The mayor of the southern city of Bielsko-Biała, where Koterbska was born and lived until her death, wrote on Facebook that she was a “great lady of Polish song,” a "wonderful person" and a "legendary artist" who in July last year celebrated her 96th birthday "full of optimism and serenity."
Z wielkim smutkiem przyjąłem wiadomość o śmierci wielkiej damy polskiej piosenki, wspaniałej osoby, wybitnej...
Posted by Jarosław Klimaszewski - Prezydent Bielska-Białej on Monday, January 18, 2021
“We will all remember her that way,” Jarosław Klimaszewski said.
“We will also remember her hit songs such as Karuzela, Serduszko puka w rytmie cza-cza and Augustowskie noce,” he added.
Koterbska was especially popular in the late 1950s and early '60s. Her repertoire comprised around 1,500 songs, many of them inspired by swing and jazz traditions and written by lyricists such as Wojciech Młynarski, Jeremi Przybora and Agnieszka Osiecka, Poland’s PAP news agency reported.
Koterbska’s honors included the Officer's Cross of the Polonia Restituta Order, a high state decoration that she received in 1999.
She is survived by her son, actor and composer Roman Frankl.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR, polskieradio.pl, PAP