Puppet and actors’ theatre designer and film designer of Polish origin working primarily in Romania. Ștefan Hablinski graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. He moved to Romania during World War II where he established himself. He worked as a theatre and film designer, painter, graphic artist, and interior designer. He collaborated with Teatrul de păpuşi Tăndărică (Țăndărică Puppet Theatre, today, Teatrul de animaţie Ţăndărică) between 1950 and 1966, designed many shows for the actors’ theatre in Romania as well as other countries in Europe, including Poland, Germany, and Bulgaria.

Among the shows he designed at Țăndărică are: Umor pe sfori (Humour on Strings, 1954); Artiștii pădurii (The Artists of the Forest, 1954); Mna cu cinci degete (The Hand with Five Fingers, 1958); Punguța cu doi bani (The Two Penny Purse, 1959); Cartea cu Apolodor (The Book of Apollodorus, 1962); Micul prinț (The Little Prince, 1960); and Tigrișorul Petre (Peter, the Little Tiger).

Ștefan Hablinski was a poet of the stage space. His designs for the puppet theatre were imaginative and often abstract, reflecting influences from the Bauhaus movement.

(See Romania.)