GROTOWSKI, Marian
Marian Grotowski was born in Rzeszów, Poland on 15 August 1898, son of Boleslaw Grotowski (1864-1914) and his wife Kazimiera née Rawicz. Marian completed his secondary education in Rzeszow and as a schoolboy, participated actively in the work of the Sokó Society and 1918-1921 fought in the Ukrainian campaign in the Polish-Bolshevik war. He also began university studies at the Hochschule für Bodenkultur in Vienna, which he abandoned, but in 1923 was awarded a diploma in forestry by the Agricultural and Forestry Department of Poznań University. He married in 1929, Emilia Kozowska (1897-1978), a schoolteacher, and they had two children Kazimierz (26 January 1930-23 July 2017) and Jerzy Marian (11 August 1933-14 January 1999). From 1933, he was based in Przemyśl, where he dedicated increasing amounts of time to his passion for painting. As an employee of a military office and, following Poland’s military defeat in World War Two, was interned in Hungary but escaped the internment camp and made his way via Italy to Scotland where he served in the military until the end of 1942 before being employed at the Polish Ministry of Military Affairs. During this time, he developed his artistic interests, particularly sculpture, to which he dedicated his total attention after his move to London in 1945. During this time, he also maintained a close interest in the fate of his family, planning to bring his wife and sons to the United Kingdom, but was unsuccessful. A portrait, figure and still life painter he exhibited at the Ipswich Fine Arts Club 1942-1944, in 1942 'Lady with a Straw Hat', in 1943 '2nd Lt. Kaleta' and ‘The Lost Button’ and in 1944 an oil ‘Roses’, no exhibitors addresses were given during the war years. He also exhibited at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts 82nd Annual Exhibition in 1943. In 1949, he moved to Argentina hoping to achieve success as an artist but was unsuccessful and after spending a period living in poverty, with the assistance of Polish acquaintances, obtained a position as a factory manager on the Parana River later moving to the Paraguayan capital Asunción where he taught English at the British Council offices. Marian Grotowski died of a heart attack, at Asunción, Paraguay, on 10 December 1968.