MARIA (MAJA) ANTONINA WOJNAROWSKA

She graduated with distinction from the studio of Professor Józef Mroszczak (graphic design) and the studio of Professor Jerzy Tchórzewski (painting). After graduation, she made her debut by participating in the exhibition "Asocjacje" at the Warsaw Hybrydy in 1969.

As a graphic designer, she worked for Wydawnictwa Handlu Zagranicznego, WAG, Agpol and other advertising agencies. She also did illustrations and wall paintings. She received many awards for advertising posters and graphic signs.

As a scholarship holder of the Ministry of Culture, she studied at the Ecole Superieure des Arts Decoratifs in Paris.

She ran the municipal Cultural Centre in Łąck and taught painting and drawing at the 1st Private Art High School in Płock.

Since 1985, she has been mainly involved in easel painting and wall painting (including frescoes at the Children's Hospital Centre in Bouillon near Paris). She has participated in many group exhibitions in Poland and abroad, as well as numerous painting plein-airs. She has organised international painting plein-airs in Łąck.

She has exhibited her works at numerous individual exhibitions, her paintings can be found in collections in Poland and abroad (including the USA, France, the Netherlands, Germany, England), and have also been exhibited at charity auctions in Warsaw, Lubin, Książ, and Płock.

For many years she organized art workshops for children and youth, cooperating with foundations and associations.

She practiced easel painting, wall painting, and applied graphics. She specialized in portraits of horses, made in pastel technique. She also worked as a graphic designer, making illustrations and teaching painting.

Decorated with the Silver Cross of Merit of the Republic of Poland, honored with the decorations "Meritorious for Polish culture", "Meritorious cultural activist", "Meritorious for the Płock district" and the honorary badge of the Polish Equestrian Association.

Source: "Farewell to Maria Wojnarowska" (2024);

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MICHAL WOJNAROWSKI

” (…) I graduated from high school – Władysław IV High School – in Warsaw. Then, in 1969, I graduated from the Faculty of Animal Science at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. In 1975, I completed postgraduate studies in horse reproduction under the supervision of prof. Władysław Bielański at the Agricultural University in Krakow, in 1978, coaching studies (horse riding trainer) at the Academy of Physical Education in Poznań, in 1989, the Faculty of Management at the University of Warsaw. In 2002, I completed a seminar organized by the Institute of Management of Information Technology on the topic of “Agricultural issues in the European Union” and in 2003, I passed the exam for candidates for members of supervisory boards in State Treasury companies and received an appropriate diploma issued by the Minister of the State Treasury. I am also a sports shooting instructor, a judge of the Polish Equestrian Association and the Polish Horse Racing Club.

I had contact with horses since childhood – I lived for some time in Toszek in a forester's lodge, where there were horses, and the employees used them under saddle and in harness. I was put on a horse by Capt. H. Jacobson, under whose supervision I rode in my school days in the diplomatic club in Jabłonna. My riding skills were also worked on by Col. H. Sołtysik, Jan Kruk, also Major Mossakowski and Major Mickunas at the riding instructors' course in Poznań, as well as Andrzej Orłoś. I rode competitions in the colors of LZS Stubno.

I was involved in sports from my earliest years. During my school days I was involved in swimming and basketball. I trained and played in WKS Legia (coach Majer), KKS-Polonia (coach Ziółkowski) and SKS Warszawianka (coach M. Klimaj). I also went skiing and hunting.

When I entered SGGW, I had a clearly defined direction – horses. Horse enthusiasts were organized in the faculty scientific “zootechnicians’ group”, chaired by Maria Cedro (Bzowska). I was the vice-chair. The horse section operated under the supervision of Prof. Jerzy Chachuła. This group included Jerzy Budny, Jarosław Koch, Grzegorz Konarski, Jaga Krzyształowicz (Kochowa), Maryla Moraczewska (Konarska), Helena Urbańska, Jean J. Nicolas, Maciej Gebethner, Zbigniew Tyszka, Urszula Laufersweiler (Białobokowa), Michał Niski, Jerzy Wójcik, Wanda Bucholc (Ferenstein), Mariola Kobyłecka (Srokowska), Teresa Jabłońska (Stachurska), Zofia Rudzka, Anna Zawada, Stanisława Reisner, Szczepan Chrzanowski, Piotr Topiński and others. Our entire group was the focus of the Horse Breeding Department of the then Breeding Animal Breeding Association in Warsaw, headed by the head Marek Piotrowski and Mr. Bolesław Orłoś. We were the staffing base for the Department. The Department offered us internships and placements in various Stud Farms and Stables and then jobs. We were the core of the first Student Equestrian Club in Poland, established in 1964, performing managerial functions in it. At that time, we created the Equestrian Centre in Wolica with the support of Prof. Ryszard Manteuffel (SGGW).

After completing my studies in 1969, I was sent to work as an intern at the Walewice Stud Farm. I was very happy with this job because I had my internship at the Walewice Stud Farm and its branches, I knew people and I really appreciated the cooperation with the head of the horse breeding farm, Wojciech Komorowski. Moreover, not far from Walewice, in the Ziewanice estate, owned by my great-grandparents, the Lubowidzki family of the Topacz coat of arms, owners of Głowno, Osiny and other estates in the area, my grandfather was born (Parish Waliszew), which made me feel connected to this land. The director of Walewice, Bronisław Stępniak, entrusted me with the position of zootechnician at the Glinnik Stud Farm, where I ran the best stable in the team and the Małopolska mare department. Moreover, the Stud Farm was preparing to take over the Małopolska mares from the Kurozwęki Stud Farm, which resulted in significant investment development (construction of new stables and creation of infrastructure). After completing my internship, Director Stępniak suggested that I stay at SK Walewice, but the aforementioned Horse Breeding Department, which managed the personnel policy, had a different opinion and I was offered the position of stud manager at the Stubno Stud Farm.

