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the-deeds-to-shibden · 5 years ago

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Monday 26 August 1839

[Quite a busy and pleasant day. Ann starts it with producing a quality sketch of Uppsala castle, before joining her wife for a book-browsing session at the university library, where Anne really gets stuck into exhaustive (and exhausting) descriptions of the architecture and shelving, with a view to implementing some of that back at Shibden (sigh). Another visit to the cathedral provides snippets of Swedish history, followed by a trip out to the Old Uppsala, the capital of pre-Christian Sweden. Unbelievably, Anne completely misses the grave of Anders Celsius in the church there, which could have inspired her to get herself a few more thermometers with a scale she hasn’t used yet. What an opportunity missed! But they get to enjoy some first-rate secret-recipe mead and another beautiful sunset.]

[up at] 6 50/”

[to bed at] 12 40/”

fine morning Fahrenheit 61º and sun out at 7 1/2 – breakfast at 8 20/” to 9 – Ann sketching the chateau from our room window – left her to finish (to colour) her sketch a little and I off to the library at 9 10/” sent for Ann at 9 40/” ‘Catalogue general de la litterature Française contenant les ouvrages publiés en France, ……. pendant l’ année 1837 …. avec table systématique pour les ouvrages imprimés en 1837 et les Journaux de 1838. publié par la Librairie Brockhaus et Avenarius. 1ere première année. 3 francs Paris, Brockhaus and Avenarius, Libraire Française- -allemande et etrangère. Rue Richelieu, no 60. Leipzig, même maison. They refer to la Bibliographie de Monsieur Beuchot and le Bulletin de Monsieur Cherbuliez – and Bibliographie d’Allemagne, paraissant à Leipzig the above lying on the table of professor Skraeder ancient history with Arabic books (published here) etc. etc. Had his pedigrees and papers pasted into book with whity brown paper leaves left about 1 1/2 inches broad – books about the breadth and twice the length of one common quarto i.e. narrow folio size

Laerebog i de romerske oldsager af S. B. Bugge rector ved cathedralskolen I Christiania. med fem steentryk. Christiania 1837. Trykt I R. Hviids Enkes Bogtrykkerie og paa keder Forlag af G. Hansen.

Beitrage zur genauern Kenntniss der ehstnischen Sprache. Neunzehntes heft. Pernau, beim herausgeber. Reval, bei Bornwasser. 1828.

Initia Homerica by Th. Burgess a.m. London 1820. printed by Dove – sold by R. Priestley – given to Upsala by ‘Thomas Burgess episcopus Salisburiensis donatus 1837’

the Italian cabinet? made at Augsburg – very curious – Christina’s snuffgrater and box looking like

a broadish knife the box at one end and the blade a grater on which the tobacco leaves were grated Real musk in a little lead box like a bit of a small animal bag or pouch with short 1/4 inch long like bristles on it – Christinas small fusils to kill fleas – Gustaf 3 died 1792 left chest about 3 feet 6 inches x 6 feet and about 2 feet 6 inches broad – and black leather covered box to be opened in 1842. 2 of his drawings in Indian ink dated the one a chateau 1763. (26 September 1763) and a bridge and two towers one at each end or thereabouts of the bridge dated ‘Gustaf fecit d[ie] 19 September 1763 Drotningholm at the library till 11 1/4 – gave the man 32 skillngs banco a one rigs dollar note – content he then shewed us the new library – not yet finished tho’ some books put there on the ground floor – there at 11 25/” new library bookcases au premièr 6 1/2 x 2 1/4 red books, handbook which is about 6 1/2 inches long height up to gallery = about 4 yards – pilasters between the cases – 3 red books wide i.e. about 6 1/2 inches x 3 = 19 1/2 to 20 inches Racking or shelf-grooves at every 2 inches – about 2 inches left in front of the cases for hanging doors if wanted lock-up doors with wire net at the old library 5 or 6 feet high against the bottom shelves there will be book cases to front the pilasters Salle about 58 yards long and about 5 yards wide across from pilaster to pilaster – grand entrance in the middle 5 cases on each side the door and then 5 windows on each side beyond these 5 cases respectively – greenish – white veined or waved marble (like my specimen of the holy sepulchre at home) window seats about 2 feet 6 inches high from the floor – whole breadth of window including frame = about 5 feet 6 inches whole heighth including framing = about 10 feet up to bottom of gallery – glass 6 panes in heighth - panes about 17 or 18 inches x 10 and 4 panes in breadth i.e. 2 in each 1/2 opening with a spagnolette the whole heighth of the window – 3 yards and taken up by the partition down the middle which parts the whole floor into two similar book-galleries, a ballustred gallery running all round at about 13 feet high from the floor – the man said there was says there are 120,000 volumes – floor diamond flags size of those formerly in the hall at Shibden, of red-greenish porphyry (like the windowseats) – 2 rooms at each end of the book rooms and between these 2 rooms (at each end of the building) a spiral staircase to the top of the building, and leading also to an immense salle (over the library, i.e. au seconde) to be galleried all round above? with portico behind the pillars underneath the gallery? – alcove (is a sort of throne to be there or what?) at left end as one looks on the town this immense salle entered also in the middle by the great staircase as below – 2 flights of steps taking up a breadth of about 13 yards and a depth of about 16 yards in a projection towards the castle the opposite front looking exactly along a long straight road to Dannemora and old Upsala and on to the town, and a little to the left on the cathedral as now renewed since its being burnt in 1702 – (chateau, right, going up great stairs and looking towards the town) at the new library till 12 5/” at the cathedral at 12 1/4 – the monument to the memory of Linnaeus is in a little side chapel (left, near the great west doors as one enters ‘Carolo a Linne’ | Botanicorum | principi | amici et Discipuli | MDCCXCVII.’ the a = von = de = noble (e.g. Thomas a Beckett) above the inscription is a bronze head – side face – très ressemblant, by J[ohan] T[obias] Sergell ‘A[nno]: MDCCXCIV’ beautiful brown whitish green veined granite? from Elfdal north of Falun the marble of the window seats etc. at the new library comes from between Norköping and Nyköping – i.e. from the forest of Kolmorden (the comma over the en in Linne is to double the e)

Linnaeus’s grand daughter died here (Updala) last spring and left to Ridder Bielca who married her sister a fortune that would keep ten cavaliers 10 horsemen i.e. ten men and ten horses and the terrain (but that depends upon the goodness of the land) that would maintain one horseman = 8-10,000 dollars banco purchase money, the terrain containing forest, fisheries etc. everything here counted by how much land will keep a man or horseman – the academy has as much (as the man said yesterday) as would keep a hundred men – and a terre to keep a man costs 4,000 to 5,000 dollars banco to buy it – In buying land one ought ot have 6 to 8 percent for one’s money – fine tomb from Rome in 1793 of archbishop Carolus Fridrik Mennander nat[us] 1712 ob[iit] 1786 formerly bishop of Åbo who translated the bible into Finnish – whole length of him, sitting, leaning on ‘Biblia Fennica’ – good likeness – 7 allegorical female figures all on a tablet under the figure of Religion carrying a large cross and leaning on an urn –

chappel of Gustaf Wasa painted in fresco by

‘John: Gust: Sandberg pinxit 1831-1838’

Eric xiv and Jean iii sons of Gustaf Wasa and Charles ix his youngest son }

Left hand, on entering the chapel (behind the alter) the paintings are

over the pictures

arms . 1st Gustaf on horseback receiving the keys of Stockholm Riddarholm castle some years ago burnt down

window . 2nd ____ on horseback (young) in a battle against the Danes

ditto . 3rd _____ at Lubeck asking assistance – a Danish nobleman claiming him

ditto . 4th ______ at the peasants cottage in Dalecarlia with flail, entering the barn – a Dane seeking him

ditto . 5th _______ Haranguing the peasants in Dalecarlia

ditto . 6th _______ two bishops presenting him the 1st bible Eric 14 at his elbow who was again a boy, dressed in red

arms . 7th ________ taking leave of the deputies, died soon after

1 and 4 azure. 3 fold crowns (the arms of Sweden)

2 and 3 azure. lion rampant or on 3 white wavy bands i.e. lakes (the arms of Gotheborg)

escutcheon of pretence arms of Gustaf Wasa

azure. a gold sheaf (gerb) called in Swedish vasa – supporters 2 lions or crowned proper

In the sacristie or room where they keep the 2 gold crowns lately taken respectively from the heads of Jean iii and his queen Catherine and some valuable gold cups etc. is the half length old wooden statue of the pagan God Thor – part of his left side gone and his right arm broken off from the elbow – gilded formerly – brought from old Upsala – many more old things all burnt with the cathedral in 1702 – this room is a sort of safe closet – safe from fire – 3 boxes of valuables put here as we should send plate to the bank for safety –

