Elżbieta Cherezińska

(b. 1972) – novelist specialising in historical novels, theatrologist.

Cherezińska earned her position in the Polish book market at the end of the first decade of the 21^st century with “Północna droga” (The Northern Road), a tetralogy about Scandinavia in the Viking era. At the same time, she was writing her first novel about the Piast dynasty (“Gra w kości” – Playing Dice), specifically about the Poland of Bolesław I the Brave and its relationship with the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III. The author’s first bestseller, “Korona śniegu i krwi” (The Crown of Snow and Blood), tells the story of the fight for the throne and Poland’s reunification after the era of regional disintegration. The author continued this topic in “Niewidzialna korona” (The Invisible Crown), part two of the “Odrodzone królestwo” (Kingdom Reborn) cycle, describing Władysław I Łokietek’s aspirations to ascend to the throne after the death of Przemysł II.

In her book “Legion”, a fictionalised story of the Holy Cross Mountains Brigade, Cherezińska touched upon a highly controversial topic; some admired the novel, but some referred to historical assessments and accused the author of, among other things, not sufficiently condemning the alleged antisemitism of the Brigade’s soldiers.

However, in 2016 it became clear to readers that Cherezińska feels best in the era of the Polish state’s origins. This was the publication year of “Harda” (published in English as The Widow Queen) and “Królowa” (published in English as The Last Crown), her two novels about Świętosława, daughter of king Mieszko I and sister of Bolesław I, a princess of the Piast dynasty and Scandinavian ruler. She was the mother of the kings of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and even England. Icelandic sagas recorded her name as Sigrid Storrada (the Haughty) and that was a fitting nickname, because – as the author says – she forged herself out of the noblest steel.

In the novel “Sydonia. Słowo się rzekło” (Sidonia. Word is Bond), the author – having reached for archival documents – reconstructed the story of Sidonia von Borcke and described the aftermath of her death. Von Borcke was a Pomeranian witch from the area’s oldest noble family and was executed in 1620. It’s worth mentioning that the book introduces the rather obscure history of Western Pomerania at the turn of the 16^th and 17^th century.

The large scale of Elżbieta Cherezińska’s novels and their historical foundation justifies comparisons to Henryk Sienkiewicz: they both selected short moments of the Polish state’s history when the nation was powerful. The writer guides the narration skilfully and keeps to the boundaries of myth, legend and historical documents, in order to avoid completely transporting her characters into fairy-tale land.

The literary magazine “Książki” named Legion the 2013 Book of the Year. Cherezińska also received the Minister of Culture and National Heritage Prize in the literature category (2018).

More information about Elżbieta Cherezińska’s work can be found on the website https://cherezinska.pl/.