Zofia Hertz, 92; Co-founded Polish Literary Magazine

Zofia Hertz, 92, co-founder of Kultura, a leading Polish emigre literary magazine, died Saturday, Poland’s PAP news agency reported. The agency did not report the cause or place of Hertz’s death.

Hertz was a close aide to Jerzy Giedroyc, the chief editor of Kultura, from its foundation in 1947 until his death in September 2000. She then took over as chief editor of the magazine, based in the Paris suburb of Maisons-Laffite.

For decades, Hertz took care of the technical and financial aspects of publishing Kultura, proofreading texts for leading European writers and thinkers. The magazine is credited with helping keep independent writing alive during communist rule in Poland.

Born in Vilnius, now the Lithuanian capital but then part of Poland, Hertz graduated from the law department of Warsaw University and in 1933 became Poland’s first female notary.

She was deported to Siberia during World War II. She joined the Polish army formed there by Gen. Wladyslaw Anders, which fought alongside the Allies. She chose to remain in Poland when the country came under communist rule after the war.