Get at Stockholm, chez C. M. Carlson Roadbook of Sweden and Norway. 1830. i.e. ‘Vägvisare’ Roadbook, bought a little one at Upsala. for 12 skillings banco. – came in at 3 3/4 – dinner at 3 55/” to 4 20/” – good – same as yesterday but herring-and-rice-and-potatoes-pudding with anchovy sauce instead of soup – off at 4 3/4 from Upsala alight at old Upsala at 5 1/4 – off to the tumuli close by the Dummer Cull judges’ hill first – then the 3 tumuli of Odin, Thor and Frea – all the

very near together, and the | cull, hill, collis. | 3 conical mounds very conspicuous all the way from Upsala – fine view from all especially from Frea because farthest from the church – quite close to Odin and impedes the view from him – good country about here – more quite clear ground (clear of stones, boulders and rock) than we have seen elsewhere – therefore land valuable here – but no forest of two miles therefore wood dear – large extensive plain on all sides – merely a few bits on the Eastern side, that one can just see encumbered with stone to remind one of being still in Sweden – the church small – not worth going into but expected (disappointed) some to see there some funeral urns found in 1 of the tumuli – fine view of Upsala – its castle looks well from here – its 2 (there are only 2) round towers (North and Northeast corners) seen, and none of the ugly pediment side seen – the 2 cathedral-towers are seen as one – and the peasants’ church tower and one other church tower one seen in one line – Beyond Frea’s tumulus a little range of hill and the foot of this and of the tumulus itself towards the village and Upsala studed with little hillocks – on the other side the tumulus and range of hill is a little lake – Ann is sketching the church – she did the castle very nicely this morning – Old Upsala pretty little picturesque gardeny village – a peep at the little River – a minute or 2 in the old church – nothing worth seeing in it – back at the house to drink our bottle of mead at 6 5/” excellent – good as champagne – how to make it is a secret – heirloom secret – 24 Rigs skillings per bottle – a pink mead at 48 skillings but she has none at present – off again at 6 25/” in 20 minutes a little rock and boulder and Sweden again – excellent road charming evening – beautiful sunset – Hogsta should be Uggelsta single house – poor little place – could not sleep there – next stage . . . Andersby . . . 2 1/8 miles – nice open country – sowing rye and reaping it – at Dannemora no! Ӧsterby near Dannemora, at 11 5/” – we had to call the people up – very fine day – Fahrenheit 62º now at midnight –

Anne’s marginal notes:

Catalogue of French books Paris and Leipzig

Initia Homerica

Christina’s cabinet

New library

order such at Shibden?

vide bottom of next page

new library

salle au seconde

Kolmorden and Elfdal marble vide bottom of last page

manner of estimating property

bishop Mennander who translated the bible into Finnish

WYAS Catalogue: SH:7/ML/TR/13/0009 SH:7/ML/TR/13/0010 SH:7/ML/TR/13/0011 SH:7/ML/TR/13/0012

One of the frescoes by Johan Gustaf Sandberg in Uppsala Cathedral showing the exploits of King Gustav I Vasa (Gustav Vasa Speaking to the Dalecarlians at Mora):

The three tumuli (the Royal Mounds) at Old Uppsala:

The church at Old Uppsala, which Ann sketched:

Interior of Carolina Rediviva, now the main building of Uppsala University library; a work in progress when Anne and Ann visited it and Anne described it so thoroughly:

#anne lister #ann walker #travelnotes1839 #sweden1839 #anne lister code breaker #gentleman jack #annelister #annwalker

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lamus-dworski · 6 years ago

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A list of 100 remarkable women from Polish history - for the anniversary of the 100 years of Polish independence!

My random choice of 100 notable, inspirational and controversial women known from the history of Poland - people of various different backgrounds and occupations, and with interesting, happy or tragic stories.

If you think I missed an important person you adore or feel inspired by (there are so many more I could include below!), then feel free to expand the list by adding an extra in the reblogs!

(you can click the links under their names to read a bit more, however some of them point to Polish articles only - sorry! I’m hiding the list under ‘read more’ for the reblogs because it’s obviously too long to be browsed comfortably on the dashboard!)

Jadwiga of Poland (1384-1399), who was crowned with the title of ‘King’ during an era when female rulers were relatively uncommon in Europe. She donated most of her personal wealth (including royal insignia) to charity and education, funding and restoring many schools and hospitals, and focused on maintaining peace and development during her rule.

Nawojka (14th/15th-century), who was a semi-legendary woman known to attend studies at the University of Kraków (later known as Jagiellonian University) in the 15th century, which she entered illegally dressed as a boy. She is considered to be the first historically acknowledged female student and teacher in Poland.

Magdalena Bendzisławska (17th/18th century), who was the first historically attested female surgeon in Poland. The dates of her birth and death are sadly unknown, and the main document confirming her existence and profession is a diploma issued by King Augustus II the Strong in the year 1697. She took over the role from her husband after he passed away, and she worked as the chief surgeon at the famous salt mine in Wieliczka.

Maria Skłodowska-Curie (1867-1934), who was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize (which she got along with Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel) – the only woman to win the prize in two fields, and the only person to win in multiple sciences. She was the first scientist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity, and she discovered the elements radium and polonium (the second named after her beloved home country).

Emilia Plater (1806-1831), who was a Polish-Lithuanian noblewoman and a revolutionary fighter in the partitioned Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. She fought in the November Uprising of 1830, during which she raised a small unit and received the rank of a Captain in the Polish-Lithuanian insurgent forces. She is a national heroine in Poland, Lithuania, and Belarus, all formerly parts of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Irena Sendler (1910-2008), who was a nurse working in Warsaw when WW2 started. She joined the secret Polish resistance organization Żegota (codename for 'Council of Aid to the Jews’). Despite many dangers she managed to rescue around 2,500 Jewish children by smuggling them out of the Warsaw Ghetto in occupied Warsaw, with the assistance of other members of Żegota. She’s on the list of the Righteous Among the Nations.

Maria Szymanowska (1789-1831), who was a skillful composer and one of the first professional virtuoso pianists of the 19th century. She toured extensively throughout Europe during the 1810s and was one of the first pianists to perform a memorized repertoire in public. She is known as the first female composer from Poland to achieve both national and international recognition.

Narcyza Żmichowska (1819-1876), who was a novelist and a poet, considered the precursor of the organized feminism movement in Poland. She inspired and co-founded a group called Entuzjastki (transl. Enthusiasts, which was a progressive association founded in 1830 in Warsaw by a group of women intellectuals in favor of equal rights for men and women). She was among many Polish intellectuals exiled after the failed November Uprising of 1830, after which she settled in Paris where she enrolled at the Bibliothèque Nationale, becoming one of the first women at the French Academy ever. Her first published novel was Poganka (The Heathen) in which she expressed interest in her female friend Paulina Zbyszewska. She was deemed an 'eccentric’, smoked cigars (prohibited for women at that time), and refused to marry. After returning to Poland she founded a group of suffragettes in Warsaw, active in the 1840s, who also took part in anti-tsarist activities.

Klementyna Hoffmanowa, nee Tańska (1798-1845), who was a writer, translator, and editor. She was the first woman in Poland to fully support herself financially from writing and teaching, and to consider herself primarily a writer by a profession. In 1831 she moved to Dresden and later to Paris, and was later called 'the Mother of the Great Emigration’ (mass emigration or exile of the Polish elites, mainly to Western Europe, after the failure of the anti-tsarist November Uprising of 1830 during the time Poland was under Partitions).

Simona Kossak (1943-2007), who was an award-winning scientist and ecologist. She spent over 30 years living in a hut in the Białowieża wilderness, Europe’s oldest primeval forest located on the border between Poland and Belarus where she grew close to the wild animals to the point it looked like she could understand their language, which gave her the nickname 'witch’.

Bona Sforza (1494-1557), who was a member of the Milan-based House of Sforza and became the Queen of Poland and Duchess of Lithuania by marriage to King Sigismund I the Old. She was known for her ambitious and energetic nature, ensuring a strong political position on the Polish court almost right from the beginning of her marriage. She was responsible for many economic and agricultural reforms implemented in Poland and Lithuania, eventually making her the richest landowner in the Grand Duchy.

Princess Izabela Czartoryska (1746-1835), who was a writer, art collector, and prominent figure of the Enlightenment movement. Her palace was an important political and intellectual meeting place, known as one of the most liberal and progressive court in the pre-Partitioned Commonwealth. She was the founder of Poland’s first museum, which she called the 'Temple of the Sibyl’ or 'Temple of Memory’ (later moved to Kraków where it exists under the name of Czartoryski Museum).

