Berezovskaya, Maya

Maya's father was a lieutenant colonel of the Russian Imperial Army , a builder of the Trans-Siberian Railway , and later a general of brigade ^[2] .

Maya studied at a private school of fine arts in St. Petersburg , received a higher art education in Krakow , Paris and Munich . Even before the Second World War, she became famous for her erotic drawings ^[3] . The theme of high human feelings, the beauty of the body always remained constant motives of her work. Already in her declining years, she wrote:

From 1933 to 1936 she lived in Paris , where she collaborated with local daily publications: “ Le Figaro ”, “ ” and “ ”. In 1935, in one of the issues of the latter, she published a series of cartoons about Hitler, "Flirting of Sweet Adolphus", which the German embassy immediately responded by forcing the French criminal police to bring her to court for "insulting the head of state." The lawyer managed to defend her, and the case ended in a symbolic fine. Returning to Poland before the war, she worked in the provinces, but returned to Warsaw , where the Gestapo was arrested in May 1942 . For insulting Hitler, she was sentenced to death and ended up in the Ravensbrück concentration camp ^[4] .

The death sentence was not executed. In the concentration camp, as much as possible, Maya continued to paint - mostly portraits of her friends in misfortune, so that they could illegally send these drawings to their families ^[5] . In May 1945, the death camp was liberated by the Red Army ; Berezovskaya with a group of her compatriots at the invitation of the Swedish Red Cross left for treatment in Stockholm ^[2] .

In June 1946, Berezovskaya returned to Poland, where her main occupation was the creation of visual stage design and costume designs in theaters. She also published her cartoons in newspapers and magazines, illustrated books ^[2] .

In 1977, Maya Berezovskaya completely left her professional life and died a year later. She was buried at the Military Ponzki Cemetery in Warsaw ^[2] .