Witold Małcużyński
Polish musician (1914–1977)
Witold Małcużyński (August 10, 1914 – July 17, 1977) was a Polish pianist who specialized in the works of Frédéric Chopin.
Biography
Małcużyński was born in 1914 in Koziczyn (Congress Poland, Russian Empire). He was the older brother of Karol Małcużyński, a Polish politician and journalist. He began playing piano at the age of 5, starting regular lessons four years later. Originally, he intended to study law but his innate love of music overcame his initial decision and he switched to music and enrolled at the Warsaw Conservatory from which he graduated with high honours, studying under Józef Turczyński. In 1936, he received an invitation to study under Marguerite Long and Isidor Philipp in Paris. He won the third prize at the III International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1937. At the same time, he met his future wife, the French pianist Colette Gaveau.
When World War II began, he was in France. There, he joined the artistic-propaganda section of the Polish Army and visited military camps.
“Witold Małcużyński” enters the record as polish musician (1914–1977). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Witold, Małcużyński and Polish can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Witold Małcużyński” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Witold, Małcużyński and Polish provides the most credible route into that argument.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q740641. VIAF identifies the subject as 116665009. The Library of Congress control number is n82163987. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1914, 1977, 1936 and 1937.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Witold Małcużyński”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Witold Małcużyński primary sources, Witold Małcużyński archive and Witold research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Witold Małcużyński”?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Witold Małcużyński” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.