1. Bona Sforza
Bona Sforza d'Aragona was born on February 2, 1494 in Vigevano. She was the daughter of Isabella
of Aragon and Sforza Galeazza Gani – the Duke of Milan. Although her father in line to be the leader
of Milan, he was defeated by Ludovika il Malo. From that moment a string of disasters and family
tragedies began During this time, the Italian kingdoms
were trying to survive waves of invasion. During one of
them the French-Spanish troops conquered Naples, where
Duchess Isabella and her two daughters found refuge after
escaping from Milan. Soon the mother turned to the
Catholic King of Spain, this allowed them to return from
exile. In 1501 Isabella got power over the duchies of Bar
and Rossan. Isabella of Aragon was a resourceful woman,
she quickly made considerable profits. This allowed the
mother to provide her daughter a good education. In her
youth, Bona gained a good education. Her teacher
Crisostomo Colonna was a member of the Academy of
Pont. Isabella of Aragon was the heir of a big family, so
she looked carefully for a worthy candidate for her
daughter. In the end the choice fell on the Polish King and
Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund At the age of 24,
during the spring of 1518, Bona married him. This was
the third important woman in his life. The first, was an
illegal connection with Catherine Ochstat-Telniczanką,
after that he married Barbara Zapolya. when she died in
1512, leaving two daughters, Jadwiga and Anna, the 51-
year-old ruler found himself a second wife, which was to
give him an heir.
Since the beginning of her stay in Poland, Queen Bona tried to
get a strong political position. So she began to create her own
party and also benefited from the influence they had on the
king. She believed that one of the most important things
needed for the effective implementation of policies and plans
for strengthening royal authority, is access to lots of money.
Therefore she set herself a goal: maximizing her assets, which
would give Jagiellos financial independence. In 1524 Bona
already had principalities, a very large belt of forest and the
duchy of Bari and Rossano, which she began to manage
through her proxies. Bona was a faithful wife and exemplary
mother. In 1519, her first daughter, Isabella, was born. In 1520
Sigismund Augustus the eagerly awaited successor was born .
All of Europe cheered, the pope sent his congratulations from
Naples Preszburgu. Two years later, Sophia was born and a
year later, Anna. In 1526 Bona gave birth to another daughter -
Catherine. In 1527, while in the fifth month of pregnancy, the
queen gave birth prematurely while hunting, to Albert, who
died the same day. She fell ill never got pregnant again Queen
Bona put effort into accelerating the development of cities.
She brought famous Italian and Polish builders to build
fortified headquarters, fortified cities, churches, monasteries,
bridges and canals. Bona Sforza, showed a completely
different way of life to the one led by most Polish people then/
An undoubtable merit of the queen was bringing many

2. elements of Italian culture to the Polish one,.Bona brought Italian architects who contributed to the
development of Renaissance style in architecture. She brought furniture, paintings, tapestries and other
works of art to the Wawel Castle. Her economic and political activity were completely new on the
Polish scene.
During the monarch's reign there was a significant development of musical culture. This happened
thanks to the patronage of the bills and her court. She brought a well;known Italian musician
Alexander Pasenti. Finally has brought new things to the courts kitchen, where in addition to
previously preferred fatty meat dishes vegetables began to play a prominent role, previously unknown
to the Polish tables, such as cauliflower, spinach, tomatoes, green beans, artichokes, broccoli, celery,
parsley, leeks and cabbage. She also imported Italian pasta. The queen brought to the many Italian
gardeners who founded the great gardens in Krakow and its private estates in the Crown and
Lithuania.
Bona died on the 19th of November, 1557.
Nikifor Krynicki
Nikifor Krynicki, real name Epifaniusz Drowniak, was born on May 21, 1895 in Krynica,
Poland, into an extreme poor family. His mother, Evdokia Drowniak, of Lemko descent raised
him on her own, hiring herself out for various household jobs.
He inherited from her a hearing and speech impediment. That
resulted in difficulties with talking and illiteracy.
It is not known who his father was, the legend has it that his
father was Polish. Nikifor spent most of his life alone, isolated
both emotionally and physically. Orphaned during World War I
and unable to communicate with people, often relied on the
kindness of others.
Little is known when he started to draw and paint. Art was his
refuge provading him with emotional release. He used discarded
pieces of paper, scraps, chocolate wrappers, cigarette boxes,
used school copybooks. There are numerous self-portraits left,
landscapes, sketches of church interiors, images of saints and he
also liked to .portray acquaintances and passers-by. He tried to sell them on the boardwalk but
he could not find buyers for his works. Additionally, he did not know the value of money or
even office forms.
Nikifor was a local patriot –
deportet twice to a remote corner
of Poland the Akcja Wisla (the
1947 deportation of southeastern
Poland's Ukrainian, Boyko and
Lemko populations, carried out
by the Polish Army), each time
he returned to his home town,
Krynica.

