A classically trained pianist, Władysława Kintzel (nee Balwierz) grew up in Warsaw at the turn of the twentieth century. In an era where women did not often have careers, she played the piano in theaters during silent film screenings. After marrying Józef Kintzel, an opera singer and stage director, she moved with him to Bydgoszcz, in northern Poland, where he had been appointed Director of the Municipal Theater. Later, they settled in the town of Zamość, in the southeast. The couple had three children: Krystyna, Tadeusz, and Danuta (Diana).