Countess Karolina Lanckorońska (1898-2002), who was an art historian and philanthropist. During WW2 she was an anti-Nazi and anti-communist resistance fighter of the Polish underground, and survived a German concentration camp for women (as a political prisoner). After the war she refused to live in Poland under the communist rule and spent most of her life abroad as a political émigré. She inherited her family’s enormous art collection, which she donated to the Polish state only after 1989 – after Poland underwent a democratic transition.

Elżbieta Zawacka (1909-2009), who was a Polish university professor, scouting instructor, SOE agent, and freedom fighter during WW2 (using the codename 'Zo’). She was the only woman in the elite special unit Cichociemni ('Silent Unseen’) of the Polish underground, served as a courier carrying letters outside of the German-occupied Poland, and fought in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.

Irena Kempówna-Zabiełło (1920-2002), who was a skilled pilot and renowned glider. In 1949 and 1950 she established two world speed records for women: over a triangular course of 100 km and over a straight distance of 100 km.

Elżbieta Sieniawska (1669-1729), who was a noblewoman, Grand Hetmaness of the Crown, and renowned patron of arts. She was described as a 'lady of great wisdom, reason and shrewdness’, and she was deployed by her husband on diplomatic missions, duties, and obligations that he could not manage. As an influential woman politician in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the reign of Augustus II the Strong, she was deeply embroiled in the Great Northern War and in Rákóczi’s War for Independence. She was considered the most powerful woman in the Commonwealth and called the ‘uncrowned Queen of Poland’.

Michalina Wisłocka (1921-2005), who in the 1970s published the first guide to sexual life in communist countries, focusing on women’s needs. She fought for equal rights for women in a bid to fully participate in public, political, and economic life at that time.

Tamara de Lempicka (1898-1980), born Maria Górska, who was a renowned painter of the Art Deco movement and gained international fame for her decorative portraits. She is known for her unconventional style of self-expression, and her art manifested bisexual, bold, liberated female sexuality.

Zofia Stryjeńska (1891-1976), who was a painter, graphic designer, illustrator, and stage designer, one of the best-known Polish women artists of the interwar period. In 1911 she was briefly studying abroad at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, where she enrolled using the name of her brother and dressed like a boy, because at that time the academy did not accept women. She grew in fame in Poland during the interwar period for her style inspired by the Polish folklore and Slavic paganism.

Jadwiga Grabowska (1898-1988), who was nicknamed the 'Godmother of the Polish fashion industry’ during communist rule. She promoted the modern 'tomboy’-ish style of the 1950s and 1960s and was responsible for persuading the state-owned textile industries to produce a wide range of colorful fabrics available for common women, coming under constant criticism from supervisors and governmental authorities.

Pola Negri (1896-1987), who was a stage and film actress during the silent and golden eras of Hollywood and European film, famous for her femme fatale roles. She was the first European film star to be invited to Hollywood and became one of the most popular actresses in the American silent film era. She started several important women’s fashion trends at that time that are still staples of the fashion industry.

Maria Konopnicka (1842-1910), who was a poet, novelist, children’s writer, translator, journalist, and activist for women’s rights and for Polish independence under the Partitions, as well as an activist against the repression of ethnic and religious minorities in Prussia. Her life was turbulent, and her sexual orientation is widely speculated on by modern historians. After an unhappy marriage, she spent most of her late life living in a romantic relationship with the painter and feminist Maria Dulębianka.

Maria Dulębianka (1861-1919), who was a social activist, feminist, painter, writer, and publicist. She was a prominent representative of the suffragette movement. She promoted women’s right to political participation and in 1908 enrolled herself as a candidate to the Galician Parliament (in the Austrian partition of Poland), where she was denied ‘due to formal reasons’. Her social work included founding of many children’s nurseries and kitchens for the poor, as well as setting up a help and activity club for homeless street kids. She was known to wear ‘masculine’ clothes.

Maria Dąbrowska, nee Szumska (1889-1965), who was a writer, novelist, essayist, journalist, and playwright, author of the historical novel Noce i dnie (Nights and Days). She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. She specialized in the themes of human rights and human potential for development under life hardships. In her personal life, she is considered one of a few historically-confirmed Polish bisexuals. She maintained long-term open relationships – first a marriage with publicist Marian Dąbrowski until his death in 1925, then a concubinage with painter Henryk Szczygliński until his death in 1952. She spent the remaining years of her life living in a romantic relationship with a writer Anna Kowalska (also a widow at that time), whom she had first met during the WW2 period, when they had fallen in love. In her articles published for the Polish press during the interwar period she openly advocated tolerance for homosexuality and diversity of society.

Grażyna Bacewicz (1909-1969), who was a composer and violinist. She is only the second Polish female composer to have achieved national and international recognition. She belonged to a large group of Polish composers from the interwar and post-war years creating in the neoclassical style. Despite constant pressure from the postwar communist government, she never composed any socialist realist work on their orders.

Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), who was the Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania. Despite multiple proposals, she remained unmarried until the age of 52. Then she was elected, along with her then-fiancé Hungarian noble Stephen Báthory, as the co-ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Their marriage remained rather a formal agreement for the following 10 years, until the death of Báthory. She didn’t take the opportunity of claiming the throne for herself. During her reign she spent most of her time in Warsaw on local administrative matters and sponsoring construction works, adding greatly to the development of the city.

Irena Krzywicka (1899-1994), who was a controversial Polish-Jewish feminist, writer, translator, and activist for women’s rights. During the interwar period she became one of the most famous feminists in Poland, spreading knowledge about sexual education and birth control. She was considered a scandalist at that time as, she talked openly about abortion, women’s sexuality, and homosexuality.

Helena Modrzejewska, known also as Modjeska (1840-1909), who was a renowned actress specializing in Shakespearean and tragic roles. She emigrated to the USA in the 1870s where, despite her imperfect accent, she achieved great success, eventually gaining a reputation as the leading female interpreter of Shakespeare on the American stage. She was a women’s rights activist, describing the difficult situation of Polish women under the Russian- and Prussian-ruled parts of Partitioned Poland. Her speeches led to a Tsarist ban on her traveling to Russian territory.

Hanka Ordonówna (1902-1950), born Maria Anna Pietruszyńska, who was a singer, dancer, and actress, one of the main stars during the interwar period in Poland. In 1931 she became a countess by marriage to Michał Tyszkiewicz, which made her an adored legend among lower classes of society who dreamed about a similar romantic life. Her career ended with the outbreak of WW2. She was arrested a few times as a political enemy and eventually sent to a gulag (Russian labor camp) in Uzbekistan where her chronic lung disease worsened dramatically. She was eventually evacuated to Beirut, where she stayed until her death, hoping to fight the disease.

Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska (1891-1945), who was a renowned dramatist and poet in Poland, known as the 'queen of lyrical poetry’ of the interwar period and the 'Polish Sappho’. She established herself as one of the most innovative poets of her era, writing about many taboo topics such as abortion, extramarital affairs, and incest, which provoked numerous scandals. Her plays depicted her unconventional approach to motherhood, which she understood as a painful obligation that ends mutual passion. She spoke in support of a woman’s right to choose. She has a minor planet named after her, thanks to the Czech astronomer Zdeňka Vávrová.

Barbara Radziwiłł (1520/23-1551), who was briefly the Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the consort of King Sigismund II Augustus (the last male monarch of the Jagiellon dynasty). They married in secret in 1547, after a few years of a love affair, causing a huge scandal. Her life became surrounded by many rumors and myths, and she became the heroine of many legends that inspired numerous paintings, literary works, and films.

Maria Wittek (1899-1997), who was a soldier promoted to brigadier general in the Polish Army, the first woman ever to acquire that rank in Poland (but only in 1991, after the collapse of the communist government). At the age of 18 she joined the underground Polish Military Organization (Polska Organizacja Wojskowa) and completed the NCO (non-commissioned officer) training course. During the First World War she fought against the Bolsheviks as a member of the Voluntary Legion of Women. Between 1928-1934 she was the commander of the Female Military Training (Przysposobienie Wojskowe Kobiet – an organization training women for military service. During WW2 she became the commanding officer of the Women’s Military Assistance Battalions and fought in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. After the war she initially returned to her previous position as a head of the women’s military division, but in 1949 she was arrested by the communist authorities and spent several months in prison. After her release she worked in a newspaper kiosk. She never married.

Maria Kazimiera d’Arquien (1641-1716), born Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien (and known in Poland by the diminutive name 'Marysieńka’) who was the Queen Consort to King Jan III Sobieski. They were remembered as a compatible couple, rare in those times for high-status marriages. Their love letters reveal authentic feelings between the loving pair, but also their reflections on contemporary issues and difficulties, as well as down-to-earth matters concerning the royal household and little day-to-day decisions made by the monarch, who often consulted his wife about them.

