Maria Konopnicka Monument
Kraków Artists: Writers and Poets
A bronze bust of Maria Konopnicka from 1986, by Antoni Hajdecki, on the Podwawelskie estate at Komandosów Street 6. Konopnicka (1842-1910) was a poet and short-story writer of the Positivist period, a literary critic, essayist and translator, one of the greatest women writers in the history of Polish literature.
History
Maria Konopnicka, a poet and short-story writer of the Positivist period, was born on 23 May 1842 in Suwałki. She published her first volume, Poezje (Poems), in 1881, and her verse, marked by patriotism and sincere lyricism, quickly won wide acclaim. She also wrote short stories, including Dym (Smoke), Mendel Gdański and Nasza szkapa (Our Old Nag), and her works for children include the tale O krasnoludkach i o sierotce Marysi (About the Dwarfs and Little Orphan Mary). She was also a literary critic, journalist and translator. In 1908 she published the poem Rota, which the Kraków monthly "Przodownica" reprinted in November. From 1890 she travelled a great deal and spent time in places including Kraków, and in 1903, to mark twenty-five years of her writing career, she received a manor house in Żarnowiec as a national gift. She died on 8 October 1910 in Lviv.
The bust of the poet stands in the Podwawelskie estate, at 6 Komandosów Street. It is a bronze work by Antoni Hajdecki from 1986.
Did you know?
For many years it was hard to establish Konopnicka's date of birth, because the poet made herself out to be a few years younger.