The article presents the ways Polish press of the 1920s and 1930s used to write about suicides of artists. The author analyses the stories of suicidal deaths of five people: theatre actress Alojza Żółkowska, actor and director Józef Poremba-Jaracz, an aspiring painter Helena Niemczewska (the daughter of the watercolourist Julian Fałat), film heartthrob Zbigniew Staniewicz, and theatre actor Sergiusz Niłus (Jerzy Alan). These instances demonstrate that pre-war journalists took a keen interest in the issue, especially the reasons behind the tragedies. Detailed descriptions of the course of events often revealed many details of the stars’ private lives, especially their health-related conditions.
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