And so in 1970 I took over as the manager of the Stud Farm in SK Stubno. The director of the company was a well-known hippologist with vast breeding and organizational experience, Czesław Sikora, and the inspector on behalf of the Horse Breeding Department was Michał Rudowski. The doctor I worked with on a daily basis and from whom I learned a lot was Dr. Andrzej Gniazdowski. Unfortunately, director Sikora left for another job, which resulted in a loss in the company's development concept. Engineer Zbigniew Jędrusiński, one of the farm managers, became the director. I managed horse breeding in Stubno until 1979, performing the administrative function of deputy director for breeding and production and director of the Stud Farm. I bred several dozen stallions for state herds, which played a significant role in breeding and were honored with medals of the Minister of Agriculture (...).

All these achievements were possible in cooperation with Dr. Andrzej Gniazdowski, Maryla and Grzegorz Konarski, Krystyna and Wojciech Mioduszewski, Maciej Follprecht, Jacek Kądziołka, Marek Zaleski and Marek Antczak, as well as the equerry Jan Parkasiewicz and the under-equerry Roman Kołcz. It is also worth mentioning the apprentices and trainees who later played a significant role in horse breeding, such as Bogdan Kuchejda, Andrzej Goraus, Józef Pekaniec, Krzysztof Pietrzak and others.

Unfortunately, in 1979, a decision was made to transfer the Stud Farm in Stubno to the structures of the Gruszowice Agricultural Combine, which cooperated closely with Soviet agriculture. This meant liquidation of the Stud Farm.

In this situation, my further work without horses in the new structures did not make sense. The horses were transferred to SK Prudnik, and I started working at SK Walewice as deputy director. During my work at SK Walewice, I cooperated with Michał Maciejewski, a long-time breeder at SK.

In 1980, from 1 July, the director of the Breeding Animals Association, Jerzy Wawrzyniak, offered me the position of director of the Stallion Stud in Łąck, which I accepted and thus began a new stage of my professional life. I had known the stud in Łąck for many years. I had come here to ride horses during the time of director Michalewicz and many times during the reign of director Władysław Tomaszewski. I knew the employees and the prevailing relations. My predecessor Bogusław Misztal was appointed director of the State Horse Training Centre in Sopot, and engineer Tadeusz Andraszek, with whom I had worked for over 20 years until his retirement, remained on site - a reliable professional completely devoted to the Stud. Engineer Jan Kamieniecki was in charge of the farm, and the finances were managed by the chief accountant Stanisław Mikulski. Józef Seweryniak was the equerry. Veterinary supervision was provided by Dr. Waldemar Białek.

(...)

In 1998, with the help of funds from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Agricultural Property Agency, I built a horse breeding center, which includes a semen collection, packaging and freezing station as well as a mare insemination point. In the implementation of this project, I received a lot of help from Prof. Marian Tischner, and the construction was assisted by the full-time veterinarian Maciej Florysiak.

(...)

In 2006, I undertook to organize performance tests at the Służewiec racetrack. Organizing the racing season was a huge challenge and burden. I understood that if the racing season did not take place, it would probably never take place again, because the stables would cease to operate and the jockeys and stable staff would disperse around the world. The Minister of Agriculture helped to carry out this task by supporting the prize fund and the Agricultural Property Agency by financially helping with the organization. The lack of selection tests at the racetrack calls into question the sense of breeding purebred horses (full-blooded English and pure-blooded Arabian) and, consequently, this affects the reduction of their prices.

(...)

The appropriate equestrian qualifications (equestrian trainer, equestrian judge) allowed me to sit on the bodies of the Polish Equestrian Association (where I served as vice-president for sports) as well as cooperate with the boards of the District Equestrian Associations in WZJ Warsaw under the leadership of Colonel Jan Wieżański, in WZJ in Kraków – director Jerzy Guzik, in WZJ in Warsaw – Colonel Jan Bogusz, in WZJ in Łódź – Żelisław Jabłoński. (...) I am a member of the following organisations: Polish Thoroughbred Horse Breeders Association – President of the Board, Council of the Polish Horse Racing Club – member of the Council, Polish Equestrian Association – chairman of the vaulting committee, Squadron of the Republic of Poland Association – member of the board, Equestrian Club named after 4th Mounted Rifle Regiment in Łąck – chairman of the board, Provincial Horse Breeders Association in Warsaw – chairman of the audit committee, Association of Friends of the Palace and Park Complex in Łąck – chairman of the board, Council of the Museum of Hunting and Horse Riding – member of the board, hunting activist – sports shooting instructor.

I have collaborated with the following publishing houses: Koń Polski, Przegląd Hodowlany, Wiadomości Ziemiańskie and Hodowca i Jeździec. Having the appropriate qualifications, I have held positions in Supervisory Boards and Audit Committees: "Polska Hodowla i Obrot Zwierzątmi" - POLHOZ spółka z oo, CWJ Hipodrom Wola Spółka z oo in Poznań, Audit Committee of the Provincial Horse Breeders Association in Warsaw - Chairman, Audit Committee of the "Leśnik" Hunting Association - Chairman.

(...)

From September 7, 2007 until my retirement, I served as the Board’s Representative for Breeding and Performance Tests.”

Source: "Michał Łucjan Wojnarowski – biography" (2016) – Michał Wojnarowski