Wiesława Bolimowska-Garwacka passed away

With deep regret we inform that on April 24, 2025, Wiesława Bolimowska-Garwacka, a journalist and editor who had been observing and commenting on events and processes in Africa for decades, passed away. Successive generations of Polish scholars of Africa benefited from her knowledge and experience, from the hospitality of her home filled with books and African art, which over the years of collecting various materials became a specific archive of Polish interest in Africa.

Wiesława Bolimowska-Garwacka was born on September 10, 1931 into a railway family. As a child, she experienced the horror and drama of World War II.

When, after her studies, she began working at the Polish Press Agency, her interest in France at that time resulted in entrusting her with topics related to French territories in North Africa. This in turn led to her expanding her interests to other areas of that continent, which she visited dozens of times. She worked in the international department of PAP, where she translated and edited news about Africa for the Special Bulletin published by PAP.

In the 1970s and 1980s, she regularly traveled to Africa as a representative of the Polish Press Agency (PAP), observing the most important events, sending dispatches regarding the summit meetings of the Organization of African Unity, and reporting on meetings of heads of state. Her extraordinary persistence and resourcefulness allowed her to talk to figures who were deciding about the shape of Africa at the time. Among them were OAU Secretary Peter Onu, Idi Amin and Houari Boumédièn. Her reports from Ethiopia and Somalia can be found in the press, including “Polityka”,

In the early 1990s, she was one of the founding members of the Polish Society for African Studies. After many years of active activity, she became an honorary member of the Society. For almost twenty years, she co-created, edited and was the secretary of the journal “Afryka” published by the Society.

In recent years, despite her diminishing strength, she has remained an insightful analyst of the political situation in the world and in Poland. She tried to participate in African discussions and events, including discussion meetings, screenings of African films and conferences. In May 2024, she took part in the African Congress in Kraków, during which she spoke from the Aula of the Collegium Novum of the Jagiellonian University about her experiences as a journalist in Africa.

Always understanding of human weaknesses and keeping her finger on the pulse of the latest social trends, she also tried to support subsequent generations in their discovery of Africa. She willingly shared her knowledge and memories of her stays in Africa. She listened with equal commitment to the Africans, whom she invited to her hospitable home.

The funeral will take place on May 7 at 10:30 a.m. at the funeral home at the Northern Cemetery in Warsaw.

(text Hanna Rubinkowska-Anioł and Kinga Turkowska, photo by Kinga Turkowska)