Włast Andrzej, real name Gustaw Baumritter, pseudonym Willy, *17 March 1895 Łódź, †between 1 June 1943 and 9 May 1946 exact date, place and circumstances of death unknown), Polish poet, songwriter, operetta librettist, screenwriter and director. In 1913–15, he studied medicine and law at the University of Warsaw. After his debut poems about the war, on 20 December 1914, the Udziałowy Theatre staged his first farce, Pod murami Warszawy [Under the Walls of Warsaw]. In May 1916, he served as literary director at the Bi-Ba-Bo theatre for 11 days, and later became artistic director of the Miraż (1921) and Perskie Oko (1927) cabaret theatres; he was a co-founder and, in 1927–33, director and stage director of the Morskie Oko revue theatre (originally called Nowe Perskie Oko). At this theatre, he staged the famous so-called “Warsaw revues”, including Klejnoty Warszawy (performed 200 times), Warszawa w kwiatach, Zabawki dla Warszawki, Cała Warszawa, Gwiazdy Warszawy, Uśmiech Warszawy, Sympatia Warszawy, To lubi Warszawa, Tęcza nad Warszawą, Przebój Warszawy, Rewia Warszawy. From 1933 to 1939, he was the manager of the Rex revue theatre (later Wielka Operetka, Wielka Rewia). Throughout his career, he also collaborated with many other theatres and cabarets (including Mały, Artystyczny, Sfinks, Stańczyk, Wodewil, Nowości, Ali-Baba, Czarny Kot, Qui pro Quo, Wesoły Wieczór), and during the occupation with artistic cafés in the Warsaw ghetto. Włast is considered the leading Polish songwriter of the interwar period, writing lyrics for both Polish and foreign compositions. He responded to all musical fashions, and two of the songs for which he wrote the first lyrics (the only ones among Polish songs of that period) became global hits – Tango milonga (music by J. Petersburski, known abroad as Oh, Donna Clara) and the waltz François (music by A. Karasiński). Thanks to him, the word “przebój” (hit) is used in Polish culture, having won a competition announced by Włast in 1930 in “Ekspres Wieczorny” for a new name for “szlagier” (hit). Włast is the author of over 2000 songs, including hits with music by J. Petersburski, such as Ja się boję sama spać, Już nigdy, Szkoda twoich łez dziewczyno, Tango andrusowskie, as well as Całuję twoją dłoń, Madame (music by R. Erwin), Czy pani mieszka sama? (music by Z. Karasiński, Sz. Kataszek), Titina (music by L. Daniderff), Ramona (music by H. Wars), Jesienne róże (music by H. Gold), Rebeka (music by Z. Białostocki), U cioci na imieninach (music by B. Mucman). He published a collection of his poems titled Serce tatuowane [Tattooed Heart] (Warsaw 1923). Włast was one of the most active Polish songwriters of the interwar period. His songs appealed primarily to the emotions, which made them very popular, and many of them became standards of popular music, sung to this day.