Magdalena Abakanowicz (1930-2017), who was a sculptor and fiber artist, widely regarded as one of Poland’s most internationally-acclaimed artists. She’s known for her experimental sculptures, such as the series called Abakans: gigantic three-dimensional fiber works created in the 1960s that placed her in the international art world as one of the greatest and the most influential figures of that time. She created many large-scale projects such as the art installation Agora, consisting of 106 headless and armless iron sculptures located in Grant Park in Chicago.

Anna Jabłonowska (1728-1800), who was a magnate and politician, referred to as one of the most significant women of 18th-century Poland. She was known for remarkable activity on her estates, introducing numerous management reforms and funding hospitals, factories, schools, and a printing press, all with the wellness of the people living on her estates in mind. She was known for her personal interests in science and botany. Her naturalist collection was one of the best in Europe.

Olga Boznańska (1865-1940), who was a notable painter combining the impressionism and realism movements. She was known for her unique style and intimate portraits, emphasizing the spirituality of her models. She was widely acclaimed during her lifetime and today is regarded as one of the most significant Polish painters.

Anna Dorota Chrzanowska (17th century), who became a heroine of the Polish–Ottoman War (1672–76). She was the second wife of Captain Jan Samuel Chrzanowski. During the war they were stationed in Trembowla Castle, besieged by the Ottoman Turks. The castle managed to withstand many attacks, and the defenders underwent an internal crisis only after several days when shortages of food and water became severe. The captain decided to surrender, but his wife disagreed with his decision – she urged the defenders to carry out a daring attack on the Turkish positions, which is said to have raised the morale among the Poles greatly, and led the soldiers out herself, resulting in heavy losses among the Ottomans. Due to her act she has been called the 'Polish Joan of Arc’.

Anna Rajecka (c.1762-1832), later known as Madame Gault de Saint-Germain, who was a portrait painter and pastellist, recognized for her talent and raised as a protégé of King Stanisław August Poniatowski. She was one of a few women who frequently attended the king’s famous Thursday Dinners, and therefore she was rumoured to be his illegitimate daughter or his mistress (neither true as far as historians have researched). In the early 1780s, she was enrolled at the king’s expense at the art school for females at the Louvre in Paris and stayed in the city after falling in love and marrying a French miniature artist. She became the first Polish woman to have her work presented at the Paris Salon.

Jadwiga Szczawińska-Dawidowa (1864-1910), who was an activist, publicist, and teacher. She founded the so-called Flying University, an underground educational organization primarily for women. It operated in secret in private apartments in Warsaw (changing the location frequently – hence the university’s name) at the time when that part Poland was under control of the Russian Empire, providing educational courses outside the occupiers’ censorship at the time. During the 20 years of the university’s existence, around 5,000 women graduated from it, among them Maria Skłodowska – later a Noble prize winner.

Countess Maria Walewska (1786-1817), who was a Polish noblewoman remembered most for her long-lasting affair with Emperor Napoleon I. According to his memoirs, Napoleon remembered her for her extraordinary beauty after only a brief meeting in 1806, and requested to meet her again. She was said to be pious for her time and status, and admitted to have forced herself to get involved with Napoleon for purely patriotic reasons. She sought to influence his Eastern European policy, and during the affair she convinced him to create the Duchy of Warsaw.

Katarzyna Kobro (1898-1951), who was a notable avant-garde sculptor of the constructivist and abstract movements. She co-founded a few major Polish and international modernist artistic groups in the 1920s and 1930s. She signed a number of manifestos, including the early-modern Dimensionist Manifesto (concerning a “new conception of space and time”). She was most famous for her “spatial sculptures” – combinations of rigorously architectural structures, sculptural forms, and constructivist aesthetics.

Zofia Nałkowska (1884-1954), who was a prose writer, dramatist, and prolific essayist. During the interwar period she became one of Poland’s most distinguished feminist writers of novels, novellas, and stage plays characterized by socio-realism and psychological depth. In her writings, Nałkowska boldly tackled subjects which were difficult and controversial at that time, such as eroticism.

Jadwiga Sikorska-Klemensiewiczowa (1871-1963), who was a pharmacist, and one of the first official female students in the history of Jagiellonian University, after graduating from the underground Flying University. She became the first chairwoman of the General Association of Working Women in Poland.

Scholastyka Ostaszewska (1805-1851?), who was a social activist and an underground independence activist. She belonged to the group Entuzjastki (a progressive association founded in 1830 by a group of female intellectuals in favor of equal rights for men and women). Around 1848 she was active in a female branch of the Polish People’s Spring movement, which fought for independence from Partitions. In 1851 she was put under strict police supervision by the Russian occupants. Her date of death is unknown.

Alina Szapocznikow (1926-1973), who was a sculptor and illustrator representing the surrealist, nouveau realist, and pop art movements. She is mentioned among the most important Polish artists of her generation. She was born to a Polish-Jewish family and survived the Holocaust during the Nazi Germany’s occupation of Poland. That period of her life made a huge impact on her art. She created a visual language of her own to reflect the changes going on in the human body and introduced new sculpting materials and forms of expression.

Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska (1866-1934), who was a socialist politician, suffragette, university professor, and early female senator in interwar Poland. She was a member of a number of leading feminist organisations, including the Little Entente of Women.

Kazimiera Bujwidowa (1867-1932), who was a notable feminist and suffragette in Poland. She was involved in campaigns to improve general education and literacy in Warsaw and Kraków, and she organized the first Kraków Reading Room for Women. She is credited with starting the first junior school for girls and for campaigning for women’s admission to Jagiellonian University as students (as they got in 1897).

Maria Kokoszyńska-Lutmanowa (1905-1981), who was a notable logician and author of studies in philosophy, methodology, epistemology, and semantics. For some years after WW2, she was viewed as dangerous enough by the communist government to be deprived of the right to teach philosophy, being able to teach logic only.

Gabriela Zapolska (1857-1921), who was a novelist, playwright, naturalist writer, feuilletonist, theatre critic, and stage actress. She received the most recognition for her socio-satirical comedies in which she mocked the moral hypocrisy of the upper classes (she herself was born to a wealthy family of Polish landed gentry). Her most famous work, The Morality of Mrs. Dulska (written in 1906), became a key work in early modernist Polish drama. In it, she criticized the hypocritical double standard of sexual behaviours and two-faced family values.

Stefania “Barbara” Wojtulanis (1912-2005), who was an experienced glider, balloon and motor aircraft pilot, and parachute-jumping instructor (she received licenses for all of the above before her 24th birthday). At the start of WW2 she was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant, assigned to the general staff of the Polish army, and flew missions to deliver fuel to the fighter brigade defending against the 1939 attack on Warsaw. She was evacuated to Great Britain in 1940 and later assigned to the Air Transport Auxiliary as a ferry pilot, where she logged over 1,000 hours of flying. She was twice awarded the Silver Cross of Merit for her services during the war and was honoured at the International Forest of Friendship with a plaque for her aviation achievements.

Helena Mniszkówna (1878-1943), who was a novelist and author of several books popular in pre-war Poland. She debuted with the novel Trędowata (The Leper, 1909) that brought her to prominence and became one of the most famous Polish melodramas (later in the 20th century dramatised four times by different directors). In 1951 all of her works were banned by communist censors in People’s Republic of Poland due to their bourgeoisie content, which they deemed 'may have been harmful for society’.

Eleonora Ziemięcka (1819-1869), who was considered the first female philosopher in Poland. She bravely entered that field at the time it was reserved exclusively for men. She played a significant role in the history of Polish philosophical thought at the time, representing the so-called Polish religious thought (or Polish Messianism). Her Thoughts on the Upbringing of Women, published in 1843, was the first book in which the issues of reforming women’s education and their need to develop the mind were addressed.

Maria Ilnicka (1825-1897), who was a poet, novelist, translator, and journalist. In 1863/1864 she took part in the January Uprising against the Russian Empire, as an archivist of the underground Polish National Government. She was promoting feminism and organic work. In 1865 she was the editor-in-chief of a weekly magazine for woman, Bluszcz.

Wanda Rutkiewicz (1943-1992), who was a computer engineer and a mountain climber. She is known as the third woman, the first Pole, and the first European woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, which she accomplished in 1978. In 1986 she became the first woman to successfully climb K2, what she did without supplemental oxygen.

Zofia Rogoszówna (1881-1921), who was a poet, translator, and writer of children’s literature. She was the first female writer in Poland who adapted rural short stories and rhymes into the literature for children, which she compiled in three tomes over time. She is considered a valuable researcher of folklore.

