CZAJKOWSKI, Hania 1949-

PERSONAL:

Surname is pronounced "Tchaikowski;" born January 5, 1949, in Buenos Aires, Argentina; daughter of Roman and Rosalia (Bratko) Czajkowski; married Alexander Astrachanzew, October 10, 1972 (divorced); married Eduardo Kotliroff (a film and television director), November 27, 1998; children: (first marriage) Alexandra. Ethnicity: "White." Education: University of Buenos Aires, degree in architecture, 1975.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Republica de la India 3135, Buenos Aires 1425, Argentina. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Sideco Americana, Buenos Aires, Argentina, architect, 1980-92; writer, 1992—. Guest on television and radio programs; presenter of multimedia performances and workshops.

WRITINGS:

Jugando con los ángeles (essay with card game), Sirio Publishers (Spain), 1995, translation published as Playing with the Angels, Celestial Connection, 1996.

La conspiración de los Alquimistas (novel; title means "The Conspiracy of the Alchemists"), Random House (Spain), 1998.

La victoria de la conspiración (novel; title means "The Victory of the Conspiracy"), Grijalbo (Argentina), 2000.

Other books include Taking Care of the Angels, published in Spanish by Sirio Publishers. Contributor to periodicals. Czajkowski's essay and card game, Jugando con los ángeles, has also been translated into French and German.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

A third novel; research on alchemy, the kabbalah, and spiritual matters.

SIDELIGHTS:

Hania Czajkowski told CA: "My primary motivation for writing is the need for communicating my adventures and discoveries in faraway places and spiritual worlds. I am strongly committed to magic realism. My connection with alchemy and kabbalah inspires me to write about them. Ancient games are also a source of continuous inspiration.

"I dedicate an enormous amount of time to travel, research, and learning. Then I go to my private paradise at the seaside, a little cabin in the middle of an enchanted wood, and write and write and write. Our times require a concise and very intense way of writing. I am learning to transmit intensity and passion in fewer and fewer words.

"I have traveled to Polynesia, Asia, Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Europe, the United States, and many other places in the world looking for the secrets of the occult world, magic, and the spiritual trajectory of the world. At the same time, because of my background as an architect, I have dedicated myself to deep research on the buildings, symbols, and meanings of ancient religions, dances, architecture, and art of the many places I have visited. I studied the area of angels from a theological, artistic, and symbolic perspective. I especially researched the hidden secrets in cathedrals built by the medieval alchemists of Europe. I researched Notre Dame, Santiago de Compostela, Czestochowa, Fatima, and the ancient monasteries of Cyprus, as well as cave temples in the Capadocia in Asia. I also studied the traditions and special powers attributed to mythical beings like fairies, elves, mermaids, and salamanders, and I have received from wise masters the deep teachings of the sacred traditions of the kabbalah.

"What inspired me to write on the subjects I have chosen? My dreams, my learning, my involvement. They offer me secret keys to life."