Mothers of Kings

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is a member of the Rekolektyw collective of reporters, established in 2014. Alongside Agnieszka, the collective consists of seven other young Polish reporters: Katarzyna Brejwo, Urszula Jabłońska, Kaja Puto, Małgorzata Rejmer, Ziemowit Szczerek, Maciej Wasielewski and Mirosław Wlekły. Rekolektyw operates on a simple premise: a few reporters work on one topic independently from each other, filtering it through their personal styles and sensitivities. The end-product is a book that presents several different perspectives on one problem. In 2015, the collective released an anthology of non-fiction essays, titled “Mur. Dwanaście Kawałków o Berlinie” [The Wall: Twelve Stories About Berlin] (Czarne Publishing House in cooperation with the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation), in which the association took a closer look at the Berlin landscape 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In May 2016, another collection was published, titled “Obrażenia. Pobici z Polską” [Abuse: Punching Poland] (Wielka Litera Publishing House). This time, their goal was to take a closer look at the problem of hate-speech in Poland, and to analyse reasons behind the worryingly common hostility of Poles towards the Other.

Agnieszka Wójcińska talks to Magdalena Braum, who works as a primatologist and veterinarian in the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania.

Agnieszka Wójcińska: How often do chimpanzees, patriarchal by nature, decide to pass power to the females?

Magdalena Braum: Coalitions of females – physically weaker than males – ruling the troop is not something unheard of at all, even though it’s more common in captivity, where males are often more psychologically bruised than females.

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Agnieszka Wójcińska:

is a member of the Rekolektyw collective of reporters, established in 2014. Alongside Agnieszka, the collective consists of seven other young Polish reporters: Katarzyna Brejwo, Urszula Jabłońska, Kaja Puto, Małgorzata Rejmer, Ziemowit Szczerek, Maciej Wasielewski and Mirosław Wlekły. Rekolektyw operates on a simple premise: a few reporters work on one topic independently from each other, filtering it through their personal styles and sensitivities. The end-product is a book that presents several different perspectives on one problem. In 2015, the collective released an anthology of non-fiction essays, titled “Mur. Dwanaście Kawałków o Berlinie” [The Wall: Twelve Stories About Berlin] (Czarne Publishing House in cooperation with the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation), in which the association took a closer look at the Berlin landscape 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In May 2016, another collection was published, titled “Obrażenia. Pobici z Polską” [Abuse: Punching Poland] (Wielka Litera Publishing House). This time, their goal was to take a closer look at the problem of hate-speech in Poland, and to analyse reasons behind the worryingly common hostility of Poles towards the Other.

Translation: Aga Zano

Publish date: 20.10.2018

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Agnieszka Wójcińska:

is a member of the Rekolektyw collective of reporters, established in 2014. Alongside Agnieszka, the collective consists of seven other young Polish reporters: Katarzyna Brejwo, Urszula Jabłońska, Kaja Puto, Małgorzata Rejmer, Ziemowit Szczerek, Maciej Wasielewski and Mirosław Wlekły. Rekolektyw operates on a simple premise: a few reporters work on one topic independently from each other, filtering it through their personal styles and sensitivities. The end-product is a book that presents several different perspectives on one problem. In 2015, the collective released an anthology of non-fiction essays, titled “Mur. Dwanaście Kawałków o Berlinie” [The Wall: Twelve Stories About Berlin] (Czarne Publishing House in cooperation with the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation), in which the association took a closer look at the Berlin landscape 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In May 2016, another collection was published, titled “Obrażenia. Pobici z Polską” [Abuse: Punching Poland] (Wielka Litera Publishing House). This time, their goal was to take a closer look at the problem of hate-speech in Poland, and to analyse reasons behind the worryingly common hostility of Poles towards the Other.

I learned that in Warsaw Zoo, it’s the female chimpanzees who lead the troop rather than the males. That’s an unusual arrangement out there, in nature. “Look at that, a female revolution,” I thought, and it warmed my heart.

Common chimpanzees, unlike matriarchal bonobos, live in strictly patriarchal communities. Yet I was told that in Warsaw Zoo, the females had taken over the troop. I decided I had to see it with my own eyes. That’s how I learned the story of three female chimpanzees who, although related, grew up to have remarkably different personalities and approaches to life. Soon, I met other primates from the Warsaw troop. Right now, there are eight: four girls (Mandy, Lucy, Kimberly and Liza) and four boys (Patryk, Szymon, Zarno and Frodo). And, just like humans, each of them is an individual in their own right.

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The Rise and Fall of a Chimpanzee Matriarchy

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