3. Underestimated for most of his life, in his late days he became one of the world's finest naïve
(primitive) painters.
His talent was discovered 1930 by the Ukrainian painter Roman Turyn, the first collector of
Nikifor's watercolours. Nikifor found a daily companion and dedicated caretaker in painter
Marian Włosiński.
He died October 10, 1968, in a health resort in Folusz near Jasło. He was buried in Krynica.
The powerful impact of his art can be seen in works of many artists, such as Edward Dwurnik
and often compared by critics to Henri Rousseau, a painter in the Naïve or Primitive manner.
Nikifor painted at least ten thousand pictures. His ‘little pictures’ are known in many
countries and have been on display in many international exhibitions.
Janusz Korczak
Janusz Korczak was born on 22nd July 1878 or 1879 (the year is uncertain became of a
missing birth certificate) in Warsaw. His birthname was Hersz
Goldszmit, but they all called him Henryk. He was a writer and an
outstanding teacher of Jewish origin. Korczak introduced
progressive orphanages designed as just communities into Poland.
He also changed the attitude of adults towards children claiming
that a child has a right to be respected; any child has his own way,
his own path.
Henryk was tutored at home by governesses until he was seven and
then sent to a Russian elementary school where Polish language
and history were forbidden subjects. The time at the Augustyn
Szmurło school was a severe experience for a sensitive child. He
was so distressed by corporal punishment, applied by the school
teachers, that his parents had him signed off the student list.
Later, he attended the Praskie Middle School, where the official language was Russian. From
1898 to 1905, he was studying medicine. In 1905, he became a doctor. In 1900, Korczak
attended courses at the Flying University. It was a kind of a college, so named because
students and professors had to keep moving from one location to another to escape
surveillance by the police. The University attracted the finest
minds in the country determined to keep alive Polish history and
culture, which the Czar was determined to stamp out.
From 1903 to 1912 he worked as a physician. Korczak treated
poor families free of charge, often leaving money to pay for a
prescription at the same time charging the rich high fees for
treatments.
In 1912 Korczak became director of The Home for Orphans. It
was an orphanage of his own design for Jewish children in
Warsaw. It existed from 1912 to 1942.
Janusz Korczak died on 6th or 7th August 1942 in a concentration
camp in Treblinka. His death was tragic as he had a chance to

4. escape from the camp but he decided to stay with the Jewish orphans. He didn’t want to leave
them.
WORKS:
Janusz Korczak wrote many novels and stories such as:
 A novel ‘Children of the Streets’ (1901)
 A novel ‘Child of the Drawing Room’ (1906)
 A story ‘Fame’ (1913)
 A guide book ‘How to love child. Child in family’ (1919)
 Guides ‘How to love children. A boarding school. Summer colony’ and ‘How to love
children. Orphan’s house. Resumption’ (1920)
 Novels ‘King Matt the First’ and ‘King Matt on a desert island’ (1923)
 A novel ‘Bankruptcy of Little Jack’ (1924)
 A guide book ‘When I am little again’ (1925)
 A guide book ‘The Child's Right to Respect’ (1929)
 A novel ‘Kajtus the Wizard’ (1935)
 A guide book ‘Playful pedagogy’ (1939)
Photos:
Bona Sforza:
http://pl.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plik:Bona_Sforza.jpg&filetimestamp=20060222102
612
http://pl.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plik:Portrait_of_Lady,_1500_(Philadelphia).jpg&fil
etimestamp=20120108232813
Nikofor Krynicki:
http://artstore.pl/sztuka-prymitywizmu
http://kultura.lublin.eu/wiadomosci,1,3901,Nikifor_i_Kashinath_-
_dwa_nie_tak_odleg%C5%82e_%C5%9Bwiaty.html?locale=pl_PL
Janusz Korczak:
http://pl.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plik:Janusz_Korczak.PNG&filetimestamp=2005041
7223701
http://www.pskorczak.org.pl/strony/korczak_foto.htm