Ewa Demarczyk Square
Kraków Artists: Music
A square in the Planty, between Poselska and Podzamcze streets, named after Ewa Demarczyk (1941-2020), the Kraków singer of sung poetry, who from 1962 to 1972 was associated with the Piwnica pod Baranami cabaret. Lucjan Kydryński called her the "black angel of Polish song". She performed, among other places, at the Paris Olympia and at Carnegie Hall. She completed the piano class at the Władysław Żeleński State Music School of the second level.
History
The square is in Planty Park, between Poselska, Floriana Straszewskiego and Podzamcze Streets. Planty Park was laid out in 1822-1830 on the site of the old defensive walls and moat that surrounded the city. Kraków City Council named the square after Ewa Demarczyk on 16 March 2022.
Ewa Demarczyk was born in Kraków in 1941. She completed piano studies at the Władysław Żeleński State Secondary Music School and then began studying piano at the Academy of Music, which she gave up after her first year. She started her career in 1961 in the Medical Academy's student cabaret "Cyrulik", and a year later joined Piwnica pod Baranami, where she began working with the composer Zygmunt Konieczny. In 1963 she won an award at the Opole festival, singing songs including "Karuzela z madonnami" (Carousel with Madonnas) and "Czarne anioły" (Black Angels), and in 1964 in Sopot she won second prize for "Grande Valse Brillante" to words by Julian Tuwim.
She performed in many countries, including at the Olympia in Paris, where she was invited by the venue's owner Bruno Coquatrix, and at Carnegie Hall. Lucjan Kydryński called her the black angel of Polish song, and the name stuck to her for good. In 1966 she graduated in acting from the State Theatre School in Kraków, and in 1967 an album of Konieczny's songs was released and went platinum. In 1972 she stopped performing at Piwnica. In 1986 the State Theatre of Music and Poetry - Ewa Demarczyk Theatre began its work, and the artist gave the last concert of her career in 1999 in Poznań.
Did you know?
In a 2026 poll by the Museum of Polish History, "Grande Valse Brillante" sung by Ewa Demarczyk was named the best song of the Polish People's Republic era.