Jadwiga Piłsudska (1920-2014), who was a pilot. She obtained her first pilot’s licence in 1937 (at the age of 17), then her aircraft pilot’s license in 1942, and served in the Air Transport Auxiliary during WW2. As a daughter of the Marshal Józef Piłsudski, she remained in Great Britain after the war as a political émigré. She never accepted British citizenship and used a stateless person passport, valid for all countries in the world except the communist People’s Republic of Poland. She was able to return safely to her country only in 1990, after the collapse of the communist government.

Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa (1829-1901), who was a writer, journalist, and author of several popular Polish cookbooks. After 1875 she devoted herself to preparing a yearly publication, Kolęda dla Gospodyń (A Housewife’s Carol), a calendar filled with cooking recipes, women’s suffrage ‘propaganda’, and short novels and poems. Her books made her the best-selling author in pre-war Poland. By the year 1924 her first cookbook was issued 23 times, with more than 130 thousand copies sold worldwide – more than all the books by the novelists and Nobel Prize laureates Henryk Sienkiewicz and Bolesław Prus combined had sold before that year.

Anna Leska (1910-1998), who was a skilled pilot assigned to the Polish Air Force HQ squadron to fly liaison missions. After the 1939 defeat of Poland, she was evacuated to Great Britain and started ferrying aircraft with the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) where she eventually became a flight leader in charge of eight female ferry pilots, whom she instructed and assisted. She was one of only three Polish women serving in the ATA, and the only woman flying in the ATA to receive the Royal Medal.

Zofia Sokolnicka (1878-1927), who was a social and political activist and member of parliament after Poland regained independence in 1918. During the First World War she worked as a courier – thanks to her outstanding memory, she could convey detailed political information and instructions without transporting any papers or notes.

Izabela Elżbieta Morsztyn (1671–1756), who was a noblewoman, known for her political salon and role in the Familia (an 18th-century political party or fraction led by the House Czartoryski and allied families). In 1736 in Warsaw, she established the first political salon, where politicians met and the Familia party conferred. Women played a significant role in those meetings.

Princess Konstancja Czartoryska (c.1696-1759), who was a noblewoman, later known as the mother of King Stanisław August Poniatowski. She was described as a serious person with an interest in education and politics, strongly devoted to her mother Izabela Elżbieta Morsztyn. She played a political role as a driving force within the Familia (political party led by House Czartoryski). She acquired a great influence within the family and led the political careers of her spouse and brothers. At the interregnum and royal election after the death of King Augustus II in 1733 she, alongside her mother and Zofia Czartoryska, were described as the most influential people in the Familia party, and she was represented her faction during negotiations (e.g., with a French ambassador).

Stefania Sempołowska (1869-1944), who was an educator, social activist, and writer. At the age of 17 she passed the Teacher Patent at the Government Commission in Warsaw. She became a teacher and children’s rights activist, and was the author of many school books. During the Revolution in the Kingdom of Poland (1905) against the Russian Empire, she initiated a congress of delegates of the Polish teacher organizations, in which solidarity with the protesting common people was declared and the teachers decided to run lessons in the Polish language despite Russian prohibition.

Faustyna Kowalska (1905-1938), born Helena Kowalska, who was a nun and mystic. Throughout her life, she reported having visions of Jesus and conversations with him, which inspired the Roman Catholic Divine Mercy devotion and earned her the title of 'Apostle of Divine Mercy’. Based on her descriptions, the famous Divine Mercy image was created (she herself didn’t know how to paint, so she asked a few painters to recreate her vision on canvas, resulting in a few known versions of the scene). She was canonized in 2000.

Helena Radlińska (1879-1954), who was a teacher, historian, and librarian, and the creator of the Polish school of social pedagogy. She promoted librarian pedagogy, readership, the creation of home book collections, and access to literature for different social groups (especially those from culturally underprivileged groups).

Irena Morzycka-Iłłakowicz (1906-1943), who was a Polish second lieutenant of the National Armed Forces and an intelligence agent. During WW2 she was active in the Polish resistance movement and conducted military, economic, and intelligence reconnaissance. Her section was destroyed by the Nazi Germans, followed by numerous arrests of underground activists. She was captured in October 1942 and underwent harsh interrogations. She was rescued by fellow underground agents: first a bribed guard put her in the group of non-political prisoners to be transported to the Majdanek camp, from where she was rescued by agents dressed in stolen German uniforms. She continued her work as an agent. In the days before her death she was involved in an action against a radio contact point which supported Soviet Russian activities in Poland. She was murdered in 1943 in unknown circumstances after being summoned for an important meeting. Because the Nazi Germans often sent agents to family funerals (and other ceremonies), she was buried under a false name, and her husband participated in the funeral dressed as a gravedigger; her mother as a cemetery helper. Only in 1948 did her mother place a plaque with her true name on the grave.

Maria Grzegorzewska (1888-1967), who was a Polish educator and teacher. She introduced and developed the special education movement in Poland. Maria Grzegorzewska worked out the original teaching method, called “the methods of working centers” focused on a creative work environment, which is still used in today’s special needs education. She was the first to start systematic research on pedagogical issues of the disabled in Poland.

Agnieszka Osiecka (1936-1997), who was a poet, writer, author of theatre and television screenplays, film director, and journalist. She was a prominent Polish songwriter, having authored the lyrics to more than 2,000 songs, and is considered an icon of Polish culture.

Barbara Sanguszko (1718-1791), who was a noblewoman, poet, translator, and moralist during the Enlightenment in Poland. She organised and hosted a salon in Poddębice, where the gathering of intellectuals, artists and politicians was modelled after French 18th-century salons. Sanguszko was known for her piety, generosity and philanthropy. She not only restored many Catholic churches and convents, but laid the foundations of new religious houses, including also Orthodox churches. Having in mind the future of her children and of the family estate, she took an active part in the political life of her country. She took it upon herself to attend parliaments and tribunals. Her soirées spawned the future theatrical initiatives of the Lazienki Palace. She hosted grand occasions in the Saski Palace, including illuminations, concerts and balls for dignitaries of the period.

Barbara Kwiatkowska-Lass (1940-1995), who was a notable film actress. Raised in communist Poland, she took an opportunity to leave the country in 1959 to pursue her career in the West and starred in a few major Italian, German, and French films. She actively opposed the communist regime and cooperated with the United States-controlled Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which transmitted anti-communist propaganda, information, and programmes free from censorship to Poland.

Anna Iwaszkiewicz (1897-1979), who was a writer and translator, born to the family of a wealthy entrepreneur. She entered Polish artistic circles by marriage to Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (then a novice writer) and they both were known for their turbulent bisexual orientation. During WW2 she and her husband actively helped rescue Jewish people from the Nazi German occupiers by hiding them, finding new shelters, and providing them with funds and with false documents. She is on Israel’s list of the Righteous Among the Nations.

Katarzyna Ostrogska (1602–1642), who was a Polish–Lithuanian noblewoman, known as the founder of the city of Biała (modern Janów Lubelski). She was married to the nobleman and voivode Tomasz Zamoyski. Widowed in 1638, she took over management of the Zamoyski estates. In 1640 the king granted her the privilege to found the city of Biała, including the right to organize the government of the city and appoint its officials. She wrote several documents regulating life in her city.

Alina Centkiewicz (1907-1993), who was a writer and explorer, as well as the co-author of many travel books (written with her husband). She was best known for her descriptions of the Antarctic Circle region. In 1958 she was the first Polish woman (and the sixth woman in the world) to explore Antarctica.

Wanda Gertz (1896-1958), who was a soldier and independence activist. Born to a noble family, she began her military career in the Polish Legion during the First World War dressed as a man, under the male pseudonym of Kazimierz Zuchowicz, or 'Major Kazik’. With the outbreak of WW2, thanks to her experience and skills she became an officer of an all-female battalion in the underground Home Army, where she took the codename 'Lena’, and created a female division and sabotage unit. She was captured after the failed 1944 Warsaw Uprising and remained imprisoned in various German camps until the liberation by the US army in 1945. After the war she travelled throughout Germany and Italy in a search of displaced Polish women, joining the Polish Resettlement Corps. After demobilisation she worked in a canteen until her death.

Ewa Szelburg-Zarembina (1899-1986), who was a novelist, poet, and screenplay writer, best known as the author of numerous works for children. She co-initiated a fundraising program that eventually led to the construction of the Children’s Memorial Health Institute, the largest and the most modern centre of paediatric care for children in Poland.

