Józef Ładowski


Józef Ładowski - Polish restaurateur, the hero of the ballad Bal u starego Joska.

Biography

In the 1920s and early 1930s he was the owner of a small restaurant on the Rynkowa Street 7 in the Jewish district of Warsaw. His tavern was a beloved place for Warsaws rich and poor. Colonel Wieniawa-Długoszowski, marshal Piłsudski's personal adjutant, was frequent visitor and many others from Warsaw's high society.

Personal life

He married Maria Lipowicz, who had a bakery in Stopnica. He lived with his family at the Rynkowa Street 7 and had four children: Alicja Ładowska , Mieczysław, Ryszard and Franciszka. Josek Ładowski's cousin Aaron Ładowski arrived in Toronto in Canada in 1906 from Kielce and established the United Bakers Dairy Restaurant there in 1912 which still exists today.

Death

When he died on October 7, 1932, at 11 pm, Warsaw's ABC newspaper reported that Gruby Josek was respected among Warsaw's criminal underground and that he had served as a judge in many disputes. He is buried in the Jewish Cemetery in Warsaw.

In popular culture

The tavern was known as U Grubego Joska. It was notorious enough that a song was written about it in 1934, Bal u starego Joska, which remains as one of the most popular Polish underground ballads often sung in the specific dialect of Warsaw's Praga district.

Sleepless nights in Warsaw's quarter
I still trace them on my lips
At the Fatty Josek's tavern on the Dung Street
Gathered flower of the night.

His grandson Ron Davis recorded jazz versions of Bal u starego Joska on his 2010 album .