Jonasz Kofta

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Jonasz Kofta (born 28 November 1942 in Mizocz, Volhynia, today Ukraine; † 19 April 1988 in Warsaw) was a Polish songwriter and poet.

The Kofta family came to Warsaw after the Second World War and later lived in Wrocław and Poznań. The Jonasz's father was a Jew. In 1961 Kofta received his Matura in High School of Arts in Poznań and apparently began to study painting in Warsaw. By this time he had began to write poetry and cabaret numbers. Together with Adam Kreczmar and Jan Pietrzak he opened in 1962 the student cabaret club Hybrydy in Warsaw. In 1964 he became the literary director of the cabaret.

Starting in 1966 his poems, satires and song texts were published in newspapers. From 1968 to 1980 he worked often together with Kreczmar and Pietrzak at Pod Egida, one of the most popular Polish cabarets. Here he made the reputation for being one of the most poetic and most politically important songwriters of Poland. In the 1980s he had continued poor health and suffered with strong alcohol problems, which finally also lead to his death.