołek Matołek very popular classic children's stories about a billy goat.

Life

Walentynowicz studied Architecture at the Warsaw Polytechnic. During the 1930s he taught at the Women's Architectural Academy in Warsaw. From the 1920s onwards he worked as an illustrator for various Warsaw publications. During the Second world war, he was war correspondent attached to general Stanisław Maczek's
First Panzer division. While with the Polish Forces, Walentynowicz stayed in London prior to the Normandy landings. The army had a quandary what to do with a Lieutenant who was a qualified architect, with insufficient knowledge of war craft. 'Make me a general', he suggested laconically and promptly was turned into a journalist. His war memoires were published as Wojna bez patosu, 'War without pathos' in 1969.

Graphic legacy

He designed the emblem of the Independent Polish Parachute Brigade as well as the awards for the Brigade's heroes.
He was a prolific book illustrator. Among his jacket designs was the wartime edition of Józef Kisielewski's Ziemia gromadzi prochy, 'The Earth gathers Dust'. His children's book illustrations include:
With Kornel Makuszyński:
With other authors:
Some of the stories have been turned into well loved TV and feature film animations.

Literary output

Aside from his collaborations with other authors, Marian Walentynowicz also published his own work:
Warsaw