Anna Kostka (1575–1635), who was a Polish–Lithuanian noblewoman. She inherited the city of Jarosław as well as several other areas from her mother. After being widowed in 1603, she lived an independent life as the manager of her and her children’s dominions. She financially supported the University of Jarosław, introduced the Benedictine Order to the city, protected the Jesuits, commissioned several (later famed) art objects for the churches, and became known for her charity toward the poor.

Seweryna Szmaglewska (1916-1992), who was a writer, known for books for both children and adults alike. During WW2 she was arrested by the Nazi Germans in a łapanka (street roundup), and sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp as a political prisoner. She survived three years in the camp, and after the war she was one of very few Poles to testify at the Nuremberg Trials. She collected her memoirs in a few books, the most famous being Smoke over Birkenau.

Janina Lewandowska (1908-1940), born Janina Dowbor-Muśnicka, who was a second lieutenant in the Polish air force, devoted entirely to her flying career. After the outbreak of WW2 she was drafted for service in the 3rd Regiment, but her unit was taken hostage by Soviet forces in unknown circumstances. She was one of only two officers in the imprisoned group. She died in the infamous 1940 Katyn Massacre, and her remains were identified only in 2005.

Wanda Błeńska (1911-2014), who was a tropical disease expert and missionary who succeeded in developing the Buluba Hospital in Uganda, an internationally recognized centre for leprosy treatment.

Aleksandra Zagórska (1884-1965), who was am independence activist and soldier. During the First World War she commanded the women’s intelligence service in the Polish Legions. In 1918 she formed the female paramilitary organization Ochotnicza Legia Kobiet (Voluntary Legion of Women) and served as the organization’s commander. In her military career she was eventually promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. During WW2 she joined the resistance as part of the left-leaning Coalition of Independence Organisations. After the war she lived under the pseudonym 'Aleksandra Bednarz’ to avoid the communist government’s persecution on account of her history of independence activism.

Maria Nostitz-Wasilkowska (1858-1922), who was a painter and portrait artist, nicknamed ‘Charmante Polonaise’ by the upper classes. Her favourite medium was pastels, and she specialized in female portraits, valued for her ability to interpret the model’s psychology through subtle color and light. Her portraits were often described as 'living and vibrant’, as if she caught the model in an ephemeral moment. She graduated with honors from the art academy in Saint Petersburg and paved her way to become a favourite artists of the elites in Saint Petersburg and Warsaw, travelling between those cities during her lifetime. Sadly, not many portraits by her have survived to the modern day.

Lena Żelichowska (1910-1958), who was a dancer and actress, one of the most popular in interwar Poland. She debuted on screen in 1933 and quickly gained popularity, becoming one of the most promising film stars in Poland. Before the outbreak of WW2 she managed to appear in 14 movies and starred in numerous theatre plays. During the early stages of the war, she and her husband Stefan Norblin (a notable art deco artist) escaped Poland, and only his reputation as a painter opened many doors, including those of the royal family in Iraq and the Maharajahs in India, where they lived until the end of the war. In the late 1940s they eventually settled in the US. Due to her accent she never managed to return to acting.

Krystyna Skarbek (1908-1952), also known as Christine Granville, who was a WW2 spy working for the British Special Operations Executive. She became celebrated especially for her daring exploits in intelligence and irregular warfare missions in Poland and Nazi-occupied France, and she was one of the longest-serving of all Britain’s wartime women agents. After the war, Skarbek was left without financial reserves or a native country to return to (she didn’t recognize the communist government in postwar Poland). Her life is said to be an inspiration for the fictional characters of Vesper Lynd and Tatiana Romanova in the James Bond novels Casino Royale (1953) and From Russia, with Love (1957).

Teresa Bogusławska (1929-1945) was a promising Polish poet and a participant in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. She joined the Polish scouts’ underground resistance movement at the age of 12. In 1944 (aged 15) she was arrested by the Nazi Germans while pasting independence slogans on German posters. She was imprisoned and tortured during questioning, and suffered badly from tuberculosis after barely three weeks spent in prison. She was freed, but her health never recovered. During the Warsaw Uprising later that same year, she helped the insurgents by sewing uniforms and arm bands. She died early in 1945, aged 16, from meningitis caused by the tuberculosis.

Anna Pustowójtówna (1838-1881), who was a noblewoman, activist, and soldier, famed for her participation in the January Uprising. She identified herself fully as a Pole despite being a child of a mixed Polish-Russian couple, her father being a high-ranking Russian general. She became an activist for the cause of the Polish independence and sided with the Polish troops during the 1963 January Uprising. She disguised herself as a male soldier and went by the alias 'Michał Smok’ (literal translation: Michael the Dragon). She fought as an assistant to the general Marian Langiewicz. She took active part in a few battles, such as the Battle of Małogoszcz, Battle of Pieskowa Skała, Battle of Chroberz, and Battle of Grochowiska, becoming a living legend of the Uprising (much like Emilia Plater, who became a symbol of the November Uprising c. 40 years earlier).

Maria Piotrowiczowa (1839-1863), who was a January Uprising insurgent, participating in the Battle of Dobra (the Łódź province). Upon news of failures of the ongoing uprising, she decided to support the fighters, cutting her hair and putting on a men’s insurrectionary garment. She joined a small troop led by a man from a nearby manor. At the beginning she was on an auxiliary duty, but when the military situation deteriorated she declared her intention of joining front-line duty. In February of 1863 the Russian troops took her unit’s camping site by surprise. She fought to the very end and stayed on the battlefield, rejecting the suggestions of surrender given to her by Russian officers. With a remaining small group of young people, she bravely defended the troop flag donated to the unit by women from the city of Łódź. Armed with a revolver and a scythe, encircled by Cossacks, she killed one, wounded another, and killed the horse under yet another one before dying from their hands. Her body was pricked with pikes and sabres. The tragedy was magnified by the fact that Maria was pregnant at that time.

Natalia Zarembina (1895-1973), who was a writer and journalist. During WW2 she was also a participant of the underground resistance in occupied Poland: she served as an activist of the Polish Socialist Party – Freedom, Equality, Independence (a WW2 underground resistance party) and as a member of the underground organisation Żegota (Council of Aid to the Jews). In late 1942 she published the book Obóz śmierci (Eng. Death Camp), released by the underground press, which was the first document telling about the German concentration camp of Auschwitz. She included firsthand information based on reports of refugees and people dismissed from the camp. Her book was translated to English in the following year, becoming one of the first reports of the Nazi German atrocities in the occupied Poland, followed by the famous Pilecki’s Report.

Eliza Orzeszkowa (1841-1910), who was a journalist, social activist, novelist, and leading writer of the Positivism movement during the late era of the Partitions of Poland. In 1905, along with Henryk Sienkiewicz, she was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. She authored over 150 powerful works dealing with the social conditions of her occupied country.

Teofila Chmielecka (1590–1650) was a Polish military spouse, married to Stefan Chmielecki. She was known for her dedication to the military ideals and for maintaining the Spartan lifestyle necessary in the army, and came to be known as the ideal role model of a military wife. She displayed her personal courage on several occasions, earning the nickname “The Wolf of the Frontier”.

Teofila Ludwika Zasławska (c.1650-1709), who was a noblewoman known as perhaps the most significant landowner in Poland in her time. She was the daughter of Katarzyna Sobieska (sister of King Jan III Sobieski) and an heiress of the Ostrogski family. She was married twice: to the Great Crown Hetman Dymitr Jerzy Wiśniowiecki, and after his death to Prince Józef Karol Lubomirski. Upon her first husband’s death, she inherited large holdings that included the Baranów Sandomierski Castle (not without a legal fight for those rights). After the death of her brother she became the only heir to one of the largest estates in the Commonwealth, the Ostrogski Ordination, which included several dozen towns. As a result of her second marriage, the large landed estates of the Ostrogski Ordination in Poland were transferred to the Lubomirski family. The combined fortune of the Zasławskis and Lubomirskis would become for a time the largest fortune in the Commonwealth. Her second husband had an ongoing extramarital affair which became public, resulting in her attempting to declare him legally insane. They were formally separated until his death in 1702. During the last years of her life she was involved in charity work, including management and development of schools.

Rozalia Lubomirska (1768-1794) was a noblewoman, most noted for her death. At the age of 19 she was married to Prince Aleksander Lubomirski. They travelled to France but, unhappy in her marriage, she decided to divorce her husband and did not accompany him on his way back to Poland. The time of the French Revolution met her in Paris. She was arrested along with her child and tried for alleged conspiracy against the Revolution. As a result, the 26-year-old princess was sentenced to death and soon beheaded by guillotine, although her guilt was (and remains) widely questioned. The death of a Polish national caused much concern among the Polish nobility who, prior to the Reign of Terror, openly cheered the Revolution. Among those who spoke in her defence was Tadeusz Kościuszko. After her death, Rozalia became the subject of legends. According to one, her ghost appears in the Lubomirski Palace in Opole Lubelskie.

