Szymborska, Wislawa

The poet, essayist and translator Maria Wislawa Anna Szymborska was born in Prowent, near Bnin, now part of Kórnik, Poland. The family moved to Torun in 1924, and when she was eight years old to Krakow where she was educated. She attended the Jagellonian University and read Polish literature and sociology 1945–48. In 1947 she began to work for Úwietlica Krakowska and illustrated books.