Polish actress, educator, and writer.
Halina Kwiatkowska was born on 25 April 1921 in Bochnia, the daughter of Jan Królikiewicz, a secondary school teacher (classical philologist).
She settled in Wadowice in 1934, when her father took up the post of headmaster of the men's gymnasium. The Królikiewicz family lived in a service flat in the school building. Halina was a student at the female gymnasium when Karol Wojtyła was a student at the male gymnasium. Together they played in the school's amateur theatre in, among others, Sophocles "Antigone". Halina played the title role and Karol partnered her as Haymon.
After secondary school graduation, she and Karol Wojtyla dreamed of a great acting career. However, their parents were to aptly point out to them that if they wanted to become good actors they should have a great knowledge of history, literature, drama and theatre. Eventually, in 1938, they both began to study Polish philology at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. However, they continued to devote their free time to acting.
During the war, they were both members of Mieczysław Kotlarczyk's Rapsodyczny Theatre company. One of its members was Halina Kwiatkowska's later husband, the writer and publicist Tadeusz Kwiatkowski. As a professional actress, Halina debuted in a production of Juliusz Słowacki's "Król Duch" (King Spirit) at the Rhapsodic Theatre.
After the war, Halina realised her dreams of acting professionally in theatre and film. For many years she performed at the National Old Theatre and the J. Słowackiego Theatre in Kraków, among others. She appeared in films by, among others, Andrzej Wajda and Wojciech Jerzy Has.
For forty years she was a teacher at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts. Her awards include the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta and the Gold Medal for 'Merit to Culture Gloria Artis'. She died on 12 November 2020 in Warsaw at the age of 99. She was buried in the military cemetery on Prandoty Street in Kraków.