Biography
Irena Byrska (1901–1997) was a Polish actress, theatre director and pedagogue. She trained at the drama department of the Warsaw Conservatory, graduating with distinction in 1927, and began her career in Warsaw theatres before working in Riga and Vilnius. She held positions at several Polish theatres, including as director of the Juliusz Osterwa Theatre in Gorzów Wielkopolski from 1963 to 1966, and collaborated frequently with her husband, Tadeusz Byrski.
Byrska appeared in a number of films late in her career. She played matka Hulewicz in Andrzej Wajda’s Man of Iron (1981) and the aunt in Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Blind Chance (1987). She also featured in The Contract (1980) and Filip z konopi (1983). She received the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 1993.