Anna Bilińska-Bohdanowicz (1857-1893) was a painter known for her portraits, painted with a great intuition. Her Self-Portrait with Apron and Brushes (1887) developed a new self-portrait pose by placing the artist in front of a model’s backdrop, thus showing that she is her own model. She was internationally recognized during her lifetime and studied art in Paris. After returning to Poland she intended to open a painting school for women in Warsaw, which would have mimicked the practices of the Parisian academies. However the project was stopped short when the artist fell ill with a heart condition.

Zofia Rydet (1911-1997), who was a professional photographer best known for her project 'Sociological Record’, which aimed to document every household in Poland. She began working on that project in 1978 at the age of 67, taking an enormous collection of nearly 20,000 pictures until her death in 1997. The photos show various informal scenes in different ordinary Polish households, often with the owners among their belongings.

Teofila Certowicz (1862-1918), who was a sculptor and artist. For a brief time she opened and managed her own art school for women in Kraków, the first one of that kind in the city, and invited prominent artists such as Włodzimierz Tetmajer and Jacek Malczewski to teach the girls in her school.

Wanda Telakowska (1905–1986) was an artist best known as the founder of Warsaw’s Institute of Industrial Design. She was a member of an Arts and Crafts collective that encouraged a new artistic identity which included folk art. After the WW2 she joined the communist government in Poland, creating the Bureau of Supervision of Aesthetic Production. As the head of the Bureau, she commissioned artists to design many mass-produced Polish goods, under the motto 'Beauty is for every day and for everybody’. However, some artists were suspicious of collaborating with the communist government during a time of continued political conflict. Ultimately, the Bureau was shut down, as the value of artist designs was not convincing enough to factory owners. She went on to create Warsaw’s Institute of Industrial Design in 1950 and served as its first director. In this role, she 'invited artists, ethnographers, art historians, pedagogues, sociologists, and enthusiasts of folk art to contribute to her institute’s efforts to develop new forms of sociologist culture in collaboration with working women, peasants, and youth.’ She’s known as a promoter of the term ‘industrial design’ in Poland. Some Polish artists have dismissed her legacy as a failed attempt to work with communists.

Zofia Baniecka (1917-1993), who was a member of the Resistance during WW2. In addition to relaying guns and other materials to resistance fighters, she and her mother rescued over 50 Jews by hiding them in their home between 1941 and 1944. Later, she was an activist with the Intervention Bureau of the Polish Workers’ Defence Committee in 1970s. She and her husband were active participants in the Solidarity movement in the 1980s, distributing underground media. In her professional capacity, Baniecka was a long-time member of the Warsaw chapter of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers.

Maria Kotarba (1907-1956), who was a courier in the Polish resistance movement, smuggling clandestine messages and supplies among the local partisan groups. She was arrested, tortured, and interrogated by the Gestapo as a political prisoner and deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1943. She was recognised by Israel as Righteous Among the Nations for risking her life to save the lives of Jewish prisoners in the camps.

Zofia Leśniowska (1912-1943), who was a first lieutenant (porucznik) in the Polish Armed Forces. She was the daughter of General Władysław Sikorski. During the interwar period she was active in the Polish Red Cross and known for her passion for horse riding. After the outbreak of WW2, her father ordered her to organize a resistance movement. In 1940 she was called as an emissary to France and travelled as an underground courier, smuggling documents. She was her father’s personal secretary, coder, interpreter, and advisor. She was killed, along with her father and nine others, when their plane crashed into the sea 16 seconds after takeoff from Gibraltar Airport in July 1943.

Maria de Nisau (née Vetulani) (1898-1944), who was a Polish soldier, active in fighting for Poland’s independence. During WW2 she was a liaison soldier of the underground Home Army, where she took the pseudonym Maryna. In her apartment in Warsaw she organised a contact point and a hiding place for Jewish people. In 1944 she took part in the Warsaw Uprising. During the fighting she was wounded and treated in the hospital at Długa Street. There she was killed during a German liquidation of the Uprising hospitals.

Cezaria Jędrzejewiczowa (1885-1967), who was a scientist, art historian, and anthropologist. She was one of the pioneers of ethnology as a systematic study in Poland, and one of the first scientists to adopt empirical research in studies on folk culture. During WW2 she escaped from Poland and settled in British-held Palestine, where she co-founded the Polish Scientific Institute of Jerusalem, a sort of exile university for the soldiers of the Polish II Corps. In 1947 she moved to Great Britain, where she became one of the founding members of the Polish Scientific Society in Exile. In 1951 she became a professor of ethnography at the Polish University in Exile and soon afterwards was chosen as its rector.

Elżbieta Drużbacka (c.1695 or 1698/1699 - 1765), who was a poet of the late Baroque era in Poland, known as a 'Slavic Sappho’ and a 'Sarmatian Muse’. Much of her work deals with the beauty of nature – her best known work is Description of the Four Seasons (Opisanie czterech części roku). Her style was characterized as natural, simple, and pure, free of the so-called ’Macaronic language’ characteristic of her times. Most of her manuscripts, stored in the Krasińscy Library, were destroyed during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.

The list appeared also on Krakow Post :)

#poland #women in history #short bio #long post #dzień niepodległości #11poland11 #independence day #poland's independence day #polish independence day #polish independence

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autisticmoonchild · 7 years ago

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Top 5 favorite poem?

Oh goodie! Poetry! But I cant choose just five?! *picks up all of my poetry books and throws them onto the desk, puts on glasses, sips hot chocolate* Here we go…

Top 5 Favourite Poems-

5. Crossing the bar by Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

Sunset and evening star,

and One clear call for me!

And may there be no moaning of the bar,

When I put out to sea,

Fun fact: Tennyson had a house where I live, its high upon a hill coincidentally called ‘Tennyson Downs’ and his house was called ‘Farringford’. I’ll leave a link here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farringford_House

4. The Solider by Robert Brooke (1887-1915)

If I should die, think only this of me:

That there is some corner of a foreign field,

That is forever England,

Rupert Brooke is probably one of my favourite poets of the first world war, next to Wilfred Owen and Seigfried Sassoon. I was delighted when I studied history in high school that I got to, even breifly, touch on war poetry and this one stuck.

3. In Artist Studio by Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

One face looks out from all his canvasses,

One selfsame figure sits or walks or leans;

We found her hidden just behind those screens,

That mirror gave back all her loveliness.

A queen in opal or in ruby dress,

A nameless girl in freshest summer greens,

A saint, an angel;

This poem means alot to me in terms of history. I have a huge facination with romantic history and the love story (or not so love story as some may look at it) of Lizzie Siddal and Dante Gabriel Rossetti (Christina’s brother) was no exception.

2. Blue Flannel Suit by Ted Hughes (1930-1998)

I had let it all grow. I had supposed.

It was all OK. Your life.

Was a liner I voyaged in.

My heart breaks every time someone blames Ted Hughes for the suicide of Sylvia Plath but I still dont think he was to blame. I think that suicide was inevitable for Plath reguardless of what spurred it on. I reguard Hughes as one of the greatest poets of the 21st century. Blue Flannel Suit was a tribute to Sylvia on their wedding day in 1956, it was from the collection called Birthday Letters, which detailed his life with Plath. It was published after his death in 1998. He even was Poet Laurete in 1994.

1. Lady Lazarus by Sylvia Plath (1932-1963)

Out of the ashI rise with my red hair And I eat men like air.I consider myself beyond lucky to have studied the life and works of Sylvia Plath. She is my inspiration for my poetry and I consider her to be my guardian in life. Oh how I would have loved to have known her. I am the owner of 3 of Plath’s anthologies, her journals and her only novel ‘The Bell Jar’. I’m planning on getting a framed photograph of her hung in my bedroom.

This one:

BONUS:

I cant post this without mentioning ‘To Autumn’ by John Keats. I have loved Keats’ work since I was in my young teens. I adored Ben Whishaw’s portrayal of him in ‘Bright Star’. I was saddened the Keats died at the age of 25 believing he was a failure.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulnessClose bosom-friend of the maturing sunConspiring with him how to load and blessWith fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;

#asks #poetry #top 5 poems #alfred lord tennyson #christina rosetti #rupert brooke #ted hughes #sylvia plath #john keats

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pamphletstoinspire · 8 years ago

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Our Universal Mother - Part 57

Our Lady of The Miraculous Medal

'O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee'.

