The exhibition opens with a manuscript transcript of ‘Rota’, a 1910 composition by Feliks Nowowiejski to the words of a 1908 poem by Maria Konopnicka. “Rota” is one of the Polish national symbols, it says about the consolidation of the national community in the face of danger. It accompanied Poles in uprisings and wars”, recall organizers of the exhibition from the National Library.

They emphasize that Konopnicka derived her deep patriotism from her family home. She expressed it in the words of her poems and articles, as well as in her actions. She fought against anti-Semitism, Russification and Germanisation.

The exhibition presents Konopnicka’s letter protesting against the publication of her works in Russian translation. Patriotism as she understood it also meant concern for the poor, and the disadvantaged, as can be found in the manuscript of the poem ‘Wolny najmita’, which shows the fate of peasants at the time.

Henryk Sienkiewicz encouraged Konopnicka to write, and the young Stefan Żeromski referred to her as “the bard of the generation”.

Also, Maria Konopnicka’s letter about the meaning of creating children’s literature is on display.

Konopnicka proposed a new model of children’s literature, with the child as both addressee and protagonist. She wanted literature without didacticism and moralising, close to challenging fairy tales. For Konopnicka, the child is a subject, not an object. Kids were also supposed to be future conscious and active citizens, patriots proud of their national history.

For several years Maria Konopnicka was editor of ‘Świt’, a weekly magazine for women, in which she postulated equal rights for women, understood as equal rights and duties for men and women.

“A woman is as much a human being as a man”, Konopnicka wrote, pointing out that the fight for women’s rights is not a fight against men, but a fight against the social system.

Adrian Andrzejewski