Bohdan Tomaszewski

Warsaw, Poland

Bohdan Tomaszewski was a Polish sports journalist, tennis player, sports commentator, and author of several sports books. Called a "legend of Polish sports journalism", he was a member of the Polish Writers Association, and, with his son Tomasz, worked for the television station Polsat Sport. Tomaszewski attended Warsaw's Stanisław Staszic High School, and began playing tennis in 1936 in Legia Warszawa. He participated in the Warsaw Uprising, as a soldier of the Home Army (nom de guerre “Mały”). After the war, he worked in the Grand Hotel in Sopot, then moved to Szczecin, where he worked as a journalist in a local daily, also playing lawn tennis in a team SKT Szczecin. Later on, Tomaszewski began working for Express Wieczorny, and then moved to TV and radio. His radio debut took place in early May 1947, when he commented the Davis Cup match Poland – Great Britain in Warsaw. Between 1956 and 1980, he commented on twelve Olympic Games, both summer and winter. During the Martial law in Poland, Tomaszewski refused to cooperate with the regime-sponsored Polish Radio, and did not return to mass-media until 1989.