Our Lady Comes to Rue du Bac, Paris, 1830

First Apparition in Saint Catherine’s Own Words

The Feast of Saint Vincent de Paul was approaching, when our good Mother Martha, on the evening before, gave us an instruction on devotion to the Blessed Virgin, which gave me a desire to see the Blessed Virgin, so that I went to bed with that thought on the same night, that I should see my good Mother. I had desired to see Her for such a long time. As a piece of linen from a surplice of Saint Vincent’s had been distributed, I cut off half of it which I swallowed and I went to sleep, in the thought that Saint Vincent should obtain for me the grace to see the Blessed Virgin.

Finally, at half past eleven in the evening I heard myself being called by name: 'Sister Labouré!' Waking up, I looked in the direction where I heard the voice...I pulled aside the curtain. I saw a child four or five years old, who said to me: 'Come to the chapel, the Bllessed Virgin is waiting for you.'

I dressed quickly and made my way alongside this child, who had remained standing, without coming any further than the head of my bed...I followed him, keeping him always on my left. Everywhere we passed was lighted up, which astonished me a lot.

But I was even more surprised when I went into the chapel and the door opened itself, though the child had scarcely touched it with his fingertips. My surprise was even more complete when I saw that all the tapers and candles were alight, which reminded me of the Midnight Mass. However, I saw nothing of the Blessed Virgin.

The child led me into the sanctuary, to the side of the director’s chair, where I knelt down, while the child remained standing the whole time. As I found the time rather long, I looked around to see if the sisters who kept watch in the house were passing through the gallery.

At last the time had come. The child let me know. He said to me. 'Here is the Blessed Virgin. Here She is!' I heard a sound like the rustle of a silk gown coming from the side of the tribune near Saint Joseph’s picture, which finally came and alighted on the altar steps on the gospel side and went to sit in a chair like that of Saint Anne’s. Then looking at the Blessed Virgin, I just made one leap towards Her and knelt down on the altar-steps, with my hands resting on Her lap…

My child, Our Lady said, the good God wishes to entrust you with a mission. You will have much difficulty, but you will overcome these difficulties by thinking that you are doing it for the glory of the good God. You will know what comes from the good God. You will be tormented by it till you have told it to him who is entrusted with your guidance. You will be opposed, but you will always have the grace. Do not fear. Tell everything which happens within you with confidence...with simplicity. You will see a certain thing. Give an account of what you will see and hear. You will be inspired in your prayer.

Our Lady then told Catherine about the misfortunes that were to come upon France and the whole world. Her face was sorrowful and Her eyes filled with tears as She foretold the sad events. Come to the foot of this altar. There graces will be poured out on all those, rich or poor, who ask for them with confidence and fervor. I will be with you myself, I will always keep my eyes upon you, and I will enrich you with many graces. Catherine adds: Graces will be bestowed, particularly upon all who ask for them, but they must pray. They must pray! I got up from the steps of the altar, and I saw the child where I had left him. He said to me, 'She has gone.' I believe that this child was my guardian angel who made himself visible so that I should see the Blessed Virgin. He was either four or five years old.

When I got back to bed, it was two o’clock in the morning, for I heard the clock strike. I did not go to sleep again.

Second Apparition

Four months passed, and Our Lady returned to Rue du Bac. On the day of the second apparition, Catherine was once again seized with a great desire to see the Blessed Virgin. Here is the story in her own words.

I thought that the Blessed Virgin would grant me this grace, but my desire was so strong that I was convinced that I would actually see Her at Her most beautiful. On the 27th of November, 1830, which was a Saturday, and the eve of the First Sunday of Advent, while making my meditation in profound silence, at half past five in the evening, I seemed to hear on the right hand side of the sanctuary something like the rustling of a silk dress. Glancing in that direction, I perceived the Blessed Virgin, standing near Saint Joseph’s picture. Her height was medium, and Her countenance, indescribably beautiful. She was dressed in a robe the color of dawn, high-necked, with plain sleeves. Her head was Covered with a white veil, which floated over Her shoulders down to Her feet. She wore a narrow lace band round Her hair. Her face was not concealed. Her feet rested upon a globe, or rather one half of a globe, for that was all that could be seen. Her hands which were on a level with Her waist, held in an easy manner another globe, a figure of the world. Her eyes were raised to Heaven, and Her countenance beamed with light as She offered the globe to Our Lord.

Suddenly, Her fingers were covered with rings and most beautiful precious stones. Rays of dazzling light gleamed forth from them, and the whole of Her figure was enveloped in such radiance that Her feet and robe were no longer visible.

The jewels varied in size as did also the rays of light they threw out. I could not express what I felt, nor what I learned, in these few moments.

As I was busy contemplating Her, the Blessed Virgin fixed Her eyes upon me, and a voice said in the depths of my heart: 'This globe which you see represents the whole world, especially France, and each person in particular.'

I would not know how to express the beauty and brilliancy of these rays. The Blessed Virgin added: 'Behold the symbol of the graces I shed upon those who ask me for them.' And She made me understand how pleasant it was to pray to the Blessed Virgin, how generous She is to all who implore Her intercession...How many favors She grants to those who ask Her for them with confidence and the joy that She experienced in granting graces! At this moment I was not myself, I was in raptures!

There now formed around the Blessd Virgin a frame rather oval in shape on which were written in letters of gold these words: 'O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee'.

Then a voice said to me: 'Have a medal struck upon this model. All those who wear it, when it is blessed, will receive great graces especially if they wear it round the neck. Those who repeat this prayer with devotion will be in a special manner under the protection of the Mother of God. Graces will be abundantly bestowed upon those who have confidence.'

At the same instant, the oval frame seemed to turn around. Then I saw on the back of it the letter M, surmounted by a cross, with a crossbar beneath it, and under the monogram of the name of Mary the Holy Hearts of Jesus and of His Mother; the first surrounded by a crown of thorns and the second transpierced by a sword. I was anxious to know what words must be placed on the reverse side of the medal and after many prayers, one day in meditation I seemed to hear a voice which said to me: 'The M with the Cross and the two Hearts tell enough.'

No mention is made in Sister Catherine’s notes of the twelve stars which surrounded the monogram of Mary and the two Hearts. However, they are always figured on the back of the medal. It is certain that this detail was given by the sister at the time of the apparition.

Third Apparition of the Blessed Virgin

Catherine felt sure that she would see Our Lady again. Sometime during the month of December her hope was realized. At the afternoon meditation, she had another vision similar to that of November 27th. There was one remarkable difference however. Our Blessed Mother, who according to Sister Labouré appeared to be about forty years of age, instead of remaining near the picture of Saint Joseph, passed in front of it and stood at the back of the tabernacle, a little above it. The invocation 'O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee' was traced in letters of gold and encircled the apparition as before. Catherine saw again at the back of the oval the monogram of the Blessed Virgin surmounted by the Cross, and beneath, the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

In Catherine’s own words: I saw the Blessed Virgin near the tabernacle, to the back of it. She was dressed in white...under Her feet was a white ball. She was so beautiful that it would be impossible for me to describe Her beauty. Her hands, which were raised to the level of the waist, in a very easy fashion, were holding a ball which represented the globe, surmounted by a little golden cross. Suddenly Her fingers became adorned with rings and with precious stones of great splendor. The rays which issued from them showered a dazzling light on all sides and filled the area below them, so that one could no longer see the feet of the Blessed Virgin. The larger stones gave larger rays, and the smaller ones, smaller rays. To tell you what I learned at the moment when the Blessed Virgin was offering the globe to Our Lord would be impossible to repeat...what I experienced.

Saint Catherine again received the order to have a medal struck according to the model. This was the last time Our Lady was to appear to her and she distinctly heard this message. You will not see me any more, but you will hear my voice during your prayers. And then, Catherine tells us, everything disappeared from my sight, like a candle that is blown out. And from that day forward, till she departed this world in 1876, with only those few exceptions authorized by Heaven above, for a period of forty six years, the Saint of Silence was to keep these visions a secret, pondering them in the depths of her heart.

Final Notes

The original order of 20,000 medals proved to be but a small start. The new medals began to pour from the presses in streams inundating France and the rest of the world beyond. By the time of Saint Catherine’s death in 1876, over a billion medals had been distributed in many lands. This sacramental from Heaven that at first was simply called the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, began to be known as the Miraculous Medal due to the unprecedented number of miracles, conversions, cures and acts of protection attributed to Our Lady’s intercession for those who wore it.

One Final Thought

On the day before her death, December 30, 1876, one of the Sisters asked Saint Catherine Labouré: Are you going to leave us without telling us anything about the Blessed Virgin? The saint replied: The Rosary must be said better. The Immaculate Conception must be honored, and that purity, of which She is the most beautiful symbol, must be dear to our children.

#our universal mother

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