Michalina Anna Wisłocka ([mʲi.xaˈlʲi.na ˈan̪ːa viˈswɔt͡ska]; née Braun; 1 July 1921 – 5 February 2005) was a Polish gynecologist, sexologist, and author of Sztuka kochania (verbatim: The Art of Loving, English edition A Practical Guide to Marital Bliss, 1978),[1] the first guide to sexual life in a communist country.[2] Her book became a bestseller, with a total circulation of 7 million copies, and started greater openness about matters of sex and sex life in Poland.
Michalina Anna Wisłocka | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Michalina Anna Braun 1 July 1921 Łódź, Poland |
| Died | 5 February 2005 (aged 83) Warsaw, Poland |
| Pen name | Missu |
| Occupation |
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| Citizenship | Polish |
| Notable works | Sztuka kochania (A Practical Guide to Marital Bliss) |
| Partner | Sunny |
| Relatives | Jan Tymoteusz Braun (father), Anna Żylińska (mother) |
Life
editShe was born to father Jan Tymoteusz Braun, a teacher and mother Anna (née Żylińska) of the Ciołek coat of arms. She had two younger brothers: Andrzej (a writer) and Jan (a sumerologist). Her niece was Ewa Braun, an Academy Award-winning set decorator and costume designer.[3]
She was a co-founder of the Society of Sensible Maternity, in which she worked on infertility treatment and birth control. She was chief of first in Poland Dispensary of Sensible Maternity in Institute of Mother and Child in Warsaw.[4] During the 1970s, she was chief of Cytodiagnostic Laboratory of Family Planning Society.[5]
Wisłocka died in the Solski Hospital in Warsaw due to complications from a heart attack. On 11 February 2005, she was interred at the Evangelical Cemetery of the Augsburg Confession in Warsaw.[citation needed]
Commemorations
editOn 9 September 1997, she was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.[6]
The Park of Love in Lubniewice and the square in Łódź are dedicated to her memory.
Cultural depictions
editWisłocka's life is depicted in the 2017 biopic Sztuka kochania. Historia Michaliny Wisłockiej ("The Art of Loving: The Story of Michalina Wisłocka") directed by Maria Sadowska. Wisłocka was played by Magdalena Boczarska.[7]
Publications
edit- Technique of pregnancy prevention (1959)
- Methods of preventing pregnancy (1976)
- The Art of Love (1978), ISBN 83-207-0488-X
- Culture of Love (1980)
- Kaleidoscope sex (1986), ISBN 83-03-01447-1
- The Art of Love: twenty years later (1988), ISBN 83-207-1371-4
- Art of Loving: vitamin "M" (1991), ISBN 83-207-1376-5
- Success in Love (1993), ISBN 83-85249-24-9
- Malinka, Pansy and Hansel (1998), ISBN 83-7180-862-3
- Love for life: memories of carefree (2002), ISBN 83-7311-201-4
References
edit- ^ Wisłocka, Michalina (1987) A Practical Guide to Marital Bliss, Translated by Waldemar Podolak, Ray Cichon, M & A Publishing company Inc. Worcester
- ^ Lišková, Kateřina (May 2018). "Sweeping Changes in Sexuality across East Central Europe". Sexual Liberation, Socialist Style: Communist Czechoslovakia and the Science of Desire, 1945–1989. pp. 23–49. doi:10.1017/9781108341332.002. ISBN 9781108341332. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
- ^ "Ewa Braun". IMDb. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
- ^ "Where the Most Common Method of Contraception Is Prayer". Aspen Institute Central Europe (in Czech). Retrieved 3 April 2020.
- ^ Ignaciuk, Agata (2019). "No Man ' s Land ?". Gendering Contraception in Family Planning Advice Literature in State-Socialist Poland ( 1950 S – 1980 S ). S2CID 201022932.
- ^ "M.P. 1997 nr 84 poz. 845". Retrieved 26 October 2019.[permanent dead link]
- ^ The Art of Loving. Story of Michalina Wislocka, retrieved